Timeless appeal of porcelain

Porcelain is fine white clay made up of a combination of ceramic elements. There is one substance, though, that all porcelain contains in common, and that is the clay mineral kaolin. Kaolin contains varying amounts of metals such as alkali metal and aluminum, amongst other materials.

There are many things that set porcelain apart from all of the other clays, including the fact that it is deeply white in color and almost translucent, plus, it’s very tough. Porcelain is known to have a ‘paste-like quality’.

It’s completely different to work with, feeling almost elastic in texture. Its pure whiteness means if you are working with it, you must make sure to keep all of your surfaces very clean. Porcelain fires at a very high temperature, around a maximum of 2,252 F/1,400 C. Porcelain is also vitreous when fired, meaning it develops an almost glass-like appearance.

Porcelain and fine china have many of the same properties—both are porous and vitreous—but it’s the firing process that makes them different. Porcelain fires at a higher temperature and fine china is softer in texture and fires at a lower temperature, around 2,192 F/1,200 C. Porcelain is also more durable. Bone china is completely different and is often made from ground cow bone then mixed with either ball clay (a sedimentary clay that contains kaolin) or kaolin itself. As well as being used for teacups in the Tang Dynasty, plates were a common use for porcelain.

Another huge use of porcelain was for creating beautiful statues. Materials World has written how ‘China closely controlled the porcelain supply to Europe, Asia, and Africa’, but all this changed when the Dutch ‘captured a Portuguese cargo ship bearing thousands of porcelain pieces’.

They brought the pieces back to Europe and they were sold in auctions. It was from this discovery that European potters started trying to create their own porcelain, as the clay was not as easily found outside of Asia. It was German physicist Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus that finally cracked it in 1704

Today, porcelain is used widely, although it still has something very special about it, as its rich history suggests. It is a dream to use for ceramicists, as its results can be so fine and delicate and versatile. It also holds glaze in a very different way and can look quite ethereal. It’s often used in tableware, jewelry, and tiles.

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