Shen Jingyi, Li Li, Zhang Dandan, Dong Shaohua, Xiang Jiankai, Xu Nuo
School of History and Culture, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China.
Shaanxi Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Xi'an 710075, China.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Aug 9;15(16):5470. doi: 10.3390/ma15165470.
This article presents an integrated analytical method to investigate the polychrome clay sculptures of the Qinglian Temple in Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, China. Digital microscopy, SEM-EDS, XRD, Herzberg stain, Micro-Raman spectroscopy and FT-IR were selected to identify the raw materials and techniques used to produce the ground clay layer, the white powder layer and the mineral pigment of the polychrome clay sculptures. The investigation shows that the clay used to make the coarse and fine clay layer is consistent. However, different kinds of fibres were found mixed in the coarse and fine clay layers: wheat straw was the main fibre used in coarse clay layer, while the bast fibres, including ramie, kenaf and sisal hemp, were used as the fibre supports in the fine clay layers due to their useful properties. The white powder layer was made of a mixture of kaolinite and gypsum. For the mineral pigments, it principally contained red (hematite, minium or a mixture of minium and cinnabar), green (atacamite and atacamite), blue (azurite), yellow (yellow ochre), black (amorphous carbon) and white (the mixture of kaolinite and gypsum). Additionally, a gilding technique and multiple paint layers also typified many pigment areas. This work has furthered understanding of the materials and techniques used in making the sculptures of the Qinglian Temple and has clear implications for the restoration and conservation treatments on these kinds of ancient painted clay sculptures.
本文提出了一种综合分析方法，用于研究中国山西省晋城市青莲寺的彩塑黏土雕塑。选用数码显微镜、扫描电子显微镜-能谱仪（SEM-EDS）、X射线衍射仪（XRD）、赫茨伯格染色法、显微拉曼光谱和傅里叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）来鉴定制作彩塑黏土雕塑的底层黏土、白色粉末层和矿物颜料所使用的原材料和技术。调查表明，用于制作粗黏土层和细黏土层的黏土是一致的。然而，在粗黏土层和细黏土层中发现混合了不同种类的纤维：麦秸是粗黏土层中使用的主要纤维，而包括苎麻、红麻和剑麻在内的韧皮纤维因其有用的特性被用作细黏土层中的纤维支撑材料。白色粉末层由高岭石和石膏的混合物制成。对于矿物颜料，其主要包含红色（赤铁矿、铅丹或铅丹与朱砂的混合物）、绿色（氯铜矿和羟氯铜矿）、蓝色（蓝铜矿）、黄色（赭石）、黑色（无定形碳）和白色（高岭石和石膏的混合物）。此外，镀金技术和多层漆层也是许多颜料区域的典型特征。这项工作进一步加深了对青莲寺雕塑制作中所使用材料和技术的理解，对这类古代彩绘黏土雕塑的修复和保护处理具有明确的意义。
