Abstract The lacquer Lian decorated with gold and silver from Fengpengling site (Hunan, China), dating to the Han Dynasty, was analyzed by digital microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDS, and Py-GC/MS. The results confirm that it was made with the gold foil appliqué technique. The black decoration was present on the gold foil, with carbon black as pigment. And silver sulfide as a corrosion product on the silver foil. Cross-sectional analysis revealed a complex six-layer structure: finish layer, mortar layer, body layer, mortar layer, finish layer, color layer. The identification of hydroxyapatite, carbon and quartz as fillers indicates animal bone ashes and clay minerals were employed in the mortar layer. Lacquer and drying oil were used as binders in the mortar layer, while lacquer served as the primary component in the finishing layer. Cinnabar was used as the red pigment in the color layer.
Shen et al. (Tue,) studied this question.