On-site analysis of Chinese Cloisonne enamels from fifteenth to nineteenth centuries

A selection of 22 rare Chinese cloisonne enamels, from fifteenth century to nineteenth century A.D., has been studied on-site in the storage rooms of the musee des Arts decoratifs in Paris. The Raman signatures of the transparent and/or opacified glass matrix are discussed and compared with those that were previously recorded on glazed pottery, enameled and stained glasses. Enamels mostly belong to lead-based potash-lime glasses. Three different compositions, lead-potash-lime (fifteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century), soda-rich (sixteenth-seventeenth century) and soda-lime (seventeenth century) are identified according to the wavenumber maxima of the Si-O stretching and bending multiplets. Most of the pigment signatures are similar to those recorded on ceramic glazes and glass enamels, which proves the link between the technologies but a specific opacifier is observed: fluorite (CaF2). Naples Yellow pigment variations give characteristic signatures. Additionally, a comparison is made with Limoges enamels (sixteenth - nineteenth century A.D.). Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.