Porcelain

Overview of Porcelain

• Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, including kaolinite, in a kiln at high temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F).

• Porcelain is stronger and more translucent than other types of pottery due to vitrification and the formation of mullite at high temperatures.

• Porcelain is used for tableware, decorative ware, electrical insulators, and laboratory ware.

• Porcelain can be divided into three categories: hard-paste, soft-paste, and bone china.

• Hard-paste porcelain was the first to be invented in China and was later produced in Europe.

• Soft-paste porcelain was developed in Europe and is fired at lower temperatures than hard-paste porcelain.

• Bone china was developed in England and is made from bone ash, kaolin, and feldspars.

• The primary raw material for porcelain is kaolin.

• Porcelain is highly variable in composition and can include other raw materials such as feldspar, ball clay, glass, bone ash, steatite, quartz, petuntse, and alabaster.

• Porcelain is made using all the shaping techniques for pottery and is often glazed and decorated.

• Porcelain was invented in China during the Shang dynasty and spread to other areas of East Asia. By the Ming dynasty, porcelain was being exported to Asia, Africa, and Europe.

• Japanese porcelain was developed with the help of Korean potters and was exported to Europe through the Dutch East India Company.

• European attempts to reproduce Chinese porcelain were largely unsuccessful until the development of soft-paste porcelain in the 16th century.A Brief History of Porcelain

• Porcelain was first discovered in China, where it was made using kaolin clay, but the techniques used were not understood in Europe until the early 18th century when French Jesuit father Francois Xavier d'Entrecolles revealed the manufacturing secrets.

• In 1708, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus produced the first hard, white, and translucent porcelain specimen in Saxony, Germany, with kaolin and alabaster.

• Von Tschirnhaus and Johann Friedrich Böttger were employed by Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, who sponsored their work in Dresden and in the town of Meissen, where the Meissen factory was established in 1710.

• In 1744, the Elizabeth of Russia signed an agreement to establish the first porcelain factory. The Imperial Porcelain Factory in Saint Petersburg became a major European factory producing tableware and porcelain figurines.

• Soft paste porcelain was produced by combining clay and powdered glass and was known as frittenporzellan in Germany, frita in Spain, pâte tendre in France, and "soft-paste" in England.

• Soft-paste factories were established with the Chantilly manufactory in 1730 and at Mennecy in 1750. The Vincennes porcelain factory was established in 1740, moving to larger premises at Sèvres in 1756.

• Porcelain has been used for electrical insulators since at least 1878, and it is widely used for insulators in electrical power transmission systems due to its high stability of electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties even in harsh environments.

• A type of porcelain characterized by low thermal expansion, high mechanical strength, and high chemical resistance is used for laboratory ware, such as reaction vessels, combustion boats, evaporating dishes, and Büchner funnels.

• Porcelain tiles are a type of 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 faces.

• Porcelain chamber pots were commonly found in higher-class European households in the 17th century, and porcelain is still used for dental crowns, bridges, and veneers.

• Manufacturers of porcelain include Meissen, Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg, Vincennes porcelain factory, Sèvres, and many others.

• 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%.

• Porcelain enamel is a marketing term used in the US, and it is not porcelain but vitreous enamel.