Simona Raneri, Germana Barone, Vincenza Crupi, Francesca Longo, Domenico Majolino, Paolo Mazzoleni, Davide Tanasi, Josè Teixeira and Venuti Valentina Technological analysis of Sicilian prehistoric pottery production through small angle neutron scattering techniqueSimona Raneri, Germana Barone, Paolo Mazzoleni, Davide Tanasi and Emanuele Costa Mobility of men versus mobility of goods: archaeometric characterization of Middle Bronze Age pottery in Malta and Sicily (15th-13th century BC)Judit Molera, Javier Iñañez, Glòria Molina, Josep Burch, Xavier Alberch, Michael D. Glascock and Trinitat Pradell Lustre and glazed ceramic collection from Mas Llorens, 16th-17th centuries (Salt, Girona). Provenance and technologyCelestino Grifa, Alberto De Bonis, Vincenza Guarino, Chiara Maria Petrone, Chiara Germinario, Mariano Mercurio, Gianluca Soricelli, Alessio Langella and Vincenzo Morra Thin walled pottery from Alife (Northern Campania, Italy)Svetlana Valiulina and Tatiana Shlykova Iranian Bowl from Biliar: Complex Research and ConservationFatma Madkour, Hisham Imam, Khaled Elsayed and Galila Meheina Elemental Analysis Study of Glazes and Ceramic Bodies from Mamluk and Ottoman Periods in Egypt by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Fernanda Inserra, Alessandra Pecci, Miguel Ángel Cau Ontiveros and Jordi Roig Buxó Organic residues analysis of Late Antique pottery from Plaça Major-Horts de Can Torras (Castellar del Vallés, Catalonia, Spain)Marino Maggetti, Andreas Heege and Vincent Serneels Technological aspects of an early 19th c. English and French white earthenware assemblage from Bern (Switzerland)Leandro Fantuzzi, Miguel A. Cau Ontiveros and Josep Maria Macias Amphorae from the Late Antique city of Tarraco-Tarracona (Catalonia, Spain): archaeometric characterizationShlomo Shoval and Yitzhak Paz Analyzing the fired-clay ceramic of EBA Canaanite pottery using FT-IR spectroscopy and LA-ICP-MS

Porcelain imported from China was the most highly coveted new medium in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-­century Europe. Its pure white color, translucency, and durability, as well as the delicacy of decoration, were impossible to achieve in European earthenware and stoneware. In response, European ceramic factories set out to discover the process of producing porcelain in the Chinese manner, with significant artistic, technical, and commercial ramifications for Britain and the Continent. Indeed, not only artisans, but kings, noble patrons, and entrepreneurs all joined in the quest, hoping to gain both prestige and profit from the enterprises they established. This beautifully illustrated volume showcases ninety works that span the late sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century and reflect the major currents of European porcelain production. Each work is illustrated with glorious new photography, accompanied by analysis and interpretation by one of the leading experts in European decorative arts. Among the wide range of porcelains selected are rare blue-and-white wares and figures from Italy, superb examples from the Meissen factory in Germany and the Sèvres factory in France, and ceramics produced by leading British eighteenth-century artisans. Taken together, they reveal why the Metropolitan Museum’s holdings in this field are among the finest in the world. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana}