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Vase from Qianiong period 1736- 1795, Glazed terracotta horse from Ming Dynasty 1368- 1644, Dr Jian-xin Zhao.
What' s the value of an authentic piece of antique Chinese porcelain from one of the great periods of the potter' s art in that ancient civilization?
Nothing, if it' s a fake. But if it' s the real thing, it could be worth anything up to about $38 million. That' s the price a 700-year-old blue and white jar from the Yuan dynasty fetched at a London auction in July.
An investment that big isn' t something to undertake lightly - collectors need to be certain they aren' t buying a fake. That' s exactly where collectors of Chinese porcelain encounter real problems. Factories in China churn out thousands of copies of early masterpieces, not necessarily with the intention of passing them off as the real thing.
There' s a long tradition in China of copying significant works of art and that makes identification of an authentic piece even more of a headache - until now.
Dr Jian-xin Zhao of the University of Queensland ' s Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory believes he and his fellow research scientists have a clue to solve the age-old problem of authentication.
"We analyse the geochemical profile of a piece of porcelain and compare it against a database of authentic porcelains," Dr Zhao said.
"We map 40 elements in the clay and we measure the ratio of different isotopes of a number of them.
"Our test is unique in the high degree of precision we attain.
"When it comes to forgeries, we can identify them easily."
Because potters used different sources of clay and refined them to different degrees and with different methods, the elemental and isotopic compositions of their porcelains vary. Such ‘fingerprints' are unique to the specific site and time when the items were made.
The team's current task is to build a comprehensive database, particularly of ceramics from key Chinese dynasties like Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming. The tests could then be available to fellow researchers, private collectors, dealers, auction houses and museums, which have all shown interest in this research.
"Initially we're concentrating on Chinese porcelain," said Dr Zhao. “However, the technique can be applied to porcelain from in the world."
The analysis is so precise that not just the clay' s geographic origin, but even the kiln an object was fired in, can be pinpointed.
Last reviewed 19 January 2006