Handheld X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Versus Wavelength Dispersive XRF: Characterization of Chinese Blue-and-White Porcelain Sherds Using Handheld and Laboratory-Type XRF Instruments

Abstract

Almost all archaeometric studies on Chinese ceramics are carried out on the excavation materials. Therefore, a detailed, comparable database that defines different workshops and production periods already exists. But the masterpieces preserved at museums, art galleries, and/or private collections, which are artistically considered as genuine artifacts, also require similar scientific investigations to define their provenance and authenticity. The research on artworks is only possible with the use of portable, noninvasive techniques that are developing daily concerning their capability of detection limits, rate of measurement, and ease of use. In this study, the results obtained with a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) (also called portable XRF) and wavelength dispersive XRF instrument were compared to evidence the efficiency and drawbacks of the portable model. To achieve this goal, 12 sherds, which represent blue-and-white porcelains of Yuan and Ming Dynasties (China), were analyzed and the chemical composition of the body, glaze, and blue decor were identified. The comparison of the results with the measurements carried out on the excavation materials, which are produced in both southern and northern China, revealed the authenticity of the artifacts. Even sodium cannot be detected with portable XRF, the distinction of different production centers is possible with the detection of major (Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca), minor (Fe, Ti), and trace elements (Zr, Sr, Rb).

Cobalt and Associated Impurities in Blue (and Green) Glass, Glaze and Enamel: Relationships between Raw Materials, Processing, Composition, Phases and International Trade

“…Qalhat was a sister town of Hormuz during the late medieval times and became active in the maritime trade with India, Indonesia and the east African coast, before to be sacked by the Portuguese in 1508 [20,192]. Additional data from the sherds excavated from the ancient Vietnamese kilns (14th-16th-Centuries, Chu Dau, along Hong River, Hoa Luu, Tonkin, and Khai quat, Centre-Vietnam [137]), coming from a shipwreck (Surcouf, 18th-Century, France) [193], Marquis of Abrantes Palace (16th-17th-Centuries, Lisbon, Portugal) [193] and from the private collection of ASET Stiftung in Berlin ('Blue Print', 14th-15th-Centuries) [24].…”

“…They correspond to different types of sherds from different sites. Those excavated at Qalhat from the kilns along the Hong River and the others from the Chu Dau kilns in Tonkin (Vietnam) or from Yunnan [21,137,175] have a MnO/CoO ratio equal to 5 and those from the Blue Print project of ASET Stiftung in Berlin have this same ratio equal to 1 [24].…”

“…For instance, a band at~820-830 cm −1 is observed in the blue décor of soft-paste porcelains (Figure 13a,a'), a painted Chinese bowl (Figure 14a), a cloisonné box (Figure 14c), a Limoges portrait (Figure 14d) and the enamelled watches (Figure 16). [196] and Blue Print Collection [24] and Vietnamese (c), Chu Dau, Hua Luu, etc.) glazed sherds which represent different compositions of Co-containing blue pigments [21].…”

“…glazed sherds which represent different compositions of Co-containing blue pigments [21]. The sherd in (a) represents a fragment of a charger with a qilin and (b) represents a fragmentary stem bowl, both attributed to the productions of the Yuan Dynasty, 14th-Century [24].…”

“…Our remarks will largely concern the Asian area (namely Turkey, Iran, China, Vietnam and Japan) and its interactions with other places, including with Europe by taking into consideration that only Persian cobalt sources were studied significantly [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Likewise, it is important that the data extracted from ancient texts are integrated with those extracted from the analyses of originally diversified objects studied by us since 2014 [20][21][22][23][24][25].…”