A Raphael Madonna and Child Oil Painting: A Forensic Analytical Evaluation

About Howell G. M. Edwards

Howell Edwards born in Skewen Neath South Wales is Professor Emeritus of Molecular Spectroscopy at the University of Bradford. He read Chemistry at Jesus College in the University of Oxford and after completing his B.A. and B.Sc. degrees he studied for his doctorate in Raman spectroscopy at Oxford with Dr Leonard Woodward and then became a Research Fellow at Jesus College University of Cambridge. He joined the University of Bradford as a Lecturer in Structural and Inorganic Chemistry becoming Head of the Department of Chemical and Forensic Sciences and was awarded a Personal Chair in Molecular Spectroscopy in 1996. He has received several international awards (Sir Harold Thompson Award; Charles Mann Award; Emanuel Boricky Medal; Norman Sheppard Award) in a spectroscopic career which has resulted in the publication of almost 1400 research papers and articles in Raman spectroscopy and the characterisation of materials along with six books on the application of this analytical technique to art archaeology and forensic science. He has had a lifelong interest in the porcelains of William Billingsley especially those from the Derby Nantgarw and Swansea factories. He has authored seven major books on Nantgarw and Swansea Porcelains: Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains: A Scientific Reappraisal Nantgarw and Swansea Porcelains: An Analytical Perspective Porcelain to Silica Bricks: The Extreme Ceramics of William Weston Young 1776-1847 18th and 19th Century Porcelain Analysis: A Forensic Provenancing Assessment Porcelain Analysis and Its Role in the Forensic Provenancing of Ceramic Specimens Welsh Armorial Porcelains : Nantgarw and Swansea Crested China and The Farnley Hall Service : A Unique Survivor in Nantgarw Porcelain all published by Springer-Nature Publishing Dordrecht The Netherlands. He has also produced several monographs on these manufactories and people associated with them: William Billingsley- The Enigmatic Porcelain Artist Decorator and Manufacturer; Nantgarw Porcelain - The Pursuit of Perfection; Swansea Porcelain - the Duck-Egg Translucent Vision of Lewis Dillwyn and Derby Porcelain: The Golden Years1780-1830. He has also published in 2022 a book entitled Raman Spectroscopy in the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (with Philippe Colomban and Peter Vandenabeele) for which porcelain artefacts feature as artworks and a vital part of a nations cultural heritage as does the industrial archaeology excavation and the preservation of early porcelain manufactory sites many of which have now sadly disappeared in urban expansion. His latest book on a prestigious Derby porcelain service is The Pendock-Barry Service: A Forensic Reappraisal (with Rachel Denyer and Morgan Denyer). He is currently preparing three books on Blue by Fire: Pigments in Glass Enamels and on Ceramics from Antiquity to the 21st Century (with Philippe Colomban and William Jay) Coade Stone: A History and Analysis (with Christopher Brooke) and Armorial Porcelain: The Genesis (with Rachel Denyer and Morgan Denyer) which will be published in 2023/4. Howell Edwards is Honorary Scientific Adviser to the de Brecy Trust on the scientific evaluation of their artworks and paintings.