A study of provenance and dating of ancient Chinese porcelain by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry

In order to extend the scope of employing major elements to study the evolu tion process of manufacturing techniques, we employed minor and/or trace el ements to study provenance and dating and to distinguish fake from original Chinese pottery and porcelain by energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDX RF) spectrometry, In summarizing our previous work, 85 typical Chinese whit e porcelain objects from Jingdezhen, Dehua and Hebei (Xing, Ding and Cizou) , were measured by EDXRF and further analysed statistically, We found discr iminate functions for the provenance of samples among Jingdezhen, Dehua and Hebei and also samples among Xing, Ding and Cizou in Hebei. We also derive d functions for dating samples among Yuan, Ming and Qing of Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain, and samples between Song to Yuan and Ming periods of Dehua white porcelain. Element ratios are suggested to be employed in all o f the discriminate functions in order to minimize measurement errors and to form a fast, non-destructive, comparable and reliable method for provenanc e and dating of ancient porcelain, Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Lt d.