Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of 18th-Century Black-Glazed Pottery

Fifty-seven sherds of 18th-century black-glazed pottery from five production and five consumption centres in the English Midlands, North-West, North Wales and the Isle of Man were subject to XRF analysis in an attempt to distinguish the products of individual potteries by their chemical signature. The results produced a clear division into two chemical groupings which did not correlate with the production centres. A microscopic re-examination of the sherds suggested that the differences between the groups were the result of production choices made by the potters that outweighed any chemical variation in the clays they used.