Archaeometric study of 17th/18th century painted pottery from the Belgrade Fortress

Abstract

The chemical and mineralogical composition of ceramic bodies, glazes and pigments, as well as the firing temperatures of main groups of Austrian period painted pottery excavated at the Belgrade Fortress on the territory of Serbia, two groups of Malhornware and one group of Anabaptist faience, were determined by a combination of powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Investigated pottery was uncovered in the same archaeological context and dated the end of 17 th /first decade of 18 th century. The obtained mineralogical and chemical composition shows the similarities between the Malhornware groups that indicate a similar production technology. Use of calcareous clay fired at temperatures in the range 850-900 o C indicates a different production technology for the Anabaptists faience. The compositional data treatment by multivariate statistical analysis reveals heterogeneity in the Anabaptist faience group of samples, suggesting potential interactions between the local potters and the Anabaptist communities.

Archaeometric Characterisation of Decorated Pottery from the Archaeological Site of Villa dei Quintili (Rome, Italy): Preliminary Study

“…In addition, the elemental association of Co-Fe-Ni-As was observed in all of the investigated shards where blue shades were present. According to literature [1,2,[38][39][40][41][42], this occurrence is consistent with the use of cobalt obtained from the Erzgebirge mining region in Saxony (Germany), an important pigment production centre with exports to all parts of Europe. Low amounts of Ni associated to Co are also characteristic of blue pigments used in majolica potteries from Italy [43] and in Valencian ceramics [44].…”

“…Furthermore, these two elements are detected in lower amounts in the ceramic body with respect to the other analysed spots. This allowed us to hypothesise that Pb and Sn are the elements characterising the coating and, comparing our XRF data with literature [1,36,37], we can assume that the analysed fragments are covered by vitreous coatings, typical of glazed majolica pottery.…”

“…These Co-Ni-based pigments can be produced by roasting of zaffre (Co-Ni-As minerals) at high temperatures, providing some insight into the production method of the Co-based blue pigment. The XRF analysis revealed the presence of lead (Pb) as main constituent in all the investigated areas, pointing to a PbO-based glaze in all fragments, where lead represents a flux [1]. The presence of tin (Sn) is also remarkable, and can be justified by taking into account that, as well known, glazes were opacified by the addition of tin oxide (SnO2) [36,37].…”

“…The mineralogical phase contents obtained from the XRD data analysis can be used to estimate the firing temperature used for the production of the investigated pottery [1,[20][21][22][23][24]. More specifically, gehlenite forms from the decomposition products of illite and calcite at 800-850 • C [25,26], whereas diopside is obtained from illite, calcite, and quartz at 850-900 • C [1,21,27]. Therefore, the presence of these phases in the investigated samples indicates a firing temperature of about 850-900 • C. Furthermore, presence of gehlenite can also indicate inhomogeneous and coarser-grained calcite in the source material [27].…”

“…Starting from the late Middle Ages, Central Europe and the surrounding areas shared a similar ceramic tradition that was in many ways continued over time [1]. It was mainly in the Renaissance period that art and traditions made their mark in pottery, strongly coloured and painted with natural motifs and geometrical patterns.…”