Porcelain (band)
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Porcelain () is a
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
material made by heating
raw materials A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...
, generally including
kaolinite Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
, arise mainly from
vitrification Vitrification (from Latin ''vitreum'', "glass" via French ''vitrifier'') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non-crystalline amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses po ...
and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. End applications include
tableware Tableware is any dish or dishware used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. It includes cutlery, List of glassware, glassware, serving dishes, and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variet ...
, decorative ware such as
figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...
s, and products in technology and industry such as
electrical insulators An electrical insulator is a material in which electric current does not flow freely. The atoms of the insulator have tightly bound electrons which cannot readily move. Other materials—semiconductors and conductors—conduct electric current ...
and laboratory ware. The manufacturing process used for porcelain is similar to that used for
earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...
and stoneware, the two other main types of pottery, although it can be more challenging to produce. It has usually been regarded as the most prestigious type of pottery due to its delicacy, strength, and high degree of whiteness. It is frequently both glazed and decorated. Though definitions vary, porcelain can be divided into three main categories: hard-paste, soft-paste, and
bone china Bone china is a type of ceramic that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phospha ...
. The categories differ in the composition of the body and the firing conditions. Porcelain slowly evolved in China and was finally achieved (depending on the definition used) at some point about 2,000 to 1,200 years ago. It slowly spread to other East Asian countries, then to Europe, and eventually to the rest of the world. The European name, porcelain in English, comes from the old Italian ''porcellana'' (
cowrie shell Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The term ''porcelain'' derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (''porcellana'') du ...
) because of its resemblance to the surface of the shell. Porcelain is also referred to as china or fine china in some English-speaking countries, as it was first seen in imports from China during the 17th century. Properties associated with porcelain include low permeability and
elasticity Elasticity often refers to: *Elasticity (physics), continuum mechanics of bodies that deform reversibly under stress Elasticity may also refer to: Information technology * Elasticity (data store), the flexibility of the data model and the cl ...
; considerable
strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human ca ...
,
hardness In materials science, hardness (antonym: softness) is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation induced by either mechanical indentation or abrasion. In general, different materials differ in their hardness; for example hard ...
, whiteness, translucency, and
resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillatin ...
; and a high resistance to corrosive chemicals and thermal shock. Porcelain has been described as being "completely vitrified, hard, impermeable (even before glazing), white or artificially coloured, translucent (except when of considerable thickness), and resonant". However, the term "porcelain" lacks a universal definition and has "been applied in an unsystematic fashion to substances of diverse kinds that have only certain surface-qualities in common". Traditionally, East Asia only classifies pottery into low-fired wares (earthenware) and high-fired wares (often translated as porcelain), the latter also including what Europeans call "stoneware", which is high-fired but not generally white or translucent. Terms such as "proto-porcelain", "porcellaneous", or "near-porcelain" may be used in cases where the ceramic body approaches whiteness and translucency. In 2021, the global market for porcelain tableware was estimated to be worth US$22.1 billion.


Types


Hard paste

Hard-paste porcelain was invented in China, and it was also used in Japanese porcelain. Most of the finest quality porcelain wares are made of this material. The earliest European porcelains were produced at the Meissen factory in the early 18th century; they were formed from a paste composed of
kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
and alabaster and fired at temperatures up to in a wood-fired kiln, producing a porcelain of great hardness, translucency, and strength. Later, the composition of the Meissen hard paste was changed, and the alabaster was replaced by
feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...
and
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
, allowing the pieces to be fired at lower temperatures. Kaolinite, feldspar, and quartz (or other forms of
silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...
) continue to constitute the basic ingredients for most continental European hard-paste porcelains.


Soft paste

Soft-paste porcelains date back to early attempts by European potters to replicate Chinese porcelain by using mixtures of clay and
frit A frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused, quenched, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic compo ...
. Soapstone and lime are known to have been included in these compositions. These wares were not yet actual porcelain wares, as they were neither hard nor vitrified by firing
kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
clay at high temperatures. As these early formulations suffered from high pyroplastic deformation, or slumping in the kiln at high temperatures, they were uneconomic to produce and of low quality. Formulations were later developed based on kaolin with quartz, feldspars,
nepheline syenite Nepheline syenite is a holocrystalline plutonic rock that consists largely of nepheline and alkali feldspar. The rocks are mostly pale colored, grey or pink, and in general appearance they are not unlike granites, but dark green varieties are al ...
, or other feldspathic rocks. These are technically superior and continue to be produced. Soft-paste porcelains are fired at lower temperatures than hard-paste porcelains; therefore, these wares are generally less hard than hard-paste porcelains.


Bone china

Although originally developed in England in 1748 to compete with imported porcelain,
bone china Bone china is a type of ceramic that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phospha ...
is now made worldwide, including in China. The English had read the letters of
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
missionary
François Xavier d'Entrecolles François Xavier d'Entrecolles (1664 in Lyon – 1741 in Beijing; Chinese name: 殷弘绪, Yin Hongxu) was a French Jesuit priest, who learned the Chinese technique of manufacturing porcelain through his investigations in China at Jingdezhen with t ...
, which described Chinese porcelain manufacturing secrets in detail. One writer has speculated that a misunderstanding of the text could possibly have been responsible for the first attempts to use bone-ash as an ingredient in English porcelain, although this is not supported by modern researchers and historians. Traditionally, English bone china was made from two parts of bone ash, one part of
kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
, and one part of
china stone China stone is a medium grained, feldspar-rich partially kaolinised granite characterized by the absence of iron-bearing minerals.
is often a raw material. Other raw materials can include feldspar, ball clay, glass, bone ash, steatite, quartz, petuntse and alabaster. The clays used are often described as being long or short, depending on their
plasticity Plasticity may refer to: Science * Plasticity (physics), in engineering and physics, the propensity of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation under load * Neuroplasticity, in neuroscience, how entire brain structures, and the brain it ...
. Long clays are
cohesive Cohesion may refer to: * Cohesion (chemistry), the intermolecular attraction between like-molecules * Cohesion (computer science), a measure of how well the lines of source code within a module work together * Cohesion (geology), the part of shear ...
(sticky) and have high plasticity; short clays are less cohesive and have lower plasticity. In soil mechanics, plasticity is determined by measuring the increase in content of water required to change a clay from a solid state bordering on the plastic, to a plastic state bordering on the liquid, though the term is also used less formally to describe the ease with which a clay may be worked. Clays used for porcelain are generally of lower plasticity than many other pottery clays. They wet very quickly, meaning that small changes in the content of water can produce large changes in workability. Thus, the range of water content within which these clays can be worked is very narrow and consequently must be carefully controlled.


