Lead provenance for medieval decorated tile glazes from Brittany and Anjou (13th-14th c.)
International audience; Medieval pavements composed of lead-glazed tiles decorated with a variety of techniques continue to inspire questions about the organisation of glaze manufacture, and the supply and origin of lead materials. The tiles analysed in this study are from Suscinio I (a 13th-century pavement) and Suscinio II (a 14th-century pavement), at the Château of Suscinio in Brittany, and also from the 14th-century pavement at the fortified manor house in Brain-sur-Allonnes, Anjou. Lead isotope analysis (LIA) was used to examine samples from 44 lead-glazed tiles, 29 of which are transparent, while 15 are tin-opacified (an exogenous technique in these regions during this period). Five …
Evidence of tin-glazed earthenware technique experimenting in Brittany
International audience; In France, during the medieval period, tin-glazed earthenware technique is neither defined nor implanted nor named and its expression appears essentially in the form of floor tiles. The decorated tile pavement found in place in the chapel extra muros at the Dukes of Suscinio castle (France, Morbihan, Sarzeau) is symptomatic of this. Its study comes within the context of a wider pluridisciplinary research dedicated to a better knowledge of tin-glazed earthenware technique transmission and ways of diffusion in France.Precisely dated from the years 1330-1350, remarkable in the variety of the ceramic techniques employed as well as the iconographic repertoire, this decora…
Origin and Development of French Faience: The Contribution ofArchaeology and the Physical Sciences
International audience; French tin-glazed earthenware, or faience, is commonlyfound during excavations in mainland North America,where it is usually identified using morpho-stylistic typologies based on regional styles. Since the 1970s, developmentof the archaeology of French production sites and of awell-crafted archaeometric methodology has led to a better understanding of the specific technical characteristicsof this type of earthenware. Using control samples fromfaience factory dumps, many traditional attributions havebeen revised and some historical interpretations have beenreviewed. Such advances are particularly important formaterial culture studies in former French colonial areas.
Faïence française
International audience
Faïences françaises de Nevers (XVII e-XVIII e s.) : Matériaux et techniques de fabrication de la production de « grand feu »
International audience; Matériau de luxe à l'origine, la faïence en France connaît une évolution technologique en croissante complexification qui correspond en fait à celle des Temps modernes, et court jusqu'à la mise en place de la société industrielle à la fin du XIX e siècle. Considéré comme le « berceau de la faïence française » puisqu'il a permis l'installation définitive de cette technique en France et sa diffusion, le centre faïencier de Nevers produit de manière continue depuis la fin du XVI e siècle. Il peut donc être considéré comme particulièrement représentatif pour l'étude de ce phénomène culturel, encore trop fréquemment réduit à des études iconographiques. Pour les XVII e et …