PORCELAIN HISTORY Precursor of Porcelain: Chinese Celadon The early history of porcelain took place primarily in China, which

explains why porcelain is also known as china. As early as 100 A.D., Chinese artisans had developed kilns capable of high-firing pots. However, the techniques and materials were still quite crude. Pots were formed by hand, rather than on a wheel. The clays contained some kaolin, but were not porcelain white. Glazes were limited in color and frequently did not fire to a smooth surface. Still, these high-fired and durable pots were such an advance over clay pots that China dominated the world in production of fine pottery for centuries. It is possible that these early Chinese potters were trying to obtain the luminous green look of precious jade with their glazes. The colors ranged from gray green to blue green to deep jade green; and the glaze had a tendency to craze or develop an intricate network of lines when fired, also contributing to a stone-like appearance. These greenish ceramics came to be known as celadon ware. One theory for the name, put forth by G. M. Gompertz, renowned author and collector of early Asian ceramics, is that the word derives from two Sanskrit words which combine to mean "sheathed in stone", quite an apt description of celadon ware. Some say the word celadon is a corruption of the Emperor Saladin's name because he is said to have sent 40 pieces of celadon to another sultan in 1170 A.D. I suppose that's possible, but I wonder what they called celadon for the previous thousand years of its existence! Finally, some believe the word is taken from a character in a French play written in the 1800s. Isn't it more likely that the character (who always appears wearing pale green ribbons) was named after the pale green porcelain?

Around 200 A.D., the Chinese began forming celadon ware on potting wheels. The result was a significant improvement in quality and artistry. The pots were more regularly shaped and had smooth walls of even density. Thicker glazes were used. Celadon reached its artistic peak in the eight to eleventh centuries. From that period, we see the classic pale green glaze color that many associate with celadon china.

The First True Porcelain Somewhere around 500 A.D., true white porcelain clay came into use in northern China and porcelain was born. White porcelain made it possible for artisans to begin putting representative art on china and so a new art form also was born. Between 600 and 1200, there was a distinct rift between Chinese ceramists. Historians describe "six kiln factions". Basically artisans in the north produced "North White" china and those in the south made "Celadon South". By 1100, the secret of making porcelain had spread to Korea. By 1400, Chinesepainted porcelain had reached the capitals of Europe. Because of the expense of importing it halfway around the world, it was primarily purchased by the nobility to decorate their castles. European ceramists in Spain and Italy tried with little success to imitate the fine porcelain coming out of the Far East. Soft-paste porcelain, sometimes called artificial porcelain, was one result of their attempts. Porcelain Production Goes Global

Porcelain Vase - Big Sur by Natalie Blake

Once European ceramists stopped trying to imitate and focused on the raw materials available to them, many beautiful variations of white porcelain came into being. By 1600, the Italians were known for their expertise with over glazes or enamels. In the 1750s the English developed decals or transfers which led to the manufacture of transfer ware and tremendously increased the market for painted porcelain. Transfer ware was produced primarily in the Staffordshire region. Other names you might recognize are Spode and Wedgwood. You can distinguish transfer ware by the fine lines produced through the engraving process and also by the fact that most transfer ware were printed with just one color to require only one engraving plate.

Initially crafters painted in the transferred designs, using the transfer as one would a coloring book. However the public quickly came to appreciate the delicate and elaborate designs that could be printed using transfers and just one glaze color. The earliest transfer ware used cobalt blue and the designs were typically Oriental, reflecting the origin of painted china. Red and brown also became popular transfer ware colors. If the Industrial Revolution didn't begin until the 1800s, the development of transfer ware was at least a prelude. It created jobs; expanded the supply of decorated china; and increased the demand for chinaware by bringing the shipping and labor costs down. Germany's Meissen porcelain (sometimes called Dresden porcelain) appeared about 1710. Interestingly, Meissen porcelain originally used alabaster as a flux (flux is a substance that facilitates fusion of glaze to fired clay), instead of feldspar and silica. This illustrates the tendency of ceramists to look locally for base materials. Bone china, using bone ash as a flux, was created in England around 1750, and England still produces nearly all of the world's bone china. Shortly thereafter, Limoges began producing its china in France using a fine white kaolin clay found only in one region of France. By the late 1800s, expert porcelain artists could be found in America and the fine art of painted porcelain literally spanned the globe. The term porcelain refers to a wide range of ceramic products that have been baked at high temperatures to achieve vitreous, or glassy, qualities such as translucence and low porosity. Among the most familiar porcelain goods are table and decorative china, chemical ware, dental crowns, and electrical insulators. Usually white or off-white, porcelain comes in both glazed and unglazed varieties, with bisque, fired at a high temperature, representing the most popular unglazed variety. Although porcelain is frequently used as a synonym for china, the two are not identical. They resemble one another in that both are vitreous wares of extremely low porosity, and both can be glazed or unglazed. However, china, also known as soft-paste or tender porcelain, is softer: it

