Medieval and Renaissance waste shafts (butti) offer a unique opportunity to study objects ofudcommon use in the past, the majority of findings that emerge from the excavation of these pits areudpottery found in fragmentary condition, sherds that provide essential information on theudhistorical periods to which the butto belongs.udIn the present work Micro-Raman analysis was conducted on a representative group of samplesuddated back from XIV to XVIII century, coming from the waste shaft pertained to the Monk’sudPalace sited in Leprignano, the current Capena in the province of Rome. The aim of the study wasudto characterize the composition of coloured glazes pertaining to majolica sherds, through audtechnique that has proved to be invaluable for this purpose, according to the amount of publisheduddata in recent years.udDifferences in terms of structure and constituents of the decorative layers have been observed.udYellow pigments can be ascribed to the family of lead pyroantimonates, in both binary and ternaryudform, brown and green glazes are constituted by ions dissolved in the glass matrix, while in blueudglazes cobalt olivines have been clearly identified for some samples. Polymerization indexudcalculated on vitreous layers shows the presence of a lead-based glaze that is commonly found inudmajolica referable to the same age and provenance.udThe results obtained are in a good agreement with Piccolpasso’s treatise, “The Three Books ofudPotter's Art”, except for a sherd pertaining to a later Ligurian production.
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