Chinese - Flask - Walters 491632 (square)

Bustelli Liebesgruppe Der gestörte Schläfer BNM

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 substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

to temperatures between . The 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 ...

, arises 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 formation of the mineral

mullite Mullite or porcelainite is a rare silicate mineral formed during contact metamorphism of clay minerals. It can form two stoichiometric forms: 3 Al2 O32 SiO2 or 2Al2O3 SiO2. Unusually, mullite has no charge-balancing cations present. As a result, th ...

within the body at these high temperatures. 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 category that an object belongs to depends on the composition of the paste used to make the body of the porcelain object 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. Its manufacturing process is more demanding than that for earthenware and

stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. Whether vi ...

, the two other main types of pottery, and it has usually been regarded as the most prestigious type of pottery for its delicacy, strength, and its white colour. It combines well with both glazes and paint, and can be modelled very well, allowing a huge range of decorative treatments in

tableware Tableware is any dish or dishware used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. It includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of o ...

, vessels, and

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 clay ...

s. It also has many uses in technology and industry. The European name, porcelain in English, comes from the old Italian ''porcellana'' ( cowrie shell) 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 Property is the ownership of land, resources, improvements or other tangible objects, or intellectual property. Property may also refer to: Mathematics * Property (mathematics) Philosophy and science * Property (philosophy), in philosophy an ...

associated with porcelain include low permeability and elasticity; 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 c ...

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 In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions ...

, and

resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied Periodic function, periodic force (or a Fourier analysis, Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system ...

; and a high resistance to corrosive chemicals and

thermal shock Thermal shock is a type of rapidly transient mechanical load. By definition, it is a mechanical load caused by a rapid change of temperature of a certain point. It can be also extended to the case of a thermal gradient, which makes different pa ...

Centro de flores (Porcelana Buen Retiro, MAN 1982-85-5) 01

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 which 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.

Types

Chinese - Dish with Flowering Prunus - Walters 492365 - Interior

Hard paste

Hard-paste porcelain was invented in China, and it was also used in

Japanese porcelain , is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Kilns have produced earthenware, pottery, stoneware, glazed pottery, glazed stoneware, porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptional ...

, and most of the finest quality porcelain wares are in 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 Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

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) felds ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

) continue to constitute the basic ingredients for most continental European hard-paste porcelains.

Soft paste

Soft-paste porcelains date back from 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

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 porcelain, 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,

is now made worldwide, including China. The English had read the letters of Jesuit 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 ...

, 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 of English porcelain, although this is not supported by modern researchers and historians. Traditionally, English bone china was made from two parts of

bone ash Bone ash is a white material produced by the calcination of bones. Typical bone ash consists of about 55.82% calcium oxide, 42.39% phosphorus pentoxide, and 1.79% water. The exact composition of these compounds varies depending upon the type of bo ...

, one part of

and one part

china stone China stone is a medium grained, feldspar-rich partially kaolinised granite characterized by the absence of iron-bearing minerals.kaolinite is often a raw material. Other raw materials can include feldspar,

ball clay Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays that commonly consist of 20–80% kaolinite, 10–25% mica, 6–65% quartz. Localized seams in the same deposit have variations in composition, including the quantity of the major minerals, accessory ...

, glass,

steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...

, quartz,

petuntse Petuntse (from 白墩子 in pinyin: ), also spelled petunse and ''bai dunzi'', ''baidunzi'', is a historic term for a wide range of micaceous or feldspathic rocks. However, all will have been subject to geological decomposition processes that res ...

and

. The clays used are often described as being long or short, depending on their plasticity. Long clays are cohesive (sticky) and have high plasticity; short clays are less cohesive and have lower plasticity. In

soil mechanics Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and wat ...

, 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 and are shorter 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. It was originally typically made on the

potter's wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...

, though moulds were also used from early on.

Slipcasting Slip casting, or slipcasting, is a ceramic forming technique for pottery and other ceramics, especially for shapes not easily made on a wheel. In this method, a liquid clay body slip (usually mixed in a blunger) is poured into plaster mo ...

has been the most common commercial method in recent times.

