Chemical composition of polychrome enamels of three ancient Russian bronze items from Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'

The basic composition of polychrome enamels of three bronze items found on the territory of Vladimir and Suzdal Opolje dating from the 12th and 13th centuries (a temporal pendant, a pendant icon and a cross) was studied by atomic emission spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis. The items have rich coloration, which allowed us to study the technological features of a wide range of colored enamels: white, black, gray, light gray, deep-blue, red-brown, brown, green, blue-green, turquoise, yellow. The obtained results suggested the Byzantine origin of the enamels and the local production of the items themselves. The work was carried out within the state assignment of the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” using the equipment of the Shared Research Center “Structure diagnostics of materials” in the part of XRF studies.