can be cut with a file, while porcelain cannot. This difference is due to the higher temperatures at which true porcelain is fired, 2,650 degrees Fahrenheit (1,454 degrees Celsius) compared to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,204 degrees Celsius) for china. Due to its greater hardness, porcelain has some medical and industrial applications which china, limited to domestic and artistic use, does not. Moreover, whereas porcelain is always translucent, china is opaque. Hard-paste or "true" porcelain originated in China during the T'ang dynasty (618-907 A.D.); however, high quality porcelain comparable to modern wares did not develop until the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368 A.D.). Early Chinese porcelain consisted of kaolin (china clay) and pegmatite, a coarse type of granite. Porcelain was unknown to European potters prior to the importation of Chinese wares during the middle Ages. Europeans tried to duplicate Chinese porcelain, but, unable to analyze its chemical composition, they could imitate only its appearance. After mixing glass with tin oxide to render it opaque, European craftspeople tried combining clay and ground glass. These alternatives became known as soft-paste, glassy, or artificial porcelains. However, because they were softer than genuine porcelain, as well as expensive to produce, efforts to develop true porcelain continued. In 1707 two Germans named Ehrenfried Walter von Tschimhaus and Johann Friedrich Bottger succeeded by combining clay with ground feldspar instead of the ground glass previously used. Later in the eighteenth century the English further improved upon the recipe for porcelain when they invented bone china by adding ash from cattle bones to clay, feldspar, and quartz. Although bone china is fired at lower temperatures than true porcelain, the bone ash enables it to become translucent nonetheless. Because it is also easier to make, harder to chip, and stronger than hard porcelain, bone china has become the most popular type of porcelain in the United States and Britain (European consumers continue to favor hard porcelain).

TYPES Porcelain can be divided into the three main categories: hard-paste, soft-paste and bone china depending on the composition of the paste, the material used to form the body of a porcelain object and the firing conditions. Hard paste These porcelains that came from East Asia, especially China, were some of the finest quality porcelain wares. The earliest European porcelains were produced at the Meissen factory in the early 18th century; they were formed from a paste composed of kaolin and alabaster and fired at temperatures up to 1,400 C (2,552 F) in a wood-fired kiln, producing a porcelain of great hardness, translucency, and strengthLater, the composition of the Meissen hard paste was changed and the alabaster was replaced by feldspar and quartz, allowing the pieces to be fired at lower temperatures. Kaolinite, feldspar and quartz (or
Ming Dynasty porcelain vase from the Wanli Emperor reign (15721620)

other forms of silica) continue to provide the basic ingredients for most continental European hard-paste porcelains.

Soft paste Soft-paste porcelains date back from the early attempts by European potters to replicate Chinese porcelain by using mixtures of clay and ground-up glass (frit) to produce softpaste porcelain. Soapstone and lime were known to have been included in these compositions. These wares were not yet actual porcelain wares as they were not hard and vitrified by firing kaolin clay at high temperatures. As these early formulations suffered from high pyroplastic deformation, or
Demonstration of the translucent quality of porcelain

slumping in the kiln at raised temperature, they were uneconomic to produce and of low

quality. Formulations were later developed based on kaolin clay with quartz, feldspars, nepheline syenite or other feldspathic rocks. These were technically superior and continue in production. Soft-paste porcelains are fired at lower temperatures than hard-paste porcelain; therefore these are in general less hard than hard-paste porcelains. Bone china Stronger than hard-paste porcelain and easier to manufacture. Its ivory white appearance is created by adding bone ash to the ingredients for hard-paste porcelain. The initial development of bone china is attributed to Josiah Spode, who introduced it around 1800. The original basic formula of six parts bone ash, four parts china stone, and three and a half parts china clay remains the standard English body. Hard porcelain is strong but chips fairly easily and, unless specially treated, is usually tinged with blue or gray. Bone china is easier to manufacture, is strong, does not chip easily, and has an ivory-white appearance.

