Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains (eBook)

Professor H.G.M. Edwards M.A., B.Sc., D.Phil., C.Chem., F.R.S.C. Emeritus Professor of Molecular Spectroscopy, Director of the Centre for Astrobiology and Extremophiles Research , Faculty of Life Sciences , University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK. Honorary Scientific Adviser to The De Brecy Trust for the scientific evaluation and pigment composition of Renaissance and later period paintings.Howell Edwards studied Chemistry at Jesus College, University of Oxford. Following a Research Fellowship at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge, he took a lectureship in Structural and Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Bradford where he subsequently became Professor of Molecular Spectroscopy and Head of the Chemical and Forensic Sciences Division. In 2003, he received the Sir Harold Thompson Award from Elsevier Science for his international contributions to vibrational spectroscopy. He is the recipient of the Emanuel Boricky Medal for 2008/2009 from Charles University, Prague, for distinguished international contributions to geochemistry and mineralogical analysis. He was awarded the Charles Mann Award from the US Federation of Analytical Chemical Spectroscopic Societies in 2011 for his distinguished international work on the applications of Raman spectroscopy.In his research career he has published over 1250 papers on Raman spectroscopy and its applications and is the co-editor of five books: “A Handbook of Raman Spectroscopy: From the Research Laboratory to the Process Line” (with IR Lewis, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2001), “Raman Spectroscopy in Archaeology and Art History” (with JM Chalmers, RSC Publishing, Cambridge, 2005), “Selected Topics in Raman Spectroscopic Applications: Geology, Biomaterials and Art” (with F Rull Perez, P Vandenabeele and DC Smith, Publidisa Valladolid, 2007), “ Raman and Infrared Spectroscopy in Forensic Science” (with JM Chalmers and MD Hargreaves, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK, 2012) and “ Selected Topics in Analytical Archaeometry” (with P. Vandenabeele, RSC Publishing, Cambridge, 2012). Professor Edwards has wide-ranging interests in the applications of Raman spectroscopy to the characterisation of materials particularly in forensic, art historical, astrobiological and archaeological contexts. He is a guest editor and contributing author of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the oldest scientific journal in the world. He has been a forerunner in the Raman spectroscopic identification of chemicals produced in biodegradation processes for prehistoric and contemporary systems in an archaeological context — he first investigated the Raman spectra of Dirina lichen colonization of toxic metal substrates on Italian Renaissance wall–paintings in 1991 and has extensively studied the pigments and associated materials involved in paintings from prehistoric cave art to the 20th Century. He is science lead on the European Space agency/Roscosmos ExoMars Raman Laser spectrometer instrument in the Pasteur suite of a planetary rover which will interrogate the Martina surface and subsurface to search for biosignatures and signs of extant and extinct life, scheduled to launch in 2020, with particular responsibility for the interpretation of Raman spectroscopic biosignatures from biogeological niche environments on Mars. He is also UK representative on the ESA/Roscosmos Landing Site Selection Group dedicated to determine where the spacecraft will land on Mars for the deployment of the rover vehicle.

ForewordPrefacePrologue: The Origins of Porcelain1: Introduction and Present-Day Scenario 2 : Porcelain Manufacture in South Wales in the 19th Century 2.1. The Influence of William Billingsley 2.2 Factory Output 3 : Historical Research Issues3.1. Pattern Numbers : Absence in Nantgarw3.2. Swansea Set Pattern Numbers3.3. Attribution of Artist and Source 3.4. The Swansea and Nantgarw Artists4 : A Chronological Summary of the Billingsley Family and Their Contribution to Porcelain Manufacture and Decoration5 : Burnishing and Gilding6 : Commercial Exploitation7 . Service Types and the Importance of Nomenclature in Their Attribution7.1. Sponsors of Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains7.2. A Cautionary Word8 : Armorial Porcelains8.1. Armorial Provenancing and Historical Dating9 : Documentary Porcelain and Historical Provenancing10 : The Production of Porcelain Services10.1. Gilding versus Painting10.2. Copies of Well-Known Services10.3. Difficulties in Attribution11 : The Scientific Analysis of Porcelain11.1. Porcelain Bodies : A Scientific Appreciation11.2. The Production of Porcelain : Source Materials and Chemistry 11.3. Lewis Weston Dillwyn’s Recipes for the Swansea Porcelain Body 11.3.1. Chemistry of Phyllosilicates 11.4. Early Analyses of Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains11.4.1. Summary  of the Wet Chemical Analyses of Eccles & Rackham11.5. Later Analytical Studies11.6. General Analytical Conclusions11.7. Molecular Composition of Porcelain Bodies from Modern Microanalytical Studies 11.8. Final Analytical Conclusions12 : Named Artists12. 1. The Three Williams: Turner, Price and Billingsley13 : Classification of Factory Output14 : Nantgarw Porcelain : Named Services 15 : Swansea Porcelain : Named Services 16 : Summary of Identified Named Services 16.1. Summary of Stylised Services with Descriptive Names 17  : Conclusions 18. The Discovery of a Long-Lost Nantgarw Dinner-Dessert Service19. The Attribution of Unknown Porcelain to Swansea and Nantgarw: A Protocol19.1. Measurements of Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains20. Statement Made by Henry Morris to Colonel Grant Davidson in 185021. William Billingsley - An EpilogueAppendix 1 : Notes on the Experimental Production of Swansea PorcelainAppendix 2 : Transcript of an Interview given by Henry MorrisAppendix 3 : Some Scientific Thoughts on Swansea and Nantgarw PorcelainsAppendix 4. The Pendock-Barry Service: A Re-AppraisalAppendix 5. Detailed Comparison Between the Derby Lord Ongley Service                      and its Nantgarw PrecursorsAppendix 6. Nantgarw Porcelain – Measurements and SizesAppendix 7. Swansea Script Marks and their Attribution to                     William Billingsley’s DecorationGlossary of Terms Used in this Book