Scientific testing

[peterp]

Those who read my article in respect to scientific authentication in the main site may know that I'm not in favor of TL (Thermoluminescence) testing, as it based on an axiom. In addition it is more suitable for more ancient ceramics with a very thick wall, but not at all for fine porcelain, which be damaged by the sample extraction. In addition, this method only can tell that an item belongs to a certain (fairly wide) age range.

What is now getting more used and is more reliable (no axiom) is XRF and/or XRD testing using X-rays which will not damage the item. Together with spectroanalysis using laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS) these are getting more common. They decide the material components. Together with a comparison to analysis data from potential kiln sites which are candidates as the manufacturing area, these methods can pinpoint the area and age of an item better. The clay composition is usually different according to the location of each kiln mining site and depth. If the shard mounds of a kiln are analyzed they should provide a pretty good picture of the composition of the ceramics made here.

For those more interested in scientific data can find an interesting paper here regarding XRF, in PDF format:
www.academia.edu/41623932/Handheld_X_ray_Fluorescence_XRF_Versus_Wavelength_Dispersive_XRF_Characterization_of_Chinese_Blue_and_White_Porcelain_Sherds_Using_Handheld_and_Laboratory_Type_XRF_Instruments