Twenty-one glazed red stoneware objects, with gilded or gold-painted decor from different collections (Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, France; Art Institute of Chicago, USA; a private collection) attributed to 18 th century Böttger, Meissen (Saxony) have been analyzed with a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) and portable or fixed Raman micro-spectrometer in laboratory/museum/collector rooms. Analysis was aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the technology of production of the gilding and black glaze, to augment what is known from the limited literature. Three different techniques to obtain a golden décor emerged as a result of this study: i) a true gilding with gold, ii) gold with mercury, and iii) an alloy of copper and zinc.