Scientific investigation of the paint and adhesive materials used in the Western Han dynasty polychromy terracotta army, Qingzhou, China

Analysis of proteinaceous binding media used in Tang Dynasty polychrome pottery by MALDI-TOF-MS

“…The results for the historical sample are in agreement with data obtained for animal glue as binding media, confirming the existence of animal glue in the polychrome layers for the Tang Dynasty's polychrome pottery. This result is consistent with the research reported for polychrome terracotta army, wall paintings and sculptures in different periods of Chinese history [19][20][21][22].…”

Proteomic identification of adhesive on a bone sculpture-inlaid wooden artifact from the Xiaohe Cemetery, Xinjiang, China

“…3000 years. Scientific investigation of adhesive materials used in the Qin Shihuang's (the first emperor of the Qin dynasty) terracotta army (259e210 BC) (An, 2012), the Western Han dynasty terracotta army (206 BC-8 AD) (Wei et al, 2012), wall paintings at Kizil Grottoes (3rd century to 13th century) (Su et al, 2005), as well as Dunhuang mural paintings (5th century to 14th century) (Li, 1995), all confirm the application of animal glue. However, the research in this paper detected bovine glue used in prehistoric period.…”

“…In China, the studies on adhesive materials are rare and mostly focus on the binders of painted artifacts and polychromy, such as lacquer objects (Wei et al, 2011), polychromy terracotta army and jar (An, 2012;Chiavari and Mazzeo, 1999;Wei et al, 2012), mural paintings (Li, 1995;Su et al, 2005), colored paintings of architectural buildings (Yang et al, 2010), etc. Furthermore, Cheng et al (2008) and Luo et al (2012) have studied the binding agents on Chinese turquoise-inlaid bronze swords dated to the East Zhou period (770e256 BC).…”

A scientific study of the pigments in the wall paintings at Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, China

“…Various methods have been applied in the identification of pigments and media binder in the ancient Chinese paintings and relevant cultural relics according to their performance advantages [1][2][3]. Over the past few years, a few research projects have focused on the identification of pigments and techniques in the wall paintings or Thangka paintings in Tibet, offering interesting scenarios and findings.…”