Production


Forming

Porcelain can be made using all the shaping techniques for pottery.


Glazing

Biscuit porcelain is unglazed porcelain treated as a finished product, mostly for figures and sculpture. Unlike their lower-fired counterparts, porcelain wares do not need glazing to render them impermeable to liquids and for the most part are glazed for decorative purposes and to make them resistant to dirt and staining. Many types of glaze, such as the iron-containing glaze used on the celadon wares of Longquan, were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain.


Decoration

Porcelain often receives underglaze decoration using pigments that include cobalt oxide and copper, or
overglaze enamel Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling or on-glaze decoration is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firing ...
s, allowing a wider range of colours. Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often
biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...
-fired at around , coated with glaze and then sent for a second glaze-firing at a temperature of about or greater. Another early method is "once-fired", where the glaze is applied to the unfired body and the two fired together in a single operation.


Firing

In this process, "green" (unfired) ceramic wares are heated to high temperatures in a kiln to permanently set their shapes, vitrify the body and the glaze. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature than earthenware so that the body can vitrify and become non-porous. Many types of porcelain in the past have been fired twice or even three times, to allow decoration using less robust pigments in
overglaze enamel Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling or on-glaze decoration is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firing ...
.


History


Chinese porcelain

Porcelain was invented in China over a centuries-long development period beginning with "proto-porcelain" wares dating from the
Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
(1600–1046 BCE). By the time of the Eastern
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(25–220 CE) these early glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, which Chinese defined as high-fired ware. By the late
Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
(581–618 CE) and early
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
(618–907 CE), the now-standard requirements of whiteness and translucency had been achieved, in types such as Ding ware. The wares were already exported to the
Islamic world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
, where they were highly prized. Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas of East Asia. During the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960–1279 CE), artistry and production had reached new heights. The manufacture of porcelain became highly organised, and the dragon kilns excavated from this period could fire as many as 25,000 pieces at a time,Temple, Robert K.G. (2007). ''The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention'' (3rd edition). London: André Deutsch, pp. 104-5. and over 100,000 by the end of the period. While
Xing ware Xing ware or ''Xingyao'' () is a type of Chinese ceramics produced in Hebei province in north China, most notably during the Tang dynasty. Xing ware typically has a white body covered with a clear glaze. It was named after Xingzhou in southern He ...
is regarded as among the greatest of the Tang dynasty porcelain, Ding ware became the premier porcelain of the Song dynasty. By the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, production of the finest wares for the court was concentrated in a single city, and
Jingdezhen porcelain Jingdezhen porcelain () is Chinese ceramics, Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name ...
, originally owned by the imperial government, remains the centre of Chinese porcelain production. By the time of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
(1368–1644 CE), porcelain wares were being
exported An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...
to Asia and Europe. Some of the most well-known Chinese porcelain art styles arrived in Europe during this era, such as the coveted "
blue-and-white "Blue and white pottery" () covers a wide range of white pottery and porcelain decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment, generally cobalt oxide. The decoration is commonly applied by hand, originally by brush painting, but nowadays by stenc ...
" wares. The Ming dynasty controlled much of the porcelain trade, which was expanded to Asia, Africa and Europe via the
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
. In 1517, Portuguese merchants began direct trade by sea with the Ming dynasty, and in 1598, Dutch merchants followed. Some porcelains were more highly valued than others in imperial China. The most valued types can be identified by their association with the court, either as tribute offerings, or as products of kilns under imperial supervision.Rawson, Jessica "Chinese Art", 2007, publisher:the British Museum Press, London, Since the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
, the largest and best centre of production has made
Jingdezhen porcelain Jingdezhen porcelain () is Chinese ceramics, Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name ...
. During the Ming dynasty, Jingdezhen porcelain become a source of imperial pride. The
Yongle emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...
erected a white porcelain brick-faced pagoda at
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, and an exceptionally smoothly glazed type of white porcelain is peculiar to his reign. Jingdezhen porcelain's fame came to a peak during the Qing dynasty.


