User report - Eu-ARTECH

Access, Research and Technology for the
Conservation of the European Cultural Heritage
Structuring the European Research Area - Research Infrastructures
MOLAB Access
MOLAB User Report
Project: Non-destructive investigations of black glazed and painted
early Meissen stoneware (Böttger Stoneware) in the Porcelain Collection
of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden.
User Group Leader: Annette Loesch, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, DE.
Location: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, DE.
MOLAB responsibles: C. Miliani (UNI-PG).
During the 18 th century lacquerware from the Far East was collected at all European courts
and displayed in dedicated cabinets. The rulers of Saxony even decorated whole rooms in
keeping with the vogue for ‘chinoiserie’ to provide a fitting background for their collectibles.
Böttger Stoneware articles were the very first products of the famous Meissen Porcelain
Manufactory. Production of red Böttger Stoneware began in 1708. Some of these items were
glazed in black and then decorated with coloured paints or sometimes with gilt décor applied
by means of organic binding media.
Fig. 1 - Böttger Stoneware in Dresden.

Böttger Stoneware objects were designed as precious aristocratic collectors’ items. Initially,
Chinese porcelain and Chinese lacquer work were mimicked, but gradually the products
developed into a more complex synthesis that incorporated the artists’ own Baroque stylistic
elements.
Today Böttger Stoneware is considered extremely rare and is avidly sought after by national
and international collections. The Porcelain Collection Dresden owns by far the largest group
of early Böttger Stoneware worldwide
The inorganic composition of the stoneware without glaze and painting has been investigated
in previous studies [Ullrich 1990; Neelmeijer 2003; ISIS Experimental Report 2003]. But
virtually no information exists about the technology and chemical composition of the
decorative artwork on this glazed stoneware. In its early phase the manufactory faced serious
technical problems when trying to produce coloured glaze decorations by firing. So it was
decided to use pigments bound in organic materials like resins and oils instead (described, for
example, in Johann Melchior Steinbrück’s report about the Meissen Manufactory from its
inception up to 1717).
A representative selection of 25 Böttger Stoneware objects were examined through the
MOLAB facilities in July 2006. Two non-invasive methods for the characterisation of inorganic
pigments and for the identification of organic binding media and coatings on the objects were
used, namely Fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray-fluorescence (XRF).
The objects were examined in the repository of the Porcelain Collection. FTIR was used for
the measurement of 129 points on several objects. For mid-FTIR spectroscopy, the IR beam
was delivered by fibre optic cable placed close to the surface (on the painted décor of the
vessel). Mid-FTIR spectroscopy enabled binders and coatings to be analysed, providing a
reliable classification of the organic polymers in terms of functional groups (lipids, proteins,
terpenes). The findings concerning organic coatings were compared with those of material
samples of known composition, enabling the typical binding media, dyestuffs and lakes to be
identified.
XRF analyses were carried out for identifying pigments by determining their elemental
composition (176 measuring points on 22 objects). The investigations focused on details of
the coloured and gilded décor that had been decided upon beforehand.
The two methods of investigation enabled details of the polychrome and gilt painting to be
analysed non-destructively. From the elements identified by XRF, it was possible to draw
conclusions regarding the pigments, that resulted to be those typical of the period. The FTIR
measurements also showed that organic binders were used.
The findings of the scientific investigations will appear in the forthcoming catalogue of the
Porcelain Collection’s holdings of black glazed Böttger Stoneware. Furthermore, the analytical
results will form the basis for developing long-term conservation strategies for the fragile paint
layer on the glaze of this stoneware.

References
Scientific investigations:
Ullrich, Bernd: Vergleichende Untersuchungen an historischen deutschen und chinesischen
Steinzeugen des frühen 18. Jahrhunderts. – In: Silikattechnik 41 (1990) Heft 10, S. 328-330
Neelmeijer, Christian; Mäder, Michael; Pietsch, Ulrich; Ulbricht, Heike; Walcha, Hans-Martin:
Böttger stoneware – authentic or not? in: Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus
Gesamtausgabe, ed. by E. Knobloch, Beiband zum Kolloquium aus Anlass des 350.
Geburtstages von E. W. v. Tschirnhaus am 10.4.2001 in Dresden, ed. by D. Hülsenberg,
Verlag der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2003, p.29.
See also ISIS Experimental Report, RB number 14022, date July 2003 by the Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory at http://www.isis.rl.ac.uk/isis2003/reports/14022.pdf
Crafts (Stoneware):
Loesch, Anette: An schwartz Indianischen und schwartz laquirten rothen Sächß. Porcelain. In:
Sächßisch Lacquirte Sachen. Lackkunst in Dresden unter August dem Starken. Monika
Kopplin und Gisela Haase (Hrsg.), Münster 1998, S. 71-79
Schwartz Porcelain. Die Leidenschaft für Lack und ihre Wirkung auf das europäische
Porzellan, Monika Kopplin (Hrsg.), München 2003.
Loesch, Anette; Schwarm-Tomisch, Elisabeth: “An … schwarz lacquirten rothen sächss.
Porcelain“. Die schwarz glasierten Meissener Steinzeuge aus der Sammlung Augusts des
Starken. In: Keramos 179/180, 2003, S. 61-64.
Kopplin, Monika: La peinture à la laque sur les grès de Böttger et le problème de leur
attribution à Martin Schnell" Lecture at the Sèvres Museum Society, Sèvres, Feb. 1 st , 2005.
Kopplin, Monika: Lacquer Painting on Böttger Stoneware: Three Walzenkrüge and the
problem of attribution to Martin Schnell. In: The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar June
2005, S. 27-37.
Crafts (Furniture):
Miller, Katharina von: das Lackkabinett von Martin Schnell aus dem Kunstgewerbemuseum in
Budapest. Herstellung, Restaurierungsgeschichte, vergleichende Analyse der Werktechnik.
Diplomarbeit Hildesheim, Holzminden, Göttingen 2002.
Kopplin, Monika: Chinois. Dresdener Lackkunst in Schloß Wilaów, Münster 2005.