Very soon the bone china was copies by Minton, Coalport, Davenport, Derby, Worcester, and the Herculaneum factory at Liverpool.

Later on it was used by New Hall in 1810, Wedgwood in 1812, and Rockingham in 1820. The quality, as much as form and decoration, varied from factory to factory; some tended, after about 1820, toward brilliant colour, lavish gilding, and overcrowded design; others produced tasteful, simply ornamented tableware. Since much early bone china was issued unmarked, it is often difficult to attribute the pieces. Bone china is extremely hard, intensely white and will allow light to pass through it. Strength is provided by the fusion of body ingredients during firing. This unique English pottery body is made from the following: 50% animal bone, 25% china clay, 25% china stone. First or biscuit firing 1200 C - 1300 C. Second or glost firing 1050 C - 1100 C. Porcelaneous ware was first made in China, hence its common name china. Chinese porcelain is less vitrified (and therefore softer) than its modern European counterpart, which was developed in Germany in the early 18th century.

Josiah Spode II (1754-1827) introduced in his new bone china pottery in c1797. This was to prove the English solution to the quest for porcelain. Technically bone china is a form of hard paste porcelain because it is a mixture of clay and another non-glassy material. The standard formula is 25% china clay, 25% Cornish stone, 50% bone ash. Bone china became the English porcelain because - It is less liable to loss in firing than soft paste porcelains which contain glass. The firing temperature is much lower (1250 C) than for hard paste porcelain (1400 C). The potters could use their existing methods and ovens. The brilliance of enamel colours and gold was greater than on other porcelains. It very quickly became a popular body for several reasons - The diminishing trade with China caused by very heavy import duties on porcelain (108% in 1799). Less merchant shipping available because of the need to sustain naval and military forces overseas. The patronage of the Prince of Wales, leader of taste at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The growth of the professional and merchant classes provided a market. It was easy for existing factories to convert to making bone china because the sequence of processes as well as the glost and enamel firing temperatures were the same as earthenware. Bone china is more difficult to use in a plastic state that earthenwares, but quicker to cast with than earthenwares. Calcined bone ash: Calcined bone ash is used in the production of bone china and makes up about 50% by weight of the final body recipe. It is produced from animal bone, which is first processed to remove any adhering meat which is generally sold as pet food. The bone is then treated to remove glue, which is processed and upgraded for use in normal applications where glue is used, and also for the sizing of expensive paper. The raw bone which is left after the meat and glue have been extracted is then heated to about 1000 C at which temperature any residual organic material is burned off and the structure of the bone is changed to form suitable for the manufacture of bone china. The high temperature used also sterilises the bone. Prior to use the bone is finely ground with water before inclusion in the bone china body and it is calcined bone which gives traditional English bone china its translucency and whiteness.

PROCESSES Raw Materials The primary components of porcelain are clays, feldspar or flint, and silica, all characterized by small particle size. To create different types of porcelain, craftspeople combine these raw materials in varying proportions until they obtain the desired green (unfired) and fired properties. Although the composition of clay varies depending upon where it is extracted and how it

To make porcelain, the raw materialssuch as clay, felspar, and silicaare first crushed using jaw crushers, hammer mills, and ball mills. After cleaning to remove improperly sized materials, the mixture is subjected to one of four forming processessoft plastic forming, stiff plastic forming, pressing, or castingdepending on the type of ware being produced. The ware then undergoes a preliminary firing step, bisque-firing. is treated, all clays vitrify (develop glassy qualities), only at extremely high temperatures unless they are mixed with materials whose vitrification threshold is lower. Unlike glass, however, clay is refractory, meaning that it holds its shape when it is heated. In effect, porcelain combines glass's low porosity with clay's ability to retain its shape when heated, making it both easy to form and ideal for domestic use. The principal clays used to make porcelain are china clay and ball clay, which consist mostly of kaolinate, a hydrous aluminum silicate. Feldspar, a mineral comprising mostly aluminum silicate, and flint, a type of