Submission : 13967
Thesis proposal CSC 2015
Title:
Chromogenic mechanisms of the blue decoration in the blue and white porcelain
during China Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368 AD)
Thesis supervisor:
Philippe Sciau
E-mail address:
[email protected]
PhD School name:
Physics, Chemistry & Material Sciences (SDM)
Research Laboratory:
CEMES
Laboratory website:
[email protected]
Scientific domain:
%scientific_domain
Subject short description:
Blue and white porcelain, one of the most world famous ceramics both for its
skillful manufacturing technology and artistic merits, was not only popular in
China but was also used and intensively collected in many other countries.
According to the latest archaeological discovery, this porcelain was successfully
invented in Gong Xian (Henan province) during the Tang Dynasty (618- 907AD)
[1-2]. However, it was, during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368AD) in Jingdezhen
(Jiangxi province), that the blue and white porcelain was developed and achieved
its maturity [3-4]. Since the Yuan Dynasty, large numbers of the blue and white
porcelain were exported to different countries, which greatly enriched the world
ceramic markets. From the beginning of the 17th century, with the development of
relations between China and Europe, the importations of Chinese porcelains
increased in Europe, and especially the ones of blue and white porcelains, which
has played a key role in the development of European fine faience, for example the
delftware (Delft region, Netherlands), and later European porcelains [5,6]. So for a
long time, the chromogenic mechanisms of blue and white porcelain of the Yuan
dynasty, which related to the chemical composition of cobalt material and the
firing process of porcelain, has caught the attention of many experts in different
fields.
Blue decoration, constituted of a mix of different crystallized oxides with different
sizes embedded in a glass matrix, is a complex system whose understanding of the
optical properties requires a description of structure at different scales from
nanometer to millimeter, as well as the identification of the relationships among
the different scales. Recently, some scholars attempt to employ modern
instrumental facilities to provide new information concerning micro-structure and
chemical states of metal elements in Yuan & Ming dynasty productions (1279-1644
AD). To be specific, TEM study found both iron and manganese oxides and based
on the crystal size and its degree of growth, the chromogenic mechanisms of blue
and white porcelain have been discussed [7]. The existence of iron and manganese
oxides mixed with cobalt oxides was also attested by synchrotron experiments in
the porcelain produced in the official kiln factory in the early Ming dynasty [8]. The
Mixed cobalt aluminum oxide (CoAl2O4) was also detected in these productions
[9]. The Co2+/Co3+ ratio was determined by XANES for samples from different
historical periods Yuan and Ming dynasties [10]. Despite significant progress, lots
of important questions still have not been resolved.
The aim of this thesis is to tackle the problem of chromogenic mechanisms using a
multi-scale approach based on the complementary investigation facilities of the
French and Chinese teams. For this different techniques will be use and in
particular the transmission electron microscopy and Full-field XANES experiment
at the Co and Fe K-edges. We think that the key parameters to understand the
chromatic variation are not only the elemental composition and the size of oxide
particles but also their association and their spatial distributions. Our previous
study [11] showed that Full-field XANES is perfectly suitable for a spectro-spatial
analysis of ceramics at sufficient spatial resolution and we want use the same
approach to study a set of typical Yuan porcelain shards selected on the basis of
lab analysis and archaeological data. Our research could not only explain the
difference in outside appearance, and but also could provide a great deal of
information about the firing protocol which is a key step of the manufacturing
process, and eventually will be an important basis for writing the history of ancient
ceramic. More importantly, through this project, it could further strengthen the
cooperation on both research and education between Centre d'Elaboration de
Matériaux et d'Etudes Structurales (associated with Toulouse University) and Sun
Yat-sen University. Moreover, It will also contribute to promote the cultural &
scientific communication between France and China.
1) X. Sun, L. H. Liu, Z. Zhao, M. Guo, M. Bo, J. Tian, J. Zhang, L. Shen, Y. Zhou, L.
Liu. M. Q. Guo, Huaxia Archaeology, 2007, 4, 106
2) J.S Chen, F.F Chen, ISAC’05, Shanghai :Shanghai Sci-tech Press, 2005, 147
3) J. Li, History of Science and Technology in China, Ceramics Volume. Science
Press, Beijing, 1998, 370-375
4) F.K Zhang, Science of Chinese ancient ceramic, Shanghai : Shanghai art press,
2000, 118.
5) H. He. Ceramic Studies Journal, 2000, 1, 41.
6) C. J. A. Jorg, Interaction in the ceramics oriental porcelain and Delfware,
Hongkong: Press of Hongkong musuem of art, 1984.
7) Y.C. Chen, Y.Y . Guo, Z.G. Zhang, China ceramics. 1981, 2, 35.
8) L. D. Kock, D. De Waal, J. Raman Spectrosc., 2007, 38, 1480.
9) J. Zuo, G. Du, N. Wu, C. Wang, The journal of Light Scattering, 2007, 19, 395.
10) L. H. Wang, C. S. Wang, J. Anal. At. Spectrom, 2011, 26, 1796.
11) F. Meirer, et al., (2013). J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, 28, 1870
Two major publications in the domain of PhD:
1) Full-field XANES analysis of Roman ceramics to estimate firing conditions - A
novel probe to study hierarchical heterogeneous materials. F. Meirer, Y. Liu, E.
Pouyet, B. Fayard, M. Cotte, C. Sanchez, J. C. Andrews, A. Mehta, Ph. Sciau
(2013). J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 28 (12), 1870–1883 (DOI: 10.1039/c3ja50226k).
2) Learning from the past: Rare ε-Fe2O3 in the ancient black-glazed Jian
(Tenmoku) wares. C. Dejoie, Ph. Sciau, W. Li, L. Noé, A. Mehta, K. Chen, H. Luo,
M. Kunz, N. Tamura, Z. Liu (2014). Sci. Rep. 4, 4941 (DOI:10.1038/srep04941).
Keywords: Chinese Porcelain, Chromogenic mechanisms, synchrotron
techniques, Full-Field XANES,
Expected collaboration in China:
Archaeometry Lab (Sun Yat-sen Univerisity)
First name and family name of the laboratory director:
Alain Claverie
Address of the laboratory director:
29 rue J Marvig, BP 94347, 31055 Toulouse
Signature and stamp of the laboratory director:
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