JING Haiyan

(Shaanxi History Museum, Xi’an 710061, Shaanxi, China)

Abstract: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal micro-Raman spectroscope (CMRS) were used to analyze the pigment composition of pottery figurines unearthed from Tang Dynasty Tomb in the Eastern Suburbs of Xi’an. The pigments were composed of inorganic mineral ones, with the red pigment of the pottery surfaces to cinnabar, the iron red pigment to be hematite, the white pigment to be white lead and the black pigment to be charcoal, while the orange one was minimum. The composition of the red pigments (cinnabar) is pure without quartz crystal, probably because it was purified or synthesized. The crystal size of charcoal is possibly at nanometer scale. This analysis result provides a scientific basis for pigment identification, cultural relic conservation and restoration in the future study.

Key words: pottery figurines; pigment; Tang dynasty tomb