Portuguese tin-glazed earthenware from the 17th century. Part 2: A spectroscopic characterization of pigments, glazes and pastes of the three main production centers.

Sherds representative of the three Portuguese faience production centers of the 17th century - Lisbon, Coimbra and Vila Nova were studied with the use of mostly non-invasive spectroscopies, namely: ground state diffuse reflectance absorption (GSDR), micro-Raman, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and proton induced X-ray (PIXE) or X-ray fluorescence emission (XRF). X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were also performed. The obtained results evidence a clear similarity in the pastes of the pottery produced Vila Nova and some of the ceramic pastes from Lisbon, in accordance with documental sources that described the use of Lisbon clays by Vila Nova potters, at least since mid 17th century. Quartz and Gehlenite are the main components of the Lisbon's pastes, but differences between the ceramic pastes were detected pointing out to the use of several clay sources. The spectroscopic trend exhibited Coimbra's pottery is remarkably different, Quartz and Diopside being the major components of these pastes, enabling one to well define a pattern for these ceramic bodies. The blue pigment from the Lisbon samples is a cobalt oxide that exists in the silicate glassy matrix, which enables the formation of detectable cobalt silicate microcrystals in most productions of the second half of the 17th century. No micro-Raman cobalt blue signature could be detected in the Vila Nova and Coimbra blue glazes. This is in accordance with the lower kiln temperatures in these two production centers and with Co(2+) ions dispersed in the silicate matrix. In all cases the white glaze is obtained with the use of tin oxide. Hausmannite was detected as the manganese oxide mineral used to produce the purple glaze (wine color "vinoso") in Lisbon.

[Nicolò Paganini: Devil's violinist because of abnormal hands?--New investigations using a bronze cast from the right hand]. / Nicolò Paganini: Teufelsgeiger durch abnorme Hände?--Neue Untersuchungen eines Bronzegipsabgusses der rechten Hand.

This paper presents new measurements of a bronze cast from the right hand of the famous Italian violin virtuoso Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840). These are compared to anthropometric standard values. In addition, detailed dorsal and palmar views of the cast are shown. With a middle finger length of 75 mm, the palm width is 60 mm and the hand length 152 mm, which is significantly below the 5% percentile of today's standard values. Also the finger length index (0.55), the ratio of finger length to palm length (0.98) and the ratio of finger length to palm width (1.25) are significantly above normal limits. Hence, Paganini had abnormal hand measurements with a very small palm and relatively "long" fingers. This remarkable constellation, among others, could have been advantageous for his amazing skills as a violinist.

An original case of tin dental fillings from 18th century northern France.

During the 18th century, France was the leader in the field of dentistry, exemplified by Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761), who was given the title "the father of modern dentistry" for his comprehensive work, Le Chirurgien Dentiste. This paper examines an 18th century dental treatment in a barely 50-year-old male whose body was excavated from Saint Amé's Collegiate Church, Douai, France. This individual had 6 dental restorations, exceptional for that period. All fillings were on the occlusal surfaces of molars and extended at least to the superficial dentin. Panoramic and retro-alveolar radiography confirmed the presence of a radio-opaque filling material, and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and x-ray diffraction analyses demonstrated the exclusive presence of tin in these restorations.

Development of a nondestructive method for underglaze painted tiles--demonstrated by the analysis of Persian objects from the nineteenth century.

The paper presents an analytical method developed for the nondestructive study of nineteenth-century Persian polychrome underglaze painted tiles. As an example, 9 tiles from French and German museum collections were investigated. Before this work was undertaken little was known about the materials used in pottery at that time, although the broad range of colors and shades, together with their brilliant glazes, made these objects stand out when compared with Iranian ceramics of the preceding periods and suggested the use of new pigments, colorants, and glaze compositions. These materials are thought to be related to provenance and as such appropriate criteria for art-historical attribution. The analytical method is based on the combination of different nondestructive spectroscopic techniques using microfocused beams such as proton-induced X-ray emission/proton-induced gamma-ray emission, X-ray fluorescence, 3D X-ray absorption near edge structure, and confocal Raman spectroscopy and also visible spectroscopy. It was established to address the specific difficulties these objects and the technique of underglaze painting raise. The exact definition of the colors observed on the tiles using the Natural Color System helped to attribute them to different colorants. It was possible to establish the presence of Cr- and U-based colorants as new materials in nineteenth-century Persian tilemaking. The difference in glaze composition (Pb, Sn, Na, and K contents) as well as the use of B and Sn were identified as a potential marker for different workshops.

[Tin bubble pots]. / A propos des pots à bouillon d'étain.

In the sixteenth century Ambroise Pard uses of an hermetic pewter pot to obtain a beef-tea as a medical therapy. He describes the protocol to prepare it and the way to ordain the beef-tea to patients. The same hermetic spheric pewter pot is always in use in the middle of nineteenth century. At that period the discovery of creatin confirms the usefulness of that medical pewter pot who seems to be an only French production.