Chemical and mineralogical characterization of ancient Portuguese ceramic tiles of the first quarter of the XVIIIth century

Flor, Pedro; Carvalho, Ana Paula; Vaz, Fátima; Flor, Susana Varela; Esteves, Lurdes; Carvalho, Rosário Salema de

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11323

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Authors

Carvalho, Rosário Salema de

Abstract(s)

The main objective of the present work is to establish a correlation between the characteristics of the ceramic body of ancient tiles and the workshop where they were made. The work was carried out with tiles from the Museu Nacional do Azulejo collection, but the aim is to study the most important period of the history of tiles in Portugal, the first quarter of the 18th century, the so called Ciclo dos Mestres (Master’s Cycle). In the present work, we make use of SEM-EDS and DRX to determine the major constituents of the ceramic body, as well as to evaluate the procedure used to produce the tiles. Signed and unsigned tiles were used. The analysis of the chemical composition, mineralogical phases, shape and size of particles combined with historical information allowed to conclude that the tiles of the panel Vista de Lisboa (MNAz inv. 1) and Senhora dos Corações have identical global chemical composition but not the same mineralogical characteristics. Two other tiles featuring King Charles II (MNAz inv. 691) and his wife Queen Catherine of Braganza (MNAz inv. 690), present different properties, which indicate another provenience of the clay materials and, probably, another workshop and painter.

Description

Seminário Internacional de Conservação de Azulejos – Conservation of Glazed Ceramic Tiles – organizado pelo LNEC e realizado em Lisboa de 15-16 de abril de 2009.