The composition and technology of polychrome enamels on Chinese ruby‐backed plates identified through nondestructive micro‐X‐ray fluorescence

Abstract

This research presents non‐destructive analyses of Chinese enamelled copper and porcelain decorated with polychrome enamels. This study utilises two key, high‐value art works with complex enamelling in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK) to elucidate the composition and technology of objects with ruby‐backed decoration. These plates date from early Qing dynasty and are associated with the Yongzheng (1723–1735) and early Qianlong (1735–1796) periods. The goal of this research is to investigate the hypothesis that ruby‐backed plates in these two mediums are decorated with the same enamels and possibly manufactured in mutual enamelling workshops, which is a current topic of debate among scholars. Ten different enamel colours and the gilding on each plate were analysed and evaluated with micro‐X‐ray fluorescence to study the opacifiers and pigments. The results show that the enamels on these two works utilise the same opacifier and the consistent pigments in the white, ruby, pink, green, yellow, turquoise green, and blue enamels. Compositional differences were identified in the underdrawings, purple enamels, and gilding. The results demonstrate that Chinese painted enamels and overglazes on porcelain share mutual technology in most, but not all, of the polychrome decoration, which impacts upon our knowledge of technological organisation in the manufacture of these objects. Micro‐X‐ray fluorescence has been shown to be an effective and robust technique for the nondestructive study of decorative surfaces in these two material types.