Chinese porcelain is a diverse and exciting area in China that has produced some extraordinary ceramics, including the earliest known Chinese porcelain, which is over four thousand years old. Chinese porcelain is a living museum as it is continuously being rediscovered and renewed each day. Chinese porcelain is also unique in that the different layers and forms of the material are highly irregular, from slab like formations to column like ones and the colours range from vivid and rich blues, greens, yellows, reds and browns to blacks. Some early Chinese porcelain had no glaze at all.
Chinese porcelain is a very important cultural region in China. It is an early stage of development, when the Chinese were using metal tools and gradually developing writing and culture. Chinese porcelain is one of the main types of Chinese porcelain and showed a slow continuous evolution from pre-dynastically era to post-dynastically era. The very first potteries was created during the Palaeolithic age. This can be compared with the Pre-ceramic age in Europe when pottery and other art products were being developed simultaneously.
Chinese porcelain is made from clay pots and vessels, which are made through hard-tourmaline, silica and feldspar in varying thicknesses and types. The main difference between this type of porcelain and its European or American counterparts is that Chinese porcelain doesn't contain any glaze. Chinese porcelain is a very soft-paste porcelain and therefore crackles when touched. Another main characteristic of Chinese porcelain is that most of the glazing is done in one piece and then the whole ceramic is then baked slowly at very high temperatures to make it extremely strong. The main reason behind this is to avoid warping and shrinking of the ceramic as well as increase its fire resistance and thermal conductivity. You can also check out for yourself about these Chinese porcelains.
As mentioned earlier, the main characteristic of Chinese porcelain is that its not hard-paste but hard-slate. The process of making Chinese porcelain is quite lengthy and extremely labor-intensive, which explains why Europeans and Americans have fine China and Chinese fine China. Fine China has a very high translucency and good fire retardant properties while Chinese fine China has low translucency and poor fire retardant properties. In terms of strength, Chinese fine China is far superior to European fine China even though Europeans have been using the term "Chinese porcelain" for years. But Europeans have been using the term "Chinese enamel" for many years and it's widely accepted here. You can now get Chinese porcelain at the Weisbrod Collection.
There are many factors responsible for the development of Chinese porcelain. The most important one being the transformation of raw clay into a hard, stiff, homogenous substance by heating it at 500 degrees Celsius or higher. This results in changes in the chemical structure of the clay, which give rise to various impurities and additives, such as feldspars, which give pottery its colorful, lustrous, opaque or translucent properties. When this transformation takes place at a high temperature, a variety of pigments can be added to the clay to enhance its color. At a lower temperature, oxides of copper and tin can be added to change the color to different shades of brown, gray or black.
The transformation of clay can take place at higher temperatures resulting in formation of "fire clay", which is colored red clay. At lower temperatures, the formation of "red clay' gives pottery its opaque and glossy characteristics. During the firing process, the temperature is increased to more than 2021 degrees Celsius resulting in the transformation of clay to "red clay' which is porous and highly absorbent. Through further heating, the temperature is increased still further and finally, the kiln is fired to burn out the soot and deposit the hardened, colored porcelain into a container called 'fired ware'. The term of art for this type of pottery is 'mao-kou' or 'inkpot'. To understand this article well, click here: https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-art.