Steven Saverwyns

Pastel first flourished in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when prominent portraitists such as Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757), Maurice-Quentin de La Tour (1704–88) and Jean-Baptiste Pe...

Lacquerwork technologies comprise multiple techniques depending on countries, time, and traditions. Carved Asian lacquers applied on wooden objects consist of multiple thin uncolored or pigmented layers spread over the surface. To radiocarbon (¹⁴C) date these types of objects, often only the wooden structure is used. Here we report on a set of carved lacquered objects that were dated based on stylistic form,¹⁴C dating of the wooden structure and of the Asian lacquers. THM-Py-GC-MS and micro-Raman spectroscopy were used to confirm the molecular composition of the lacquers and helped assessing the pretreatment protocol. The lacquers analyzed contained between 20 and 50% wt carbon, thus 2–5 mg of sample were necessary for¹⁴C dating. The dates obtained on wood and lacquers showed a reliable correlation. The results suggest that, in most cases, it is sufficient to sample a part of the lacquer layers to date an object. We advise to perform an acid pretreatment followed by a successive solvent immersion with an increasing polarity. Dating different components of a lacquered object can also help to understand previous restoration interventions that frequently occur for ancient lacquered objects. Ceramic, metallic, and other objects covered with Asian lacquers can also be dated using this approach.

This study focuses on the very beginning of lacquerware production with chinoiserie decoration in Spa from the end of the seventeenth century to the third quarter of the eighteenth century. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the historical and material-technical context of this important historical lacquer production is elucidated. Archival research was conducted along with a stylistic study of thirty objects, mainly boxes. Furthermore, seventeen of the objects from this study group were chemically analysed for their organic ingredients, pigments and metal applications.

(2019). Editorial. Studies in Conservation: Vol. 64, European Lacquer in Context (ELinC). Postprints from the ELinC2018 Conference, pp. S1-S3.

A set of 19th-century furniture in black lacquer, on papier-mâché or on turned wood, has been subjected to an in-depth observational, historical and chemical study. The results show four different technological approaches: two for the papier-mâché objects and two for the wooden chairs. The cyclic labour-intensive lacquering procedure of repeated stoving and polishing lacquer on papier-mâché with mother-of-pearl inclusions is reflected in the cross-sections. Pinaceae resin and heated oil are frequently found, conform with surviving recipes. A variant of ‘the old form of varnish’, as historically described, was likely used. In the two pairs of wooden chairs, the lacquer layers are thinner than on the papier-mâché items. They contain copal and show different stratigraphies. These observations can be the starting point to relate technological and chemical variations to different origins. New art historical findings on lacquer production and trade in England, France and Belgium, and the study of contemporary recipes, frame the analytical results in a historical context. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT