Luster Pottery from the Thirteenth Century to the Sixteenth Century: A Nanostructured Thin Metallic Film

Abstract

Luster is a decorative metallic film that was applied on the surface of medieval glazed pottery. It can be obtained via the low-temperature (ϳ650°C), controlled reduction of copper and silver compounds. In this paper, we show that luster is a thin layered film (200 -500 nm thick) that contains metallic spherical nanocrystals dispersed in a silicon-rich matrix and has a metal-free outermost glassy layer that is 10 -20 nm thick. Silver nanocrystals seem to be separated from those of copper, forming aggregates 5-100 m in diameter. This composite structure exhibits optical properties that are dependent on both the particle size and the matrix. Luster is indeed the first reproducible nanostructured thin metallic film that was made by humans.

The Use of Metal Nanoparticles to Produce Yellow, Red and Iridescent Colour, from Bronze Age to Present Times in Lustre Pottery and Glass: Solid State Chemistry, Spectroscopy and Nanostructure

“…in [35]), iv) a rather large distribution of the particle size, from 1 to 100 nm. The metal content ranges between 0.1 and 2 wt%.…”

Nanoparticles in Ancient Materials: The Metallic Lustre Decorations of Medieval Ceramics

“…One of the best tools for studying an organisation on a nanometre scale is the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is this technique which allowed for the first observation of nanocrystals in an archaeological lustre, a 13 th century lustre of Hispano-Moorish period (Pérez-Arantegui, Molera et al 2001). Although it is an abrasive technique, which is an obstacle for the investigation of museum pieces, several specimens from different periods and different geographic areas have been analysed by TEM (Borgia et al 2002;Padeletti & Fermo 2003b;Pérez-Arantegui & Larrea 2003;Fredrickx et al 2004;Padeletti & Fermo 2004;Roqué et al 2007;Mirguet et al 2008;Mirguet, Roucau et al 2009;Sciau et al 2009a).…”

“…Several descriptions of the glazing technique were proposed (Pérez-Arantegui, Molera et al 2001;Padeletti & Fermo 2003a;Colomban & Truong 2004;Pradell et al 2005;Roqué et al 2005;Pradell et al 2006;Roqué et al 2008;Colomban 2009) on the basis of experimental evidence and on information extracted from the transcription of ancient recipes (Abu al Qâsem 14 th century, Picolpasso 16 th century, Deck and Bertan 19 th century and Artigas 20 th century). Lustre decorations were obtained by applying a mixture of a paint, which contained copper and silver salts, water and more or less vinegar and lye, onto a glazed ceramic, which was subsequently annealed in a reducing atmosphere.…”

“…This development was accompanied by an increase in the type of colloidal metal used for colouring glass (PerezVillar et al 2008;Rubio et al 2009;Gimeno et al 2010). This age also saw the emergence of lusterware, a special type of glazed ceramics, with striking optical effects again obtained from metallic nanoparticles (Caiger-Smith 1991;Pérez-Arantegui et al 2001). Then the progress in glass chemistry during the Renaissance period (Simmons & Mysak 2010) and especially in modern times allowed for better tuning of coloration effects based on the surface plasmons of metallic nanoparticles (Gil et al 2006;Hartland 2011).…”

A comparative study of Hispano-Moorish and Italian Renaissance lustred majolicas by using X-ray absorption spectroscopy

“…In this way, beautiful iridescent reections of different colours (in particular gold and ruby-red) are obtained. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The characterisation and the study of lustre decorated majolicas is of considerable interest for archaeologists and scientists, offering possibilities to produce pottery with outstanding decoration following ancient examples, because nowadays artisans are interested in the reproduction of ancient recipes and procedures. The lustre technique, originally developed in Iraq, later spread to Egypt, Persia and Spain, following the expansion of the Arabian culture during medieval time.…”