Surface finishing is a major subject in the field of metals. The artistic and technical development of decorative or protective finishes has produced some distinctive classes of metalwork in different parts of the world. Metal Plating and Patination is the most important reference work to be published surveying the surface treatments used from the inception of metallurgy to the present day.

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the world reacted with shock on seeing residents of this distinctive city left abandoned to the floodwaters. After the last rescue was completed, a new worry arose—that New Orleans’s unique historic fabric sat in ruins, and we had lost one of the most charming old cities of the New World. In Patina, anthropologist Shannon Lee Dawdy examines what was lost and found through the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Tracking the rich history and unique physicality of New Orleans, she explains how it came to adopt the nickname “the antique city.” With innovative applications of thing theory, Patina studies the influence of specific items—such as souvenirs, heirlooms, and Hurricane Katrina ruins—to explore how the city’s residents use material objects to comprehend time, history, and their connection to one another. A leading figure in archaeology of the contemporary, Dawdy draws on material evidence, archival and literary texts, and dozens of post-Katrina interviews to explore how the patina aesthetic informs a trenchant political critique. An intriguing study of the power of everyday objects, Patina demonstrates how sharing in the care of a historic landscape can unite a city’s population—despite extreme divisions of class and race—and inspire civil camaraderie based on a nostalgia that offers not a return to the past but an alternative future.

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Contemporary Patination, 2nd Edition, is a recipe book for many hot and cold patinas for bronze brass and copper. Instruction and supply lists are provided for buried, fumed, paste, wrapped, multi-layered patinas, hot patinas and cold patinas. Nearly every patina discussed will have an accompanying photograph for visual comparison.There is also instruction to preserve, protect and maintain your artwork and trouble-shooting charts for applying patinas and clear top coats.This is a valuable book for sculptors, architects, metal artists, jewelers, conservators, hobbyists and more.