Japanese porcelain

Although the Japanese elite were keen importers of Chinese porcelain from early on, they were not able to make their own until the arrival of Korean potters that were taken captive during the
Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) The Japanese invasions of Korea of 1592–1598 involved two separate yet linked invasions: an initial invasion in 1592 (), a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 (). The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese force ...
. They brought an improved type of kiln, and one of them spotted a source of porcelain clay near
Arita Arita may refer to: *Arita (surname) *Arita, Saga, a town in Saga Prefecture, Japan :* Arita ware, a kind of Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town * ''Arita'' (skipper), a genus of butterflies in the grass skipper family *Arita, a br ...
, and before long several kilns had started in the region. At first their wares were similar to the cheaper and cruder Chinese porcelains with underglaze blue decoration that were already widely sold in Japan; this style was to continue for cheaper everyday wares until the 20th century. Exports to Europe began around 1660, through the Chinese and the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
, the only Europeans allowed a trading presence. Chinese exports had been seriously disrupted by civil wars as the Ming dynasty fell apart, and the Japanese exports increased rapidly to fill the gap. At first the wares used European shapes and mostly Chinese decoration, as the Chinese had done, but gradually original Japanese styles developed.
Nabeshima ware is a type of Japanese pottery, specifically an unusually high-quality porcelain Arita ware. It was produced in Lord Nabeshima of Saga Domain's kiln at Okawachi near Arita in the Edo period, for the use and profit of the family. The name there ...
was produced in kilns owned by the families of feudal lords, and were decorated in the Japanese tradition, much of it related to textile design. This was not initially exported, but used for gifts to other aristocratic families.
Imari ware is a Western term for a brightly-coloured style of Japanese export porcelain made in the area of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū. They were exported to Europe in large quantities, especially between the second half o ...
and
Kakiemon is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the factories around Arita, in Japan's Hizen province (today, Saga Prefecture) from the Edo period's mid-17th century onwards. ...
are broad terms for styles of export porcelain with overglaze "enamelled" decoration begun in the early period, both with many sub-types. A great range of styles and manufacturing centres were in use by the start of the 19th century, and as Japan opened to trade in the second half, exports expanded hugely and quality generally declined. Much traditional porcelain continues to replicate older methods of production and styles, and there are several modern industrial manufacturers. By the early 1900s, Filipino porcelain artisans working in Japanese porcelain centres for much of their lives, later on introduced the craft into the native population in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, although oral literature from Cebu in the central Philippines have noted that porcelain were already being produced by the natives locally during the time of Cebu's early rulers, prior to the arrival of colonizers in the 16th century.


Korean porcelain

Olive green glaze was introduced in the late
Silla Dynasty Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of Ko ...
. Most ceramics from Silla are generally leaf-shaped, which is a very common shape in Korea. Korean celadon comes in a variety of colors, from
turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of yea ...
to
putty Putty is a material with high plasticity, similar in texture to clay or dough, typically used in domestic construction and repair as a sealant or filler. Although some types of putty (typically those using linseed oil) slowly polymerise and be ...
. Additionally, thIn the late 13th century, the
Inlay Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...
technique of expressing pigmented patterns by filling the hollow parts of pottery with white and red clay was frequently used. The main difference from those in China is that many specimens have inlay decoration under the glaze. Most Korean ceramics from the
Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
(1392-1910) are of excellent decorative quality. It usually has a melon shape and is asymmetrical.


European porcelain

Imported Chinese porcelains were held in such great esteem in Europe that in English ''
china China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
'' became a commonly–used synonym for the Italian-derived ''porcelain''. The first mention of porcelain in Europe is in ''
Il Milione ''Book of the Marvels of the World'' (Italian: , lit. 'The Million', deriving from Polo's nickname "Emilione"), in English commonly called ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from st ...
'' by
Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
in the 13th century. Apart from copying Chinese porcelain in ''
faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
'' ( tin glazed
earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...
), the soft-paste
Medici porcelain Medici porcelain was the first successful attempt in Europe to make imitations of Chinese porcelain, though it was soft-paste porcelain rather than the hard-paste made in Asia. The experimental manufactory housed in the Casino of San Marco in F ...
in 16th-century
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
was the first real European attempt to reproduce it, with little success. Early in the 16th century, Portuguese traders returned home with samples of kaolin, which they discovered in China to be essential in the production of porcelain wares. However, the Chinese techniques and composition used to manufacture porcelain were not yet fully understood. Countless experiments to produce porcelain had unpredictable results and met with failure. In the German state of
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, the search concluded in 1708 when
Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (or Tschirnhauß, ; 10 April 1651 – 11 October 1708) was a German mathematician, physicist, physician, and philosopher. He introduced the Tschirnhaus transformation and is considered by some to have been the ...
produced a hard, white, translucent type of porcelain specimen with a combination of ingredients, including kaolin and alabaster, mined from a Saxon mine in
Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of the c ...
. It was a closely guarded trade secret of the Saxon enterprise. In 1712, many of the elaborate Chinese porcelain manufacturing secrets were revealed throughout Europe by the French
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
father Francois Xavier d'Entrecolles and soon published in the ''Lettres édifiantes et curieuses de Chine par des missionnaires jésuites''. The secrets, which d'Entrecolles read about and witnessed in China, were now known and began seeing use in Europe.Baghdiantz McAbe, Ina (2008). ''Orientalism in Early Modern France''. Oxford: Berg Publishing, p. 220.
Finley, Robert (2010). ''The pilgrim art. Cultures of porcelain in world history''. University of California Press, p. 18.
Kerr, R. & Wood, N. (2004).
Joseph Needham : Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5 Chemistry and Chemical Technology : Part 12 Ceramic Technology
''. Cambridge University Press, p. 36-7.


Meissen

Von Tschirnhaus along with
Johann Friedrich Böttger Johann Friedrich Böttger (also Böttcher or Böttiger; 4 February 1682 – 13 March 1719) was a German alchemist. Böttger was born in Schleiz and died in Dresden. He is normally credited with being the first European to discover the secret of th ...
were employed by
Augustus II Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...
,
King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...
and Elector of Saxony, who sponsored their work in
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
and in the town of
Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
. Tschirnhaus had a wide knowledge of science and had been involved in the European quest to perfect porcelain manufacture when, in 1705, Böttger was appointed to assist him in this task. Böttger had originally been trained as a pharmacist; after he turned to alchemical research, he claimed to have known the secret of transmuting dross into gold, which attracted the attention of Augustus. Imprisoned by Augustus as an incentive to hasten his research, Böttger was obliged to work with other alchemists in the futile search for transmutation and was eventually assigned to assist Tschirnhaus. One of the first results of the collaboration between the two was the development of a red stoneware that resembled that of Yixing. A workshop note records that the first specimen of hard, white and vitrified European porcelain was produced in 1708. At the time, the research was still being supervised by Tschirnhaus; however, he died in October of that year. It was left to Böttger to report to Augustus in March 1709 that he could make porcelain. For this reason, credit for the European discovery of porcelain is traditionally ascribed to him rather than Tschirnhaus. The Meissen factory was established in 1710 after the development of a kiln and a glaze suitable for use with Böttger's porcelain, which required firing at temperatures of up to to achieve translucence. Meissen porcelain was ''once-fired'', or ''green-fired''. It was noted for its great resistance to thermal shock; a visitor to the factory in Böttger's time reported having seen a white-hot teapot being removed from the kiln and dropped into cold water without damage. Although widely disbelieved this has been replicated in modern times.


