The Technology Transfer from Europe to China in the 17th–18th Centuries: Non-Invasive On-Site XRF and Raman Analyses of Chinese Qing Dynasty Enameled Masterpieces Made Using European Ingredients/Recipes

Two masterpieces of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912 CE), one in gilded brass (incense burner) decorated with cloisonné enamels stylistically attributed to the end of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign, the other in gold (ewer offered by Napoleon III to the Empress as a birthday present), decorated with both cloisonné and painted enamels bearing the mark of the Qianlong Emperor, were non-invasively studied by optical microscopy, Raman microspectroscopy and X-ray microfluorescence spectroscopy (point measurements and mapping) implemented on-site with mobile instruments. The elemental compositions of the metal substrates and enamels are compared. XRF point measurements and mappings support the identification of the coloring phases and elements obtained by Raman microspectroscopy. Attention was paid to the white (opacifier), blue, yellow, green, and red areas. The demonstration of arsenic-based phases (e.g., lead arsenate apatite) in the blue areas of the ewer, free of manganese, proves the use of cobalt imported from Europe. The high level of potassium confirms the use of smalt as the cobalt source. On the other hand, the significant manganese level indicates the use of Asian cobalt ores for the enamels of the incense burner. The very limited use of the lead pyrochlore pigment (European Naples yellow recipes) in the yellow and soft green cloisonné enamels of the Kangxi incense burner, as well as the use of traditional Chinese recipes for other colors (white, turquoise, dark green, red), reinforces the pioneering character of this object in technical terms at the 17th–18th century turn. The low level of lead in the cloisonné enamels of the incense burner may also be related to the use of European recipes. On the contrary, the Qianlong ewer displays all the enameling techniques imported from Europe to obtain a painted decoration of exceptional quality with the use of complex lead pyrochlore pigments, with or without addition of zinc, as well as cassiterite opacifier.

Morphological Bias of Ancient Artifacts: A Case Study of Incense Burners in Ming and Qing Dynasties

This study verifies the relevance of the combination of traditional Chinese artifacts and perceptual semantic research. It provides new research ideas to study the Chinese artifact culture. Moreover, it helps people to understand the cultural spirit better and design crystallization of traditional artifacts. This study considered Chinese traditional incense burners in Ming and Qing dynasties to adopt morphological analysis and affinity diagram to select representative experimental samples. Furthermore, this research applied the perceptual engineering theory to explore the relation between design group’s description of perceptual semantics and the shape of incense burners. The focuses were the design group on the shape and style of ancient artifacts in aesthetic consideration. According to the results of semantic principal component analysis, the perceptual semantic bias of the design group towards incense burners was concentrated, which is related to the style acceptance of incense burners. Among these related incense burner styles, the design group paid more attention to the proportional design of “incense burner foot” in the perceptual bias of incense burner shape and preferred the proportional incense burner shape of “long foot.”

Modeling of Hong Seok-gu’s Seals

In May 1968, 83 seals were excavated from the tomb of Hong Seok-gu, one of the literati in the mid-Joseon dynasty. Hong was a literator who designed and engraved the seal by himself in the 17th century. The lifetime of Hong Seok-gu was reorganized through the Buried Epitaph(墓誌銘) by Lee Dan-ha(李端夏) and the Tombstone Inscription(墓碣銘) by Jeong Ho(鄭澔). which revealed that he was often dismissed from the public office and assigned to the local government. Therefore, he repeatedly resigned and retired from his office. It is assumed that his personal misfortune allowed him to devote his time and space in engraving the seals. The style of his seals was influenced from the famous Andong Kim clan(安東 金門). He carved high-quality seals using various ancient seal script(古篆體) introduced in the calligraphy circles(書壇) with 38 seal script(篆書) including small seal script(小篆) and jade chopsticks seal script(玉筯篆). In addition, he applied composition techniques(章法) which were creatively transformed from the method of putting both depressed and embossed engraving into one seal(朱白相間法), a popular way in the 17th century. He also held his experimental point of view in the composition techniques of the seals shaped of an ancient coin(孔方錢). Regarding the poetry seal(詞句印), his brilliant sense of modeling is noticeable in combining literature with figuration. Shapes such as a small table for a incense burner(香佐兒), a liquor bottle(酒甁), and an arrow throwing pot(投壺) implied literature, while seals carved with <Jeilgangsan(第一江山)>, <Gyosang-noin(橋上老人)> and <Daimyoung-cheonha-ilseosaeng(大明天下一書生)> were employed to attempt shaping with literature. The characteristic of this style is recognized as an artistic accomplishment of the seals in the Joseon dynasty, which was different from the seals of Ming dynasty following the style of the Han dynasty.

