ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT IRANIAN LUSTER DECORATED POTTERY

Abstract

Luster is a special type of decoration, which gives ceramics a particular iridescent gold translucency and was applied to the medieval surface of glazed pottery. In this work the PIXE technique has been applied to luster pottery dated back from the 10th to the 13th centuries, excavated in Neishabur, Ray and Kashan, located in the northeast and in the central part of Iran. The principal elements of the glaze were detected, as well as the elements which characterize the luster, such as Cu and Ag . The elemental concentrations of Ti , Mn , Fe , Co , Cu , Zn , Ag , Sn and Pb were also obtained from the PIXE analysis. This study clearly demonstrates that in addition to firing conditions and the presence of impurities in glaze, the ratio of Cu 2 O/Ag 2 O determines the color effect of luster.