Chemie und Technik altkretischer Vasenmalerei vom Kamares-Typ

Abstract

Fragments of the Kamares-type ware were investigated by means of the scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, and the Debye-Scherrer process. The black “Firnis” or “Urfirnis” of the decoration proved to be a silicate-type glaze which had a high content of iron and contained potassium as a flux. The body was given a high calcium content, so that its coefficient of expansion was increased and approximated to that of the glaze. The white was produced by means of talc. Firing must have taken place at a temperature of at least about 1000 °C. The red painting contains as its pigment iron oxides or hydroxides and may have been applied with an organic binding medium after the firing operation.[/p][/ab]