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Featured article - The Qianlong Emperor's order: scientific analysis helps find French painted enamel among Palace Museum collections

Painted enamel holds special significance in the study of the history of Chinese ceramic and glass. Painted enamel also represents interesting evidence of cultural communication between China and European countries. In the past, studies on painted enamel have mainly focused on archival research. Although modern scientific techniques have complemented research on enameled artifacts, the quality of the samples has usually been inferior. This study combines scientific analysis and archival work to explore four similar pots from the Palace Museum collection, along with the specific documentation information attached to them. Raman spectra, XRF and CT scanning were applied to compare the four pots. Results show that one of the pots is made of gold and use cassiterite and Naples yellow as opacifier and pigments, this pot bears the hidden hallmarks of a Parisian goldsmith, providing direct evidence that the pot was made in France in 1783. The other pots are proven to have been made in China, which are made of copper gilded with gold and use lead arsenate and lead tin yellow as opacifier and pigments. This work reveals a previously unnoticed route by which enamel artifacts reached the Chinese court.

Featured collection: Cleaning & Conservation

The complex challenges inherent to cleaning works of art and other cultural heritage — defined broadly as the removal of unwanted materials — have in recent years, benefited from enhanced research and practice efforts which have resulted in the development and evaluation of a range of new or modified options. These have facilitated new ways of approaching, executing, assessing and evaluating cleaning treatments across a wide range of heritage materials. This collection provides a snapshot of ongoing work, including how recent developments in cleaning tools and understanding from various projects are influencing practice and refining research questions to help achieve treatment aims while also lowering risks to users and cultural heritage, as well as enhancing sustainability.

Image: Analyzing the surfaces of Winsor and Newton oil paint swatches using Fourier Transform Infrared–Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR–ATR) spectroscopy at Tate. © J. Paul Getty Trust. 

Articles

2022

Advanced Analytical Techniques for Heritage Textiles
Edited by Christina Margariti, Hana Lukesova, Francisco B. Gomes
Collection published: 2 November 2022

IPERION HS: Integrating Platforms for the European Research Infrastructure on Heritage Science
Edited by Marei Hacke, Jana Striova, Matija Strlič
Collection published: 7 September 2022

Preventive Conservation, Predictive Analysis and Environmental Monitoring
Edited by Ángel F. Perles, Laura Fuster-López, Emanuela Bosco
Collection published: 3 August 2022 

Thoroughly Modern: Investigating Materials and Techniques
Edited by Ana Martins, Abed Haddad
Collection published: 25 May 2022

2021

Cleaning and Conservation
Edited by Bronwyn Ormsby, Angelica Bartoletti, Klaas van den Berg, Chis Stavroudis
Collection published: 3 November 2021

Space Technologies for Sustainable Heritage: 10th Anniversary of HIST
Collection published: 1 June 2021

2020

The Network Initiative for Conservation Science (NICS): Building Bridges across New York City Museums
Edited by Federica Pozzi and Elena Basso
Collection published: 8 August 2020

Pigments, dyes, and colors in Latin american archaeometric investigations
Edited by Marcela Sepulveda, Edgar Casanova
Collection published: 20 May 2020

2019

NANORESTART: Nanomaterials for the restoration of works of art
Edited by Piero Baglioni
Collection published: 31 October 2019

The Girl in the Spotlight: A technical re-examination of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring
Edited by Abbie Vandivere
Collection published: 29 August 2019

13th IRUG Conference
Edited by Paula Dredge
Collection published: 16 August 2019
 

2018

5th International Congress on Chemistry for Cultural Heritage
Edited by Dr Elena Badea
Collection published: 23 November 2018

Manuscripts in the Making
Edited by Dr Paola Ricciardi
Collection published: 9 March 2018


2017

Historic Monuments of the World
Collection published: 10 October 2017

2nd International Conference on Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage, and Archaeology
Edited by Prof. Heather Viles, Dr Yun Lieu and Dr Karina Rodriguez Echavarria
Collection published: 30 January 2017

4th International Congress on Chemistry for Cultural Heritage
Edited by Dr Geert van der Snickt
Collection published: 24 January 2017


2016

Heritage Science in Australia
Collection published: 22 December 2016

The SEAHA-CDT collection
Edited by: Dr Josep Grau-Bove
Collection published: 7 November 2016

Shedding light on the past: Optical Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage
Edited by: Prof. Demetrios Anglos
Collection published: 14 April 2016


2015

Imaging and Analysis of Cultural Heritage Materials
Edited by: Dr Edward Vicenzi
Collection published: 1 December 2015

11th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality in Heritage and Historic Environments
Edited by: Dr Jiri Smolik
Collection published: 22 September 2015

Archaeometry international workshop: XRF and Raman applied in archaeology
Edited by: Dr Marcela Sepulveda
Collection published: 11 June 2015

3rd International Congress on Chemistry for Cultural Heritage
Edited by: Prof. Manfred Schreiner, Dr Rita Wiesinger
Collection published: 2 April 2015


2014

VIII Italian National Congress of Archaeometry
Edited by: Prof Colombini Maria Perla, Dr Alessandra Bonazza
Collection published: 15 December 2014

Technart 2013: Analytical Spectroscopy in Art and Archaeology, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 23-26 September 2013
Collection published: 30 May 2014


2013

Scientific Methods in Archaeology
Edited by: Dr Kaare Lund Rasmussen
Collection published: 6 June 2013

International Conference on Modern Chemical Technology in the Protection of Cultural Heritage, China 2012
Edited by: Prof Ling He
Collection published: 15 April 2013

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Heritage Science welcomes proposals for new special article collections on timely topics relating to its aims and scope. If you have a suggestion for a topical collection that you think should be featured in the journal, please click on the link to access a suggestion form. 

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Aims and Scope

Heritage Science is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research covering scientific, mathematical and computational methods and analysis of objects, materials, artefacts and artworks of cultural and historical significance in the context of heritage and conservation studies.

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Editor-in-Chief Professor Richard BreretonRichard Brereton, Editor-in-Chief
Prof Richard Brereton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Statistical Society and Royal Society of Medicine. He graduated with a BA, MA and PhD from the University of Cambridge. He has published some 400 articles, including 8 books, and has been cited around 4500 times. He has given over 150 invited lectures in 30 countries. 

He is currently director of Brereton Consultancy and Emeritus Professor at the University of Bristol. His interests are primarily in data analysis, including pattern recognition as applied to primarily analytical data from various sources including objects of cultural significance.

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