Chemical analysis of tile bisques imported from portugal from the interior of churches of the 17th and 18th centuries in Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Portuguese tiles were widely used in the colonial period as an internal covering in churches in Pernambuco. In this study, samples were collected from three churches, each one associated with an aesthetic phase and a production model. The first, from the end of the 17th century, consists of polychrome tiles with geometric themes and produced by artisans. A second, from the 1st half of the 18th century, composed of blue and white tiles with religious themes and produced by master painters. A third, from the 2nd half of the 18th century, consists of polychrome tiles with religious and pagan themes produced in manufacturing factories. The technological characterization of the 28 fragments collected from these three historical phases was carried out through two types of analysis: X-Ray Fluorescence, to determine the amounts of chemical elements, and X-Ray Diffraction, to identify the minerals. It was expected that the samples from each of these phases would present similar chemical and mineralogical compositions, but the results exposed six technological profiles regardless of the aesthetic phase and the production model. This verification of technological diversity denotes that each pottery, each group, each individual worked in their own way, although within social, administrative and aesthetic standards under the tutelage and supervision of the crown.