Russian porcelain

In 1744,
Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...
signed an agreement to establish the first porcelain manufactory; previously it had to be imported. The technology of making "white gold" was carefully hidden by its creators.
Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
had tried to reveal the "big porcelain secret", and sent an agent to the Meissen factory, and finally hired a porcelain master from abroad. This relied on the research of the Russian scientist
Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov (russian: Дмитрий Иванович Виноградов; 1720 – ) was a Russian chemist who developed Russian hard-paste porcelain; he was the founder of the Imperial Porcelain Factory. Vinogradov was b ...
. His development of porcelain manufacturing technology was not based on secrets learned through third parties, but was the result of painstaking work and careful analysis. Thanks to this, by 1760,
Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg The Imperial Porcelain Factory (russian: Императорский Фарфоровый Завод, Imperatorskii Farforovyi Zavod), also known as the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (abbreviated as IPM), is a producer of hand-painted ceramics i ...
became a major European factories producing tableware, and later porcelain figurines. Eventually other factories opened: Gardner porcelain, Dulyovo (1832), Kuznetsovsky porcelain, Popovsky porcelain, and
Gzhel Gzhel is a Russian style of blue and white ceramics which takes its name from the village of Gzhel and surrounding area, where it has been produced since 1802. Overview About thirty villages located southeast of Moscow produce pottery and shi ...
. During the twentieth century, under Soviet governments, ceramics continued to be a popular artform, supported by the state, with an increasingly propagandist role. One artist, who worked at the Baranovsky Porcelain Factory and at the Experimental Ceramic and Artistic Plant in Kyiv, was
Oksana Zhnikrup Oksana Zhnikrup, Ukrainian: Оксана Жнікруп (1931 - 1993) was a Ukrainian ceramicist, whose works are held in the collection of the National Folk Decorative Art Museum. The sculpture '' Seated Ballerina'' by Jeff Koons is closely in ...
, whose porcelain figures of the ballet and the circus were widely known.


Soft paste porcelain

The pastes produced by combining clay and powdered glass (
frit A frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused, quenched, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic compo ...
) were called ''Frittenporzellan'' in Germany and ''frita'' in Spain. In France they were known as ''pâte tendre'' and in England as "soft-paste". They appear to have been given this name because they do not easily retain their shape in the wet state, or because they tend to slump in the kiln under high temperature, or because the body and the glaze can be easily scratched. ;France Experiments at
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
produced the earliest soft-paste in France, but the first important French soft-paste porcelain was made at the
Saint-Cloud factory Saint-Cloud porcelain was a type of soft-paste porcelain produced in the French town of Saint-Cloud from the late 17th to the mid 18th century. Foundation In 1702, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans gave letters-patent to the family of Pierre Chicane ...
before 1702. Soft-paste factories were established with the Chantilly manufactory in 1730 and at Mennecy in 1750. The
Vincennes porcelain factory The Vincennes porcelain manufactory was established in 1740 in the disused royal Château de Vincennes, in Vincennes, east of Paris, which was from the start the main market for its wares. History The entrepreneur in charge at first, Claude-Humb ...
was established in 1740, moving to larger premises at Sèvres in 1756. Vincennes soft-paste was whiter and freer of imperfections than any of its French rivals, which put Vincennes/Sèvres porcelain in the leading position in France and throughout the whole of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. ;Italy
Doccia porcelain The Doccia porcelain manufactory, at Doccia, a ''frazione'' of Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, was in theory founded in 1735 by marchese Carlo Ginori near his villa, though it does not appear to have produced wares for sale until 1746. It has ...
of
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
was founded in 1735 and remains in production, unlike
Capodimonte porcelain Capodimonte porcelain (sometimes "Capo di Monte") is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory (''Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte''), which operated in Naples, Italy, between 1743 and 1759. Capodimonte is the most outstanding facto ...
which was moved from
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
to
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
by its royal owner, after producing from 1743 to 1759. After a gap of 15 years
Naples porcelain Capodimonte porcelain (sometimes "Capo di Monte") is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory (''Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte''), which operated in Naples, Italy, between 1743 and 1759. Capodimonte is the most outstanding facto ...
was produced from 1771 to 1806, specializing in Neoclassical styles. All these were very successful, with large outputs of high-quality wares. In and around
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
, Francesco Vezzi was producing hard-paste from around 1720 to 1735; survivals of
Vezzi porcelain Vezzi porcelain is porcelain made by the Vezzi porcelain factory in Venice, Italy, established in 1720 by the Vezzi family. It was the first porcelain factory in Italy, after the experimental Medici porcelain of the 16th century. It operated onl ...
are very rare, but less so than from the Hewelke factory, which only lasted from 1758 to 1763. The soft-paste Cozzi factory fared better, lasting from 1764 to 1812. The Le Nove factory produced from about 1752 to 1773, then was revived from 1781 to 1802. ; England The first soft-paste in England was demonstrated by Thomas Briand to the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1742 and is believed to have been based on the Saint-Cloud formula. In 1749, Thomas Frye took out a
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
on a porcelain containing bone ash. This was the first
bone china Bone china is a type of ceramic that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phospha ...
, subsequently perfected by Josiah Spode.
William Cookworthy William Cookworthy (12 April 170517 October 1780) was an English Quaker minister, a successful pharmacist and an innovator in several fields of technology. He was the first person in Britain to discover how to make hard-paste porcelain, like t ...
discovered deposits of kaolin in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, and his factory at Plymouth, established in 1768, used kaolin and
china stone China stone is a medium grained, feldspar-rich partially kaolinised granite characterized by the absence of iron-bearing minerals.creamware Creamware is a cream-coloured refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body, known in France as '' faïence fine'', in the Netherlands as ''Engels porselein'', and in Italy as ''terraglia inglese''.Osborne, 140 It was created about 175 ...
, which could compete with porcelain, and had devastated the
faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
industries of France and other continental countries by the end of the century. Most English porcelain from the late 18th century to the present is bone china. In the twenty-five years after Briand's demonstration, a number of factories were founded in England to make soft-paste tableware and figures: * Chelsea (1743) * Bow (1745) * St James's (1748) * Bristol porcelain (1748) *
Longton Hall Longton may refer to several places: * Longton, Kansas, United States * Longton, Lancashire, United Kingdom * Longton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom See also * Longtan (disambiguation) * Longtown (disambiguation) Longtown may refer to several plac ...
(1750) *
Royal Crown Derby The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England (disputed by Royal Worcester, who claim 1751 as their year of establishment). The company, particularly known ...
(1750 or 1757) *
Royal Worcester Royal Worcester is a porcelain brand based in Worcester, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by Royal Crown De ...
(1751) *
Lowestoft porcelain The Lowestoft Porcelain Factory was a soft-paste porcelain factory on Crown Street (then Bell Lane) in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, which was active from 1757 to 1802. It mostly produced "useful wares" such as pots, teapots, and jugs, with sh ...
(1757) *
Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
(1759) * Spode (1767)


