Article
Magazine: Summer 2013
The analysis of Paul Gauguin's Woman of Martinique (1887) presented the most unexpected results. This small sculpture was known to be terracotta, painted dark green to simulate patinated bronze. Microscopic examination revealed that the sculpture had collage elements, such as armbands made of ribbon and a paper necklace. The light-colored armbands and gold necklace, along with the terracotta-colored headscarf, would have provided a colorful contrast to the dark green paint.
A bigger surprise came with x-radiography. Conservators who examined the work previously during routine condition checks observed that the terracotta was unusually soft, but it was always assumed to be a very low-fired ceramic. The radiograph revealed that the clay sculpture was formed over a thin, rectangular sheet of non-ferrous metal. The clay body is so tightly formed around the metal that we can eliminate the possibility that the metal strip was a restoration reinforcement inserted after the sculpture's manufacture. Rather, it must have been placed there as a support for the figure from the beginning. It is impossible to fire a clay body with a metal armature because the materials' different rates of expansion would cause the object to shatter; therefore, we must conclude that Gauguin himself molded the clay around the support and that the ensemble is unfired.
A bigger surprise came with x-radiography. Conservators who examined the work previously during routine condition checks observed that the terracotta was unusually soft, but it was always assumed to be a very low-fired ceramic. The radiograph revealed that the clay sculpture was formed over a thin, rectangular sheet of non-ferrous metal. The clay body is so tightly formed around the metal that we can eliminate the possibility that the metal strip was a restoration reinforcement inserted after the sculpture's manufacture. Rather, it must have been placed there as a support for the figure from the beginning. It is impossible to fire a clay body with a metal armature because the materials' different rates of expansion would cause the object to shatter; therefore, we must conclude that Gauguin himself molded the clay around the support and that the ensemble is unfired.
