On Site Raman Analysis of the earliest known Meissen Porcelain and Stoneware

Philippe Colomban (1) , Véronique Milande (2)

1 LADIR - Laboratoire de Dynamique Interactions et Réactivité
2 Musée National de Céramique

On Site Raman analyses were performed at the Musée national de Céramique, Sèvres, France, on selected rare items of the earliest known European hard-paste porcelains and stonewares, produced from ~1710 to ~1750 in the Meissen workshop (Saxony) founded by J.F. Böttger and E.W. von Tschirnhaus. Characteristic on-site Raman signatures have been obtained for white Sake bottles from ~1715, a green bowl, depicting a purple landscape and dated 27th August 1726, a middle of the 18th century produced figurine and coffee cups. In addition some artefacts (a red polished stoneware cup from ca. 1710-1715, a white ewer stopper from ~1725, a blue underglaze decorated flat stopper believed to have been manufactured after 1719, and decorated coffee cups) were analysed at the laboratory. Raman spectra identified different types of mullite-rich bodies, including calcium-rich and quartz-containing pastes. Different types of glazes and pigments (haematite, Naples yellow, cassiterite, lapis lazuli ...) have also been identified. The results are discussed in the light of previous chemical analyses and historical records. We propose characteristic parameters to discriminate between the different production technologies.

Mots clés: glaze; glass; porcelain; stoneware; Meissen; Böttger; pigments; 18th century

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Philippe Colomban, Véronique Milande. On Site Raman Analysis of the earliest known Meissen Porcelain and Stoneware. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 2006, 37, pp.606-613. ⟨hal-00120393⟩