Tentative differentiation between Iznik tiles and copies with Raman spectroscopy using both laboratory and portable instruments

Iznik tiles dated from the 16th century, copies of tiles and pottery of Theodore Deck from the 19th century and also tiles without any information on their origin were analyzed with both laboratory and portable Raman instruments. As the original tiles are generally fixed on the walls of historical buildings, the portable Raman spectrometer is more convenient for the analysis but the information obtained from the spectra is not very useful because of the medium resolution and complex baseline of the instrument in spite of its speed and ease of use. The Raman signature of the glazes is the most pertinent and easily accessible fingerprint of the artifacts. The differentiation between Iznik ceramics and other samples could be made with Raman spectrometers, according to the specific signature of Si-O stretching and bending bands of Iznik glazes. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.