Incense burners and altar dishes of the Sargatka Culture

The paper concerns the so-called incense burners and small altar dishes found in the burial complexes of the Sargatka Culture in the forest-steppe region of the Western Siberia, as well as in the burials of the Cis-Urals nomads of the 4th–2nd c. BC, which were used for burning and incensing of various substances. Compilation of materials allows forming a clearer view on the possible function of these objects, which is debatable amongst the researchers. The incense burners are small cylindrical stone or pottery vessels with considerable amount of tal-cum in the pottery clay. The altar dishes represent round, oval or subrectangular objects made of stone and clay with or without legs. The cylinder-shaped incense burners and altar dishes are, apparently, similar in function to each other. The absence of a high rim on the latter is compensated by a large area of the dish itself. The volume of the incensed substance would be nearly the same in both types of the burners, while sustaining burning on the altar-dishes would not require special means, such as wall penetrations alike those in the cylindrical incense burners. Few preserved burials contain incense burners alongside other, in our opinion related, objects — flat-bottom vessels, sometimes with stone bases, which allows econstruction of the implement in its assembled form and suggestion of a method of its application. The main item was an incense burner — a container of a cylindrical or conical shape, usually with through-holes in the wall to allow air intake inside the ware, sometimes having nip-ple-shaped protrusions on the inner surface of the bottom increasing the surface area of contact with the incense substance. The incense burner would have been placed in a flat-bottom jar filled with smoldering embers and installed on a fire-resistant base. The studied objects and their handling resemble the ceremonial described by Herodotus as a ritual purification amongst the Scythians. However, in our opinion, it cannot be ruled out that they could have been used in the rituals involving hallucinogenic substances, performed with the aim of prophesizing, divination, to communicate with gods and spirits, which were practised by people of the Sarmatian and Sargatian (at least in the western part of the area) Cultures and administered, most likely, by special, elected persons. When those persons die, the implements would be placed into their burials as a grave goods.

BURIAL ASSEMBLAGES OF THE BRONZE AND THE EARLY IRON AGES FROM THE USPENSKIY I AND USPENSKIY II KURGAN CEMETERIES IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF THE STAVROPOL REGION

В статье публикуются материалы эпохи бронзы и раннего железного века из курганных могильников Успенский I и Успенский II (Новоалександровский район Ставропольского края). Из них два относятся к раннекатакомбному времени (втор. четв. III тыс. до н. э.), пять – к позднекатакомбному (третья четв. III тыс. до н. э.), одно – к сарматской культуре (II–I вв. до н. э.), достоверная датировка еще двух погребений невозможна. Из погребений эпохи средней бронзы наибольший интерес представляет серия позднекатакомбных комплексов, соединяющая в себе элементы восточноманычской, батуринской и суворовской традиций, что связано с местоположением изученных могильников в контактной зоне трех указанных культурных феноменов. Сарматское погребение, являясь довольно типичным для своего культурного круга, выделяется наличием редкой разновидности культового сосуда – курильницы. The paper publishes materials of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age from two burial grounds, namely, Uspenskiy I and Uspenskiy II (Novoaleksandrovsk district of the Stavropol region). Two assemblages are dated to the Early Catacomb period (the second quarter of 3rd mill. BC) whereas five assemblages are dated to the Late Catacomb period (third quarter of 3rd mill. BC), one assemblage is attributed to the Sarmatian culture (2nd – 1st century BC). Reliable dating of two more burials is not possible. A series of Late Catacomb assemblages that combine elements of the Eastern Manych, Baturin and Suvorovskaya traditions explained by the location of the excavated cemeteries in the contact zone between these three cultures is of the greatest interest. While being rather typical for its cultural circle, the Sarmatian grave is notable for presence of a rare type of a ritual vessel – incense-burner.