Applications other than decorative and tableware


Electric insulators

Porcelain has been used for electrical insulators since at least 1878, with another source reporting earlier use of porcelain insulators on the telegraph line between Frankfurt and Berlin. It is widely used for insulators in electrical power transmission system due to its high stability of electrical, mechanical and thermal properties even in harsh environments. A body for electrical porcelain typically contains varying proportions of ball clay, kaolin, feldspar, quartz, calcined alumina and calcined bauxite. A variety of secondary materials can also be used, such as binders which burn off during firing. UK manufacturers typically fired the porcelain to a maximum of 1200°C in an oxidising atmosphere, whereas reduction firing is standard practice at Chinese manufacturers. In 2018, a porcelain
bushing Bushing may refer to: *Bushing (bearing), a type of plain bearing *Bushing (electrical), an insulated device that allows a conductor to pass through a grounded conducting barrier *Bushing (isolator), a mechanical device used to reduce vibrational ...
insulator manufactured by
NGK is a public company established in 1936 and based in Nagoya, Japan. NGK SPARK PLUG manufactures and sells spark plugs and related products for internal combustion engines, as well as sensors and ceramics for a wide range of applications. NGK stan ...
in Handa,
Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
was certified as the world's largest ceramic structure by
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
. It is 11.3 m in height and 1.5 m in diameter. The global market for high-voltage insulators was estimated to be worth US$4.95 billion in 2015, of which porcelain accounts for just over 48%.


Chemical porcelain

A type of porcelain characterised by low thermal expansion, high mechanical strength and high chemical resistance. Used for laboratory ware, such as reaction vessels, combustion boats,
evaporating dish An evaporating dish is a piece of laboratory glassware used for the evaporation of solutions and Precipitation (chemistry), supernatant liquids, and sometimes to their melting point. Evaporating dishes are used to evaporate excess solvents – mo ...
es and
Büchner funnel A Büchner funnel is a piece of laboratory equipment used in filtration. It is traditionally made of porcelain, but glass and plastic funnels are also available. On top of the funnel-shaped part there is a cylinder with a fritted glass disc/perf ...
s. Raw materials for the body include kaolin, quartz, feldspar, calcined alumina, and possibly also low percentages of other materials. A number of International standards specify the properties of the porcelain, such as
ASTM ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, an ...
C515.


Tiles

A porcelain tile has been defined as 'a ceramic mosaic tile or paver that is generally made by the dust-pressed method of a composition resulting in a tile that is dense, fine-grained, and smooth with sharply formed face, usually impervious and having colors of the porcelain type which are usually of a clear, luminous type or granular blend thereof.' Manufacturers are found across the world with Italy being the global leader, producing over 380 million square metres in 2006. Historic examples of rooms decorated entirely in porcelain tiles can be found in several palaces including ones at Galleria Sabauda in
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, Museo di Doccia in
Sesto Fiorentino Sesto Fiorentino (), known locally as just Sesto, is a municipality (''comune'') in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, central Italy. History The oldest known human settlement in the area dates from the Mesolithic (c. 9,000 years ago) ...
, Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, the Royal Palace of Madrid and the nearby
Royal Palace of Aranjuez The Royal Palace of Aranjuez ( es, Palacio Real de Aranjuez) is one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family. It is located in the town of Aranjuez (Madrid), Spain. Established in the 16th century as a royal hunting lodge, the pala ...
. and the
Porcelain Tower of Nanjing The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, part of the former Great Bao'en Temple, is a historical site located on the south bank of external Qinhuai River in Nanjing, China. It was a pagoda constructed in the 15th century during the Ming dynasty, but was m ...
. More recent examples include the Dakin Building in Brisbane, California and the Gulf Building in Houston, Texas, which when constructed in 1929 had a porcelain logo on its exterior."Porcelain Tile: The Revolution Is Only Beginning." Tile Decorative Surf. 42, No.11, 1992.


Sanitaryware

Because of its durability, inability to rust and impermeability, glazed porcelain has been in use for personal hygiene since at least the third quarter of the 17th century. During this period, porcelain chamber pots were commonly found in higher-class European households, and the term "bourdaloue" was used as the name for the pot. Whilst modern sanitaryware, such as closets and washbasins, is made of ceramic materials, porcelain is no longer used and vitreous china is the dominant material. Bath tubs are not made of porcelain, but of enamel on a metal base, usually of
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
. Porcelain enamel is a
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
term used in the US, and is not porcelain but
vitreous enamel Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word comes from the Lati ...
.


