About this Abstract |
Meeting |
MS&T22: Materials Science & Technology
|
Symposium
|
Art and Cultural Heritage: Discoveries during the Pandemic Year
|
Presentation Title |
Collaboration to Develop and Validate a Microanalytical Methodology to Analyze Early European Porcelains to Predict Firing Temperatures |
Author(s) |
Thomas F. Lam, Grace M. Dunham, Jessica Walthew, Sarah Barack, William M. Carty |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
William M. Carty |
Abstract Scope |
During the pandemic, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (CHSDM) and Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) initiated a research project focused on 18th Century European porcelains. The work required removal of original material from these collections, generally sub-millimeter in size, which were sent to MCI in Maryland. As talks and work progressed, the initial research questions expanded to include developing a microanalytical methodology to analyze these samples. The goal was to volumetrically document the crystalline phases (typically quartz and mullite) and calculate the glass chemistry of the porcelains, thereby yielding information about firing temperatures based on bulk analytical techniques. A third collaborator, Alfred University, joined the project to provide surrogate samples to confirm the proposed technique. This talk will share how this complex partnership, with collaborators located in three different geographic locations, was able progress during the pandemic. |