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Characterisation of decoration and glazing materials of late 19th-early 20th century French porcelain and fine earthenware enamels: a preliminary non-invasive study

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Abstract

This study focuses on the development of a non-invasive multi-analytical approach for the study of glazing and decoration materials used in French pottery from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The considerable commercial success of this art makes this time frame of particular interest as it led, among others, to a general modernisation of the production processes and materials to satisfy the increased demand and the flourishing trade of potteries: new ceramic bodies, alternative glaze formulation and a wider range of materials became available. Considering the pristine conservation state of the twenty-one selected samples (deriving from six factories or manufacturers in four different production areas in France), a multi-technique, non-invasive and non-deliberatively destructive analytical approach was chosen for the characterisation of glazes, pigments and other superficial materials. Each object was firstly observed with optical microscopy and subsequently underwent elemental composition analyses such as MA-XRF (macro X-ray fluorescence) and IBA (ion beam analyses) at the INFN LABEC Laboratory in Florence. For the identification of some of the compounds present in coloured enamels, a selection of the objects was analysed with Raman spectroscopy at the ICCOM CNR in Pisa.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to M. Jacques Bontillot from Les Amis de la Faïence Fine and M. Jean-Luc Joret from the Barbotine Belge Archive for their invaluable support in the reference research. Thanks are also due to Dr. Beatrice Campanella for her support during Raman analysis and to M.Sc. Leandro Sottili for his helpful suggestions. The authors warmly thank Fiorella Tozzi, Michela Pellegrino, Maria Grimaudo and Giovanna Cecchi for the careful care and selection of the objects.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via Bruno Rossi 1, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Simi Maria Emilia Mangani, Anna Mazzinghi & Pier Andrea Mandò

  2. Florence Division, INFN/CHNet, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Anna Mazzinghi, Pier Andrea Mandò & Massimo Chiari

  3. ICCOM-CNR, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Stefano Legnaioli

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  1. Simi Maria Emilia Mangani
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Correspondence to Anna Mazzinghi.

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Mangani, S.M.E., Mazzinghi, A., Mandò, P.A. et al. Characterisation of decoration and glazing materials of late 19th-early 20th century French porcelain and fine earthenware enamels: a preliminary non-invasive study. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 136, 1079 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-02055-x

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