Dental porcelain

Dental porcelain Dental porcelain (also known as dental ceramic) is a dental material used by dental technicians to create biocompatible lifelike dental restorations, such as crowns, bridges, and veneers. Evidence suggests they are an effective material as they a ...
is used for crowns, bridges and veneers. A formulation of dental porcelain is 70-85%
feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...
, 12-25%
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
, 3-5%
kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
, up to 15%
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
and around 1% colourants.


Manufacturers

* The Americas ** Brazil *** Germer Porcelanas Finas *** Porcelana Schmidt **
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
*** Blue Ridge ***
CoorsTek CoorsTek, Inc. is a privately owned manufacturer of technical ceramics for aerospace, automotive, chemical, electronics, medical, metallurgical, oil and gas, semiconductor and many other industries. CoorsTek headquarters and primary factories a ...
, Inc. ***
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
***
Lenox Lenox may refer to: Places in the United States * Lenox, Alabama * Lenox, Georgia * Lenox, Iowa ** Lenox College, former college in Hopkinton, Iowa * Lenox, Kentucky * Lenox, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Lenox (CDP), Massachusetts, the m ...
***
Lotus Ware Lotus Ware is a type of porcelain produced from approximately 1892 to 1896 at the Knowles, Taylor & Knowles (KT&K) pottery of East Liverpool, Ohio, United States. It is thought that the name may have originated from a comment made by the owner, ...
***
Pickard China Pickard China is an American porcelain decorating and manufacturing company in Antioch, Illinois, United States. The company was founded in 1893, and continues to produce ceramic tableware and art ware today. History Pickard China was incorporat ...
* Asia ** China *** Ding ware ***
Jingdezhen porcelain Jingdezhen porcelain () is Chinese ceramics, Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name ...
** Iran *** Maghsoud Group of Factories, (1993–present) *** Zarin Iran Porcelain Industries, (1881–present) ** Japan ***
Hirado ware is a type of Japanese porcelain mostly made at kilns at Mikawachi, Sasebo, Nagasaki, and it is therefore also known as . It was made in the former feudal Hirado Domain, which owned the kilns, and was responsible for establishing and directing ...
***
Kakiemon is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the factories around Arita, in Japan's Hizen province (today, Saga Prefecture) from the Edo period's mid-17th century onwards. ...
***
Nabeshima ware is a type of Japanese pottery, specifically an unusually high-quality porcelain Arita ware. It was produced in Lord Nabeshima of Saga Domain's kiln at Okawachi near Arita in the Edo period, for the use and profit of the family. The name there ...
*** Narumi ***
Noritake , commonly known as "Noritake," is a tableware and technology company headquartered in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. History In 1876, Ichizaemon Morimura VI and his brother Toyo founded Morimura Gumi with the intent of establishing oversea ...
**
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
***
Royal Selangor Royal Selangor International Sdn Bhd (doing business as Royal Selangor) is a Malaysian pewter manufacturer and retailer, the largest of its type in the world. History Founded in 1885 by Yong Koon () in his little shop called Ngeok Foh (Jade Peace) ...
** South Korea *** Haengnam Chinaware *** Hankook Chinaware ** Sri Lanka *** Dankotuwa Porcelain *** Noritake Lanka Porcelain *** Royal Fernwood Porcelain ** Taiwan *** Franz Collection ** Turkey *** Yildiz Porselen (1890–1936, 1994–present) *** Güral Porselen (1989–present) *** Porland Porselen (1976–present) ***
Istanbul Porselen ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...
(1963 – early 1990s) *** Sümerbank Porselen (1957–1994) **
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
*** RAK Porcelain ** Vietnam ***
Minh Long I porcelain {{Orphan, date=December 2021 Minh (Chữ Nôm: 明) is a popular unisex given name of Vietnamese language, Vietnamese origin, written using the Chinese character (明) meaning "bright", and is also popular among other East Asian names. The Chinese ...
(1970–present) ***
Bát Tràng porcelain Bát Tràng porcelain and pottery is a type of ceramic made in the village of Bát Tràng, in the suburban outskirts of the northern Vietnamese city of Hanoi. The village is located in an area rich in clay suitable for making ceramic. Bát Tràng ...
(1352–present) *
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
** Austria ***
Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Vienna porcelain is the product of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory (German: ''Kaiserlich privilegierte Porcellain Fabrique''), a porcelain manufacturer in Alsergrund in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1718 and continued until 1864. The firm wa ...
, 1718–1864 *** Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten, 1923–present ** Croatia *** Inkerpor (1953–present) **
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
*** Haas & Czjzek, Horní Slavkov (1792–2011) *** Thun 1794, Klášterec nad Ohří (1794–present) ***
Český porcelán Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech Re ...
a.s.,
Dubí Dubí (; german: Eichwald) is a spa town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,800 inhabitants. Administrative parts Town parts and villages of Běhánky, Bystřice, Cínovec, Drahůnky, Mstišov ...
, Eichwelder Porzellan und Ofenfabriken Bloch & Co. Böhmen (1864–present) ***
Rudolf Kämpf Rudolf Kämpf is a porcelain manufacturer in the Czech Republic. History Benjamin Franklin Hunt founded the ''Egerländer Porzellanfabrik Elbogen, G.m.b.H.'' on 15 June 1907 in Loučky in Nové Sedlo (Sokolov District), Nové Sedlo after rec ...
,
Nové Sedlo (Sokolov District) Nové Sedlo (german: Neusattl) is a town in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is borde ...
(1907–present) ** Denmark ***
Aluminia Aluminia was a Danish factory of faience or earthenware pottery, established in Copenhagen in 1863. (1838-1922) was the founding owner of the Aluminia factory in Christianshavn. In 1882, the owners of Aluminia purchased the Royal Copenhagen ...
***
Bing & Grøndahl Bing & Grøndahl was a Danish porcelain manufacturer founded in 1853 by the sculptor Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl and merchant brothers Meyer Hermann Bing and Jacob Herman Bing. The trademark backstamp for Bing & Grøndahl (B&G) porcelains is the t ...
***
Denmark porcelain ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established ...
*** P. Ipsens Enke ***
Kastrup Vaerk Kastrup () is a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, on the east coast of Amager in Tårnby Municipality. It is the site of Copenhagen Airport. In Danish, the airport is often called ''Kastrup Lufthavn'' (Kastrup Airport) or ''Københavns Lufthavn, Ka ...
*** Kronjyden ***
Porcelænshaven Porcelænshaven in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark, is the former premises of the Royal Porcelain Manufactury, an industrial complex dating from the 1880s which was converted into a mixed-use neighbourhood in the 2000s. Located o ...
*** Royal Copenhagen (1775–present) ***
GreenGate Greengate is the name of several places in the United Kingdom: * Greengate, Greater Manchester * Greengate, London * Greengate, Norfolk * Greengate, Rochdale * Greengate, Salford Other * GreenGate, design company based in Denmark * Greengate Cen ...
** Finland ***
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
** France ***
Saint-Cloud porcelain Saint-Cloud porcelain was a type of soft-paste porcelain produced in the French town of Saint-Cloud from the late 17th to the mid 18th century. Foundation In 1702, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans gave letters-patent to the family of Pierre Chicane ...
(1693–1766) *** Chantilly porcelain (1730–1800) ***
Vincennes porcelain The Vincennes porcelain manufactory was established in 1740 in the disused royal Château de Vincennes, in Vincennes, east of Paris, which was from the start the main market for its wares. History The entrepreneur in charge at first, Claude-Humbe ...
(1740–1756) *** Mennecy-Villeroy porcelain (1745–1765) ***
Sèvres porcelain Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for it ...
(1756–present) *** Revol porcelain (1789–present) ***
Limoges porcelain Limoges porcelain is hard-paste porcelain produced by factories in and around the city of Limoges, France beginning in the late 18th century, but does not refer to a particular manufacturer. By about 1830, Limoges, which was close to the areas wh ...
*** Haviland porcelain ** Germany *** Current porcelain manufacturers in Germany ** Hungary *** Hollóháza Porcelain Manufactory (1777–present) *** Herend Porcelain Manufacture (1826–present) ***
Zsolnay Zsolnay, or formally Zsolnay Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt (Zsolnay Porcelain Manufactory Private Limited) is a Hungarian manufacturer of porcelain, tiles, and stoneware. The company introduced the eosin glazing process and pyrogranite ceramics. Hist ...
Porcelain Manufacture (1853–present) ** Italy *** Richard-Ginori 1735 Manifattura di Doccia (1735–present) ***
Capodimonte porcelain Capodimonte porcelain (sometimes "Capo di Monte") is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory (''Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte''), which operated in Naples, Italy, between 1743 and 1759. Capodimonte is the most outstanding facto ...
(1743–1759) ***
Naples porcelain Capodimonte porcelain (sometimes "Capo di Monte") is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory (''Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte''), which operated in Naples, Italy, between 1743 and 1759. Capodimonte is the most outstanding facto ...
(1771–1806) *** Manifattura Italiana Porcellane Artistiche Fabris (1922–1972) *** Mangani SRL, Porcellane d'Arte (
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
) ** Lithuania *** Jiesia **
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
Notwithstanding its company name, ''" De Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles N.V."'' of Delft, The Netherlands, is a manufacturer of Delftware, a variety of
faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
, not of porcelain.
*** Haagsche Plateelbakkerij, Rozenburg *** Loosdrechts Porselein *** Weesp Porselein ** Norway *** Egersund porcelain ***
Figgjo Figgjo is a borough of the city of Sandnes in the west part of the large municipality of Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The borough is located in the southern part of the city. It has a population (2016) of 2,213. The borough is mostly ru ...
(1941–present) *** Herrebøe porcelain ***
Porsgrund Porsgrund Porcelain Factory (''Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik'', abbreviated PP) is a porcelain flatware company located at Porsgrunn in Telemark county, Norway. History The company's production plant is a popular tourist attraction. The company wa ...
*** Stavangerflint ** Poland *** AS Ćmielów ***
Fabryka Fajansu i Porcelany Fabryka is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Ostrów Wielkopolski, within Ostrów Wielkopolski County, Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Vo ...
*** Polskie Fabryki Porcelany "Ćmielów" i "Chodzież" S.A. *** Kristoff Porcelana ***
Lubiana S.A. Lubiana (German: Alt Libbehne) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Pełczyce, within Choszczno County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Pełczyce, south-west of Choszcz ...
** Portugal ***
Vista Alegre Vista usually refers to a distant view. Vista may also refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 *VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...
*** Sociedade Porcelanas de Alcobaça ***
Costa Verde (company) Costa Verde may refer to: Places * Costa Verde (Brazil) * Costa Verde (Peru) * Costa Verde (Portugal) * Costa Verde (Sardinia), Italy * Costa Verde (Spain), see Llanes * Green Coast, a resort in Albania; see Other uses * Costa Verde, a fictitious ...
, located in the district of Aveiro ** Russia ***
Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg The Imperial Porcelain Factory (russian: Императорский Фарфоровый Завод, Imperatorskii Farforovyi Zavod), also known as the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (abbreviated as IPM), is a producer of hand-painted ceramics i ...
(1744–present) *** Verbilki Porcelain (1766–present), Verbilki near Taldom *** Gzhel ceramics (1802–present),
Gzhel Gzhel is a Russian style of blue and white ceramics which takes its name from the village of Gzhel and surrounding area, where it has been produced since 1802. Overview About thirty villages located southeast of Moscow produce pottery and shi ...
***
Dulevo Farfor Dulyovo porcelain works is a Russian porcelain manufacturer based in the Moscow Oblast. Its products are better known as Dulevo porcelain. The works were founded in the Dulyovo wasteland (now Likino-Dulyovo) in 1832 by merchant Terenti Kuznetsov f ...
(1832–present),
Likino-Dulyovo Likino-Dulyovo (russian: Ликино́-Дулёво) is a town in Orekhovo-Zuyevsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. Population: The village of Dulyovo has grown around the Dulyovo porcelain works. The urban-typ ...
** Spain *** Buen Retiro Royal Porcelain Factory (1760–1812) ***
Real Fábrica de Sargadelos Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...
(1808–present, intermittently) *** Porvasal ** Sweden *** Rörstrand ***
Gustavsberg porcelain Gustavsberg is a Swedish porcelain company that originated in 1826.Helena Dahlbäck Lutteman. ''Svenskt Porslin 1700-1900'' It broke up in the 1990s and was sold off in pieces, to the dismay of residents of the Gustavsberg area, but artisans conti ...
** Switzerland ***
Suisse Langenthal ; rm, citad federala, links=no). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzon ...
** United Kingdom *** Aynsley China (1775–present) *** Belleek (1884–present) *** Bow porcelain factory (1747–1776) *** Caughley porcelain *** Chelsea porcelain factory (c. 1745; merged with Derby in 1770) ***
Coalport porcelain Coalport, Shropshire, England was a centre of porcelain and pottery production between about 1795 ("inaccurately" claimed as 1750 by the company) and 1926, with the Coalport porcelain brand continuing to be used up to the present. The opening i ...
***
Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality * Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...
***
Goss crested china Goss crested china is typically in the form of small white glazed porcelain models, made from 1858 to 1939, carrying the coat of arms of the place where they were sold as a souvenir, thus being a form of model heraldic china. Other factories, ...
***
Liverpool porcelain Liverpool porcelain is mostly of the soft-paste porcelain type and was produced between about 1754 and 1804 in various factories in Liverpool. Tin-glazed English delftware had been produced in Liverpool from at least 1710 at numerous potteries, ...
***
Longton Hall porcelain Longton may refer to several places: * Longton, Kansas, United States * Longton, Lancashire, United Kingdom * Longton, Staffordshire Longton is one of the six towns which amalgamated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, alon ...
***
Lowestoft Porcelain Factory The Lowestoft Porcelain Factory was a soft-paste porcelain factory on Crown Street (then Bell Lane) in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, which was active from 1757 to 1802. It mostly produced "useful wares" such as pots, teapots, and jugs, with sh ...
***
Mintons Ltd Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...
(1793–1968; merged with Royal Doulton) ***
Nantgarw Pottery The Nantgarw China Works was a porcelain factory, later making other types of pottery, located in Nantgarw on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal, north of Cardiff in the River Taff valley, Glamorganshire, Wales. The factory made porcel ...
***
New Hall porcelain New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
***
Plymouth Porcelain Plymouth porcelain was the first English hard paste porcelain, made in the county of Devon from 1768 to 1770. After two years in Plymouth the factory moved to Bristol in 1770, where it operated until 1781, when it was sold and moved to Staffordsh ...
*** Rockingham Pottery ***
Royal Crown Derby The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England (disputed by Royal Worcester, who claim 1751 as their year of establishment). The company, particularly known ...
(1750/57–present) *** Royal Doulton (1815–2009; acquired by Fiskars) ***
Royal Worcester Royal Worcester is a porcelain brand based in Worcester, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by Royal Crown De ...
(1751–2008; acquired by Portmeirion Pottery) *** Spode (1767–2008; acquired by Portmeirion Pottery) ***
Saint James's Factory In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
(or "Girl-in-a-Swing", 1750s) ***
Swansea porcelain The Cambrian Pottery was founded in 1764 by William Coles in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales. In 1790, John Coles, son of the founder, went into partnership with George Haynes, who introduced new business strategies based on the ideas of Josiah ...
***
Vauxhall porcelain Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known fo ...
***
Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
, (factory 1759–present, porcelain 1812–1829, and modern. Acquired by Fiskars)


See also

*
Blue and white porcelain "Blue and white pottery" () covers a wide range of white pottery and porcelain decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment, generally cobalt oxide. The decoration is commonly applied by hand, originally by brush painting, but nowadays by sten ...
*
List of porcelain manufacturers List of porcelain manufacturers China * Ding ware *Jingdezhen porcelain Japan *Hirado ware *Kakiemon *Mikasa & Company *Nabeshima ware * Narumi *Noritake Europe * Porcelain manufacturing companies in Europe Austria *Vienna Porce ...


Notes and references


Notes


References


Sources

* Battie, David, ed., ''Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain'', 1990, Conran Octopus. * Le Corbellier, Clare
''Eighteenth-century Italian porcelain''
1985,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, (fully available online as PDF) * Smith, Lawrence, Harris, Victor and Clark, Timothy, ''Japanese Art: Masterpieces in the British Museum'', 1990, British Museum Publications, * Vainker, S.J., ''Chinese Pottery and Porcelain'', 1991, British Museum Press, 9780714114705 * Watson, William ed., ''The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period 1600–1868'', 1981,
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
/Weidenfeld & Nicolson


Further reading

* Burton, William (1906)
''Porcelain, Its Nature, Art and Manufacture''
London: Batsford. * ''Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities'' – EC Commission in Luxembourg, 1987. * * Gleeson, Janet, ''The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story of the Invention of European Porcelain'', 1998, Bantam Press. * * Valenstein, S. (1998).
A Handbook of Chinese ceramics
', Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. .


External links







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