Non-invasive on-site Raman and XRF study of the 17th-18th century painted enamelled Chinese metal wares and porcelains: Comparison with French enamelling technology

Philippe Colomban (1) , Burcu Kirmizi (1, 2) , Bing Zhao (3) , Jean-Baptiste Clais (4) , Michele Gironda (5) , Vincent Cochet (6)

1 MONARIS - De la Molécule aux Nanos-objets : Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies
2 YTU - Yildiz Technical University
3 CRCAO - Centre de recherche sur les civilisations de l'Asie Orientale
4 Musée du Louvre
5 XGLab S.R.L – Bruker, Milan
6 CF - Château de Fontainebleau

A selection of twelve painted enamelled metal wares from the 17th -19th centuries (Qing Dynasty) was analysed on-site (Musée du Louvre, Paris and Musée Chinois de Fontainebleau, France) by mobile Raman and XRF microspectroscopy. Some of these wares both display cloisonné and painted enamelling techniques. Pigments (Naples Yellow pyrochlore solid solution, hematite, carbon etc.), opacifiers (fluorite, lead arsenate) and corresponding lead-based glassy matrices were identified. In two artefacts, cassiterite was unpredictably used as an opacifier in some parts of the decor. Lead arsenate apatite detected in some of the 17th century blue enamels is related to the use of arsenic-rich European cobalt ores, as also characterized in French soft-paste porcelain and glass decors and high-quality Limoges enamels for the same period [1-3]. However, lead arsenate pigment was also deliberately used for white opacification. Based on the shape of the Raman scattering background, the presence of colloidal gold (Au° nanoparticles) in red-related enamels was identified. Different types of Naples Yellow pigments were identified with Sb-rich, Sn-rich and mixed Sb-Sn-(Zn, Fe?) compositions [4]. The results are compared to previous data obtained on Chinese cloisonné and Limoges enamels as well as French enamelled watches [1-6]. [1] Ph. Colomban, L. Arberet, B. Kırmızı, On-site Raman analysis of 17th and18th century Limoges enamels: Implications on the European cobalt sources and the technological relationship between Limoges and Chinese enamels, Ceram. Int. 43 [13] (2017) 10158-10165. [2] Ph. Colomban, T.-A. Lu, V. Milande, Non-invasive on-site Raman study of blue-decorated early soft-paste porcelain: the use of arsenic-rich (European) cobalt ores – Comparison with huafalang Chinese porcelains, Ceram. Int. 44 [8] (2018) 9018-9026. [3] Ph. Colomban, B. Kırmızı, Non-invasive on-site Raman study of polychrome and white enamelled glass artefacts in imitation of porcelain assigned to Bernard Perrot and his followers, J. Raman Spectrosc. 51 [1] (2020) 133-146. [4] Ph. Colomban, Y. Zhang, B. Zhao, Non-invasive Raman analyses of Chinese huafalang and related porcelain wares. Searching for evidence for innovative pigment technologies, Ceram. Int. 43 [15] (2017) 12079-12088. [5] Ph. Colomban, B. Zhao, J.-B. Clais, B. Kırmızı V. Droguet, Non-invasive on-site Raman study of pigments and glassy matrix of the 17th-18th century painted enamelled Chinese metal wares: Comparison with French enamelling technology, Coatings, submitted. [6] Ph. Colomban, B. Kırmızı, C. Gougeon, M. Gironda, C. Cardinal, Pigments and glassy matrix of the 17th-18th century enamelled French watches: A non-invasive on-site Raman and pXRF study, J. Cult. Herit. (2020) in press.

Mots clés: enamels; metalware; pXRF; Raman Spectroscopy; composition; history

Domaines: Chimie; Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Philippe Colomban, Burcu Kirmizi, Bing Zhao, Jean-Baptiste Clais, Michele Gironda, et al.. Non-invasive on-site Raman and XRF study of the 17th-18th century painted enamelled Chinese metal wares and porcelains: Comparison with French enamelling technology. 5th International Conference on Innovation in Art Research and Technology (inArt 2022), Jun 2022, Paris, France. ⟨hal-03964497⟩