Porcelain was invented in China in the 6-8 centuries. In addition to the talent and hard work of the Chinese potters, this discovery was facilitated by the rich deposits of kaolin (Chinese clay). The word "porcelain" was borrowed from the Turkic language (tur. Farfur, fagfur). Porcelain is a variety of ceramics, products obtained by sintering high-grade kaolin clay with the addition of quartz, feldspar and other impurities. As a result of firing, the resulting shard becomes waterproof, white, clear, translucent in a thin layer, without pores. Distinguish between hard or real porcelain, first obtained in China, soft European porcelain, invented in an attempt to imitate Chinese porcelain, English bone china, unglazed porcelain (biscuit). There are several types of paintings (mainly overglaze and underglaze), which provide the artist unlimited possibilities of decor.
China from China
Over a thousand years ago in China they drank from jade cups. They were very expensive. After many years of searching and many failures, the Chinese potters made material that surpassed jade in its qualities, turned out to be more accessible and easier to process. It was porcelain, and in the Celestial Empire the Tang Dynasty ruled (618 - 907). For a long time, porcelain was called "imitation of jade." The "Chinese secret" was the secret of raw materials. Jiangxi province has huge reserves of "porcelain stone" - a rock composed of quartz and mica. And today, one of the largest cities in this province - Jingdezhen has the status of "capital of china."
The porcelain mass was made from briquetted powder of "porcelain stone" (pe-tun-tse) and kaolin, which gave the product whiteness. Kaolin was abundant in the same province. The mass has been “aged” for decades, so that they acquire plasticity. Glaze was composed of several layers of different transparency, getting a special, matte shine. During the reign of the Song dynasty (960 - 1279), not only dishes were made from porcelain (the imperial court received 31,000 dishes each year, 16,000 plates with dragons, 18,000 cups), but also benches, gazebos, and under the most famous ruling dynasty Ming (1368 - 1644) in 1415 built the Nanking Pagoda. Porcelain vessels were also musical instruments in China: tapping a thin wand on their walls gave rise to a melody. Collectors still consider the most valuable works of porcelain art the famous blue and white products with underglaze painting, which were widely used during the Ming and Kin dynasties (1644 - 1912).
In the 1100s, the secrets of making Chinese porcelain entered Korea, and in the 1500s into Japan. Masters from these countries brought their elements to the creation of porcelain and created many magnificent ornaments and painting techniques. One of the most famous types of porcelain in Japan is called Kakiemon. It features simple ornaments on a white background. Another variety - Imari or Arita - is known for its rich decor in dark blue and scarlet shades.
The Great China Way
The wide penetration of Chinese porcelain into Europe began quite late - in 1508 it was brought by Portuguese merchants, while in India and the Arab East it was known for a long time. However, the very first porcelain dishes appeared in Europe thanks to Arab merchants back in the 11th century. called martabani. Europeans especially appreciated the "celadons" - thick-walled dishes and vessels coated with a greenish tint. The common name "celadon" refers to the XVII century. It comes from the name of the hero of Durfe's novel "Astrea", Celadon, who always decorated his clothes with ribbons of greenish color. It was said that this dish changes color if poison is added to the drink or food. Sometimes Chinese porcelain was literally worth its weight in gold: it was sold by weight. Imported, rare porcelain has become a jewel. Ladies wore porcelain shards like beads on a gold chain. At the end of the XVII century. in France, Louis Potter made products similar to porcelain. But in their mass there was no kaolin - the basis of porcelain - which means that there were not many of its qualities, the products turned out to be transparent. It was rather semi-porcelain.
The Chinese carefully kept their secret. In Europe, they did not exactly know the composition of porcelain raw materials. They came up with all sorts of impurities, for example, shells - sea shells. The Italians called the thick shell “porcello”. When Europe learned to make porcelain, it was long called "porcelin". The St. Petersburg Porcelain Factory, the first in Russia, was called the "porcelain factory." The path to porcelin was not easy. The Jesuit monk, d'Antrecol, sent to faraway China from France, sent samples of pe-tun-tse and kaolin, but this did little. The French did not find such gifts of nature.
The youngest Saxon chemist Johann Betger, who was helped by physicist and mathematician E. Chirngauz, was the first to reveal the Chinese secret in Europe. It happened at the beginning of the XVIII century. Student Betger was first an alchemist. After long failures, he began to tell everyone that he had really found gold. It cost him freedom. Saxon King Augustus the Strong put him in custody and ordered him to make gold, so necessary for the royal treasury. The scientist Chirngauz convinced Betger to begin the search for the composition of the porcelain mass, gave him the necessary instructions and persuaded the king not to interfere with the young chemist, for gold, after all, can be white. According to legend, the case helped the scientist. When visiting a local barber, it dawned on him: “Perhaps this powder for a wig is pure kaolin!” After that, kaolin was discovered in Saxony. As a result, Betger made and presented to the king several porcelain cups.
In 1710, the first porcelain factory in Europe began operating in Meissen, in Saxony. Its owner was Augustus the Strong. Fearing that the secret of "white gold" would be stolen from him, he transferred the factory to a castle. Betger and his masters were guarded by the secret agents of the king. The workshop where the porcelain was made was especially guarded. Roasters did not know how products were molded, and molders had never seen their roasting. Once the king was informed that Betger wants to leave Saxony and go to Prussia. The creator of china was thrown into prison, where he died in captivity. But Betger's assistants still managed to escape from the royal captivity, and in 1717 they managed to establish porcelain production in Vienna. Soon French porcelain, produced by the Sevres Porcelain Factory, gained worldwide recognition, and porcelain factories and Venice were developing. Porcelain of European manufactories was richly decorated - painted with birds, flowers, hunting scenes or fruits.
The leading role is played by manufacturers of English porcelain. In the 18th century, Britain almost excelled in the number of ceramic factories, each of which was distinguished by its own style. The English names Worcester, Chelsea, Derby, Spoud, Coalport, Bow, Minton have become common nouns in the world of ceramics. By 1800, Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire had become the largest center for ceramic production. At the beginning of the 19th century, the famous bone china (from a mixture of bone ash and kaolin) was invented in England, which became the main type of English porcelain.
In early 1771, reserves of kaolin were found near the French city of Limoges. In the 1800s, Limoges became perhaps the largest center for the production of porcelain in Europe. American David Havidand opened a factory in Limoges in 1842 and first introduced porcelain tableware to the American market. Porcelain Haviland painted with small floral ornaments.
In Russia, Chinese porcelain was known for a long time, but was also considered a rarity. The Russian porcelain mass was received almost at the same time by the scientist D.I. Vinogradov, peer and friend of youth M.V. Lomonosov, in St. Petersburg, and ceramic practitioner Ivan Grebenshchikov, in Moscow, at the faience factory of his father, the merchant Afanasy Grebenshchikov. Here is how Vinogradov wrote the porcelain recipe: "Take 768 parts of quartz calcined, 384 parts of prepared clay, 74 parts of sifted alabaster." About the glaze, he said: "So that it is two sheets of paper thick on the utensils." Quartz was a otoshchitel, alabaster - fluff, a binder plastic additive - clay, Gzhel whitewater and Orenburg.
Hard, soft, bone ...
All porcelain can be divided into three main groups - eastern porcelain, European hard porcelain and soft porcelain (semi-porcelain).
Solid porcelain or simply porcelain is a homogeneous, white, highly ringing, hard and difficult to melt, with a small thickness, very transparent mass, in the fracture it is oily-shiny, conch, and fine-grained. The finer varieties have feldspar glaze without lime, which gives a milky matte tone. More simple varieties have a completely transparent calcareous glaze. Glazed porcelain is known for sale under the name "biscuit", but for the most part, porcelain is glazed, painted and covered with gilding over the glaze or under the glaze. Outstanding merits are distinguished by French production, especially in Limoges, where each factory has its own specialty, in which it achieves incomparable results. In Germany, Meissen takes first place, then Berlin, as well as Pirkenhammer and Elnbogen in Bohemia.
Soft porcelain is two completely different varieties, more or less close to porcelain in color, transparency and glaze, but very sensitive to rapid changes in temperature. Before the appearance of hard porcelain in Europe, soft was used. If you hold a soft porcelain with a knife, the glaze gives a crack; in this way it is easiest to distinguish from solid porcelain, the glaze of which in such a case does not suffer at all. French soft porcelain consists of a not completely molten, glassy, fine-grained mass, with lead, crystal-like, siliceous glaze. Fusible glaze, making it look like Chinese porcelain in appearance, allows dense writing and much more delicate colors than hard porcelain.
The composition of English soft porcelain (bone china) includes burnt bone, phosphate salts, kaolin. It takes place between the stone mass and hard porcelain, is like white alabaster and is extremely transparent. For painting, it presents the same advantages as French and German, but is especially favorable for gilding and jewelry with precious stones. Wedgwood porcelain, known to the whole world today, is not porcelain. It is rather faience or ceramics. But despite this, the classical Greek sculptures of this factory, tableware and services are very popular in all countries and have a great influence on the design of porcelain in Europe.
Modern technology allows the production of porcelain in huge industrial quantities. The largest industries today are in the United States, Europe and Japan. The most famous and prestigious are the American brand Lenox, German Rosenthal and Japanese Noritake. But no one forbids us to love and admire the creations of the masters who disappeared along with the Ming dynasty ...
