Non-destructive Analysis and Deterioration Study of a Decorated Famille Rose Porcelain Bowl of Qianlong Reign from the Forbidden City

Abstract

In August 2014, a pit containing more than 10000 porcelain shards was excavated in the southwestern area of the Palace Museum. Reign marks and other stylistic criteria dated the manufacture of these fragments from the reign of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368–98 CE) to the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty (1875–1908 CE). A famille rose (fencai, 粉彩) bowl decorated with a red-ground peony pattern and having the reign mark of Qianlong (1736–96 CE) on the base was studied using several non-destructive analytical methods to determine the variation in overglaze compositions, the colorants, the application sequences, the thickness of the colored layers and the high-temperature porcelain glaze, and the identification of the surface weathering products that formed during burial. The methods include non-destructive X-ray fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, optical stereomicroscopy, and laser confocal microscopy, as well as X-ray diffraction.

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