Glazing

Biscuit porcelain Biscuit porcelain, bisque porcelain or bisque is unglazed, white porcelain treated as a final product, with a matte appearance and texture to the touch. It has been widely used in European pottery, mainly for sculptural and decorative objects th ...

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 Longquan () is a county-level city and former county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Lishui in southwestern Zhejiang Province, China, located on the upper reaches of the Ou River and bordering Fujian province to the sout ...

, were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain.

Decoration

Porcelain often receives

underglaze Underglaze is a method of decorating pottery in which painted decoration is applied to the surface before it is covered with a transparent ceramic glaze and fired in a kiln. Because the glaze subsequently covers it, such decoration is completely ...

decoration using pigments that include

cobalt oxide Cobalt oxide is a family of chemical compounds consisting of cobalt and oxygen atoms. Compounds in the cobalt oxide family include: * Cobalt(II) oxide (cobaltous oxide), CoO *Cobalt(III) oxide Cobalt(III) oxide is the inorganic compound with the ...

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 firi ...

s, allowing a wider range of colours. Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often biscuit-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

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

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 B.C.E). 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 ...

(CE 25–220) these early glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, which Chinese defined as high-fired ware. By the late Sui dynasty (581–618 CE) and early

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

(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, 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 AD), artistry and production had reached new heights. The manufacture of porcelain became highly organised, and the

dragon kiln A dragon kiln () or "climbing kiln", is a traditional Chinese form of kiln, used for Chinese ceramics, especially in southern China. It is long and thin, and relies on having a fairly steep slope, typically between 10° and 16°, up which the kil ...

s 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 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 imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

, production of the finest wares for the court was concentrated in a single city, and

Jingdezhen porcelain Jingdezhen porcelain () is 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 of Emperor Zhenzo ...

, originally owned by the imperial government, remains the centre of Chinese porcelain production. By the time of the

(1368–1644 AD), porcelain wares were being exported 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" wares. The Ming dynasty controlled much of the porcelain trade, which was expanded to Asia, Africa and Europe via the Silk Road. 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 fift ...

, the largest and best centre of production has made

. 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). 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 the ...

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 ...

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.

European porcelain

Lettre du pere Entrecolles 1712 du Halde 1735

Imported Chinese porcelains were held in such great esteem in Europe that in English '' china'' became a commonly–used synonym for the Italian-derived ''porcelain''. The first mention of porcelain in Europe is in '' Il Milione'' by Marco Polo 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 a ...

'' ( tin glazed earthenware), the soft-paste Medici porcelain in 16th-century

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

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 produced a hard, white, translucent type of porcelain specimen with a combination of ingredients, including kaolin and

, 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 ...

. 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 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 and

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

, 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 ...

and in the town of Meissen. 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 Yixing () is a county-level city administrated under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing clay ware tea pots. It is a pene-exc ...

. 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

; 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, the

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 List of ...

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 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. 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 Baranowski ( ; feminine: Baranowska, plural: Baranowscy) is a Polish surname. It is Lithuanised as Baranauskas and frequently transliterated from Russian as Baranovsky (feminine: Baranovskaya). The name is also frequently found among Ashkenazi J ...

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 (

) 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 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 Mennecy () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Geography Mennecy is 33 kilometers south east of Paris-Notre-Dame, point zero from roads of France, 8 kilometers south of Évry, 6 kilometers south west of ...

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 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 ...

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 ha ...

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 ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

by its royal owner, after producing from 1743 to 1759. After a gap of 15 years Naples porcelain 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 region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, Francesco Vezzi was producing hard-paste from around 1720 to 1735; survivals of Vezzi porcelain 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 ...

on a porcelain containing bone ash. This was the first

, subsequently perfected by

Josiah Spode Josiah Spode (23 March 1733 – 18 August 1797) was an English potter and the founder of the English Spode pottery works which became famous for the high quality of its wares. He is often credited with the establishment of blue underglaze tran ...

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 ...

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 17 ...

, which could compete with porcelain, and had devastated the

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 Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

(1743) * Bow (1745) * St James's (1748) *

Bristol porcelain Bristol porcelain covers porcelain made in Bristol, England by several companies in the 18th and 19th centuries. The plain term "Bristol porcelain" is most likely to refer to the factory moved from Plymouth in 1770, the second Bristol factory. Th ...

(1748) * Longton Hall (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 Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced by the company of the same name, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two extremely ...

(1767)

Other uses

Electric insulating material

Porcelain and other

ceramic materials 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, ...

have many applications in engineering, especially

ceramic engineering Ceramic engineering is the science and technology of creating objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials. This is done either by the action of heat, or at lower temperatures using precipitation reactions from high-purity chemical solutions ...

. Porcelain is an excellent insulator for use with

high voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant sp ...

s, especially in outdoor applications (see Insulator (electricity)#Material). Examples include: terminals for

high-voltage cable A high-voltage cable (HV cable) is a cable used for electric power transmission at high voltage. A cable includes a conductor and insulation. Cables are considered to be fully insulated. This means that they have a fully rated insulation system t ...

s, bushings of

power transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's c ...

s, and insulation of high-frequency

antennas In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an ...

Building material

Porcelain can be used as a

building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-ma ...

, usually in the form of

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

s or large rectangular panels. Modern porcelain tiles are generally produced by a number of recognised international standards and definitions. 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 European palaces including ones at

Galleria Sabauda The Galleria Sabauda is an art collection in the Italian city of Turin, which contains the royal art collections amassed by the House of Savoy over the centuries. It is located on Via XX Settembre, 86. The museum, whose first directors were Rober ...

Turin Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, Museo di Doccia in Sesto Fiorentino,

Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...

in Naples, the

Royal Palace of Madrid The Royal Palace of Madrid ( es, Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the ...

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 pal ...

. 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 ...

. More recent noteworthy examples include the

Dakin Building The Dakin Building is an architectural award-winning class A office building on the San Francisco Bay in Brisbane, California. Serving as a corporate headquarters building for several companies of national prominence, it was built from the profit ...

Brisbane, California Brisbane (pron. , unlike Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) is a small city located in California in the northern part of San Mateo County on the lower slopes of San Bruno Mountain. It is located on the southern border of San Francisco, on the ...

, 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.

Bathroom fittings

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. However bath tubs are not made of porcelain, but of

porcelain 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 Latin ...

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 impur ...

. 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.

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 territori ...

*** 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 , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

*** Lenox ***

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, East Liverpool, Ohio, United States. It is thought that the name may have originated from a comme ...

***

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 ***

** Iran *** Maghsoud Group of Factories, (1993–present) *** Zarin Iran Porcelain Industries, (1881–present) ** Japan *** Hirado ware ***

***

Narumi is a Japanese word for "''the roaring of the sea''". is also a feminine Japanese given name which can also be used as a surname. Possible writings Narumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *鳴海, "the roaring of th ...

***

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 overs ...

***

Schmid Kreglinger Schmid is a German surname that is a cognate of "Smith", an occupational surname for a blacksmith. The spelling is more common in Switzerland than Schmidt (surname), Schmidt or Schmitt (surname), Schmitt. Notable people with the surname include: * ...

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) *** Kütahya Porselen (1970–present) *** Güral Porselen (1989–present) *** Porland Porselen (1976–present) *** Istanbul Porselen (1963 – early 1990s) *** Sümerbank Porselen (1957–1994) ** United Arab Emirates *** RAK Porcelain ** Vietnam *** Minh Long I porcelain (1970–present) *** Bát Tràng porcelain (1352–present) * Porcelain manufacturing companies in Europe, Europe ** Austria *** Vienna Porcelain Manufactory, 1718–1864 *** Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten, 1923–present ** Croatia *** Inkerpor (1953–present) ** Czech Republic *** Haas & Czjzek, Horní Slavkov (1792–2011) *** Thun 1794, Klášterec nad Ohří (1794–present) *** Český porcelán a.s., Dubí, Eichwelder Porzellan und Ofenfabriken Bloch & Co. Böhmen (1864–present) *** Rudolf Kämpf, Nové Sedlo (Sokolov District) (1907–present) ** Denmark *** Aluminia *** Bing & Grøndahl *** Denmark porcelain *** P. Ipsens Enke *** Kastrup Vaerk *** Kronjyden *** Porcelænshaven *** Royal Copenhagen (1775–present) *** GreenGate ** Finland *** Arabia (brand), Arabia ** France ***Saint-Cloud porcelain (1693–1766) ***Chantilly porcelain (1730–1800) ***Vincennes porcelain (1740–1756) ***Mennecy-Villeroy porcelain (1745–1765) ***Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Sèvres porcelain (1756–present) ***Revol Porcelaine, Revol porcelain (1789–present) ***Limoges porcelain ***Haviland & Co., Haviland porcelain ** Germany *** Porcelain manufacturing companies in Europe#Current porcelain manufacturers in Germany, Current porcelain manufacturers in Germany ** Hungary *** Hollóháza Porcelain Manufactory (1777–present) *** Herend Porcelain Manufactory, Herend Porcelain Manufacture (1826–present) *** Zsolnay Porcelain Manufacture (1853–present) ** Italy *** Doccia porcelain, Richard-Ginori 1735 Manifattura di Doccia (1735–present) ***

(1743–1759) *** Naples porcelain (1771–1806) *** Manifattura Italiana Porcellane Artistiche Fabris (1922–1972) *** Mangani SRL, Porcellane d'Arte (

) ** Lithuania *** Jiesia ** Netherlands *** Haagsche Plateelbakkerij, Rozenburg *** Joannes de Mol, Loosdrechts Porselein *** Bertrand Philip, Count of Gronsveld, Weesp Porselein ** Norway *** Egersund porcelain *** Figgjo (company), Figgjo (1941–present) *** Herrebøe porcelain *** Porsgrund *** Stavangerflint ** Poland *** AS Ćmielów *** Fabryka Fajansu i Porcelany *** Polskie Fabryki Porcelany "Ćmielów" i "Chodzież" S.A. *** Kristoff Porcelana *** Lubiana S.A. ** Portugal *** Vista Alegre (company), Vista Alegre *** Spal (company), Sociedade Porcelanas de Alcobaça *** Costa Verde (company), located in the district of Aveiro ** Russia ***

(1744–present) *** Verbilki Porcelain (1766–present), Verbilki near Taldom *** Gzhel (ceramics), Gzhel ceramics (1802–present), Gzhel, Moscow Oblast, Gzhel *** Dulevo Farfor (1832–present), Likino-Dulyovo ** Spain *** Real Fábrica del Buen Retiro, Buen Retiro Royal Porcelain Factory (1760–1812) *** Real Fábrica de Sargadelos (1808–present, intermittently) *** Porvasal ** Sweden *** Rörstrand *** Gustavsberg porcelain ** Switzerland *** Suisse Langenthal ** United Kingdom *** Aynsley China (1775–present) *** Belleek Pottery, Belleek (1884–present) *** Bow porcelain factory (1747–1776) *** Caughley porcelain *** Chelsea porcelain factory (c. 1745; merged with Derby in 1770) *** Coalport porcelain *** Davenport Pottery, Davenport *** Goss crested china *** Liverpool porcelain *** Longton Hall porcelain *** Lowestoft Porcelain Factory *** Mintons Ltd (1793–1968; merged with Royal Doulton) *** Nantgarw Pottery *** New Hall porcelain *** Plymouth Porcelain *** Rockingham Pottery ***

(1750/57–present) *** Royal Doulton (1815–2009; acquired by Fiskars) ***

(1751–2008; acquired by Portmeirion Pottery) ***

(1767–2008; acquired by Portmeirion Pottery) *** Saint James's Factory (or "Girl-in-a-Swing", 1750s) *** Swansea porcelain *** Vauxhall porcelain ***

, (factory 1759–present, porcelain 1812–1829, and modern. Acquired by Fiskars)

Notes

References

* David Battie, Battie, David, ed., ''Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain'', 1990, Conran Octopus. * Le Corbellier, Clare
''Eighteenth-century Italian porcelain''
1985, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (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 * William Watson (sinologist), Watson, William ed., ''The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period 1600–1868'', 1981, Royal Academy of Arts/Weidenfeld & Nicolson

External links

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