PIXE-RBS survey of a Meissen Porcelain snuff box: First version or not?


PIXE-RBS survey of a Meissen Porcelain snuff box: First version or not?

Neelmeijer, C.; Roscher, R.

This 18th century object with delicate on-glaze decorations let arise doubts regarding its complete originality. Comparing both base body and cover, the shades of porcelain glazing differ visually. Moreover, the painting shows slight differences in color and flow. Simultaneous PIXE and RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry) using the 4-MeV proton beam in air [1] proved ideal to get convincing answers. The maximum proton beam intensity was only 200 pA for 30 s acquisition time in order to ensure non-destructive analysis of the very sensitive material.
For the green colorant of leaves of trees, painted on both bottom and cover, the artist used copper green pigment [2]. For painting the bottom of the base body Cu was the starting material; brass was certainly applied for the cover as deduced from additional Zn lines displayed by PIXE. In the latter case the green pigment was obviously brightened by the addition of Co. Pink decoration of the cover could be identified as made from purple due to small Au-L lines. They were not visible analysing the pink skirt, painted on the bottom, because of superimposed intense Pb-L lines originating from the glazing. Comparatively, the X-ray spectrum obtained from pure glazing of the cover shows much lower Pb-L intensity. RBS was helpful for getting information on the depth distributions of Pb regarding the different types of glazing. This is illustrated in the graphs below. Whereas the bottom of the porcelain box comprises thick and lead containing glazing, the RBS spectrum taken from glazing of the cover makes clear that only little Pb exists, which is localized at the glazing surface. This can be attributed to a surface polishing process carried out in the past.

References: [1] C. Neelmeijer and M. Mäder, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B 189, 293 (2002).
[2] M. Mields, Keramische Zeitschrift 8, 453 (1963).

Keywords: Analysis; non-destructive; ion beam; PIXE; RBS; porcelain; on-glaze decoration

  • Lecture (Conference)
    12th International Conference on Particle Induced X-Ray Emission and its Analytical Applications, 27.06.-02.07.2010, Guildford, UK
  • X-Ray Spectrometry 41(2012)2, 93-97
    Online First (2012) DOI: 10.1002/xrs.2371
    Cited 1 times in Scopus

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