Straight from a 1950s Sci Fi movie!! Uranium glass is a collectible antique glass that was made with uranium salts. Uranium salts are naturally a bright yellow and they were used to color the glass. Uranium glass ranges from yellow to green, with the green versions having had additional coloring chemicals added. Uranium glass is … Continue reading Radioactive glass

X-ray machines are used to examine paintings in a similar way they are used to examine human bodies.As with ultraviolet and infrared light, X-rays are a form of light invisible to human eyes. X-rays pass straight through some materials, but are reflected or absorbed by others. In the physician's office, the X-ray machine shoots X-rays … Continue reading X-rays in art authentication

When print artists are finished with the limited edition print run, they sometimes intentionally ruin the printing plate to prevent further prints. They may scratch out part of the graphics or make a big X across the printing plate. To prove they've ruined the printing plate and the print is indeed limited, they make one … Continue reading Cancellation proofs

Amber, or fossilized tree resin, is a popular and valuable gem often used in jewelry and often displayed on its own. There is, however, fake amber and other substances that can be mistaken for amber. Amber colored plastics and glass are commonly used to make fake amber. There is also the natural substance called copal … Continue reading Identifying amber

Beyond the changed words, the foreign language translation of a poem alters and often destroys the original poem. With rare exception the translation of a beautiful poem can be similarly beautiful or literally faithful, but not both.Poetry is uniquely tied to the native language-- the unique word definition, culture, diction, rhyme, sound, meter, feel and … Continue reading The impossibleness in translating poetry

Did you you know? Dendrology, or the study of trees, has been used by art historians to help date many ancient paintings. Before canvas, paintings were most commonly painted on panels of wood, and are called panel paintings. Studying the rings in the wood and knowing when certain regional historical conditions such as draught caused … Continue reading Dating paintings via dendrology

The kids of a wealthy American art dealer inherited an important artwork by famous American painter Robert Rauschenberg. However, as the work, titled 'Canyon,' incorporated a stuffed federally protected Bald Eagle, the heirs would be committing a felony by selling it. The heirs' parent was only allowed to own the painting due to special permission … Continue reading What is the value of an artwork that can’t be sold or bought?

By Islamic belief, artwork is flawed compared to the work of God. It is thought that attempting to depict the realistic form of an animal or person is religious heresy. Thus Islamic art generally, but not always, lacks realistic humans and animals, and is noted instead for its intricate and elaborate patterns and designs.

You can buy inexpensive electronic diamond detectors at places like amazon.com and eBay. They are useful devises and work by testing the material properties of a substance. They do, however, have a basic limitation: they can tell the difference between diamonds and simulant diamonds, but not between synthetic diamonds and natural diamonds. Simulant diamonds are … Continue reading Limitations of diamond testers

In art, science can identify fakes and forgeries, but has limitations in authenticating a work. For example, if a chemist shows that the paint and canvas used for an advertised '1660s Rembrandt oil painting' is from the 1800s, that proves beyond a doubt that the pasinting is a fake. However, if science shows the canvas … Continue reading Limits of Science in Art Authentication