Conservation of gilt bronze locks (Treasure No. 1141) excavated from Hancheonsa temple

보물 제1141호 한천사 출토 금동자물쇠 보존처리

Gilt bronze locks(Treasure No. 1141) excavated from Hancheonsa temple are artifacts of Goryeo Dynasty. The locks underwent a conservation process from October 2001 to July 2002. The process included cleaning and the application of corrosion inhibitors, Benzotriazolesolution, as well as reinforcement treatment with Paraloid NAD-10 solution,an acrylic resin. Non-destructive XRF analysis unveil that the artifacts are made of an alloy of copper(Cu), tin(Sn) and lead(Pb), but the gilt layer is too thin to analyze the purity of the gold or the exact production method. Gilt bronze locks are important materials because they preserve all the structures of locks in Goryeo Dynasty to the smallest detail. The surface pattern is revealed through the conservation process and components of the alloy through material analysis.