On-site analysis of Chinese Cloisonne enamels from fifteenth to nineteenth centuries


Kirmizi B., Colomban P., Quette B.

JOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, vol.41, no.7, pp.780-790, 2010 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 41 Issue: 7
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Doi Number: 10.1002/jrs.2516
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.780-790
  • Keywords: enamel, pigment, Raman spectroscopy, China, Cloisonnes, OPAQUE RED GLASS, RAMAN IDENTIFICATION, ANCIENT GLASSES, MICROSTRUCTURE, 16TH-CENTURY, CERAMICS, PIGMENT, DIFFERENTIATION, SPECTROSCOPY, JEWELRY
  • Yıldız Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

A selection of 22 rare Chinese cloisonne enamels, from fifteenth century to nineteenth century A.D., has been studied on-site in the storage rooms of the musee des Arts decoratifs in Paris. The Raman signatures of the transparent and/or opacified glass matrix are discussed and compared with those that were previously recorded on glazed pottery, enameled and stained glasses. Enamels mostly belong to lead-based potash-lime glasses. Three different compositions, lead-potash-lime (fifteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century), soda-rich (sixteenth-seventeenth century) and soda-lime (seventeenth century) are identified according to the wavenumber maxima of the Si-O stretching and bending multiplets. Most of the pigment signatures are similar to those recorded on ceramic glazes and glass enamels, which proves the link between the technologies but a specific opacifier is observed: fluorite (CaF2). Naples Yellow pigment variations give characteristic signatures. Additionally, a comparison is made with Limoges enamels (sixteenth - nineteenth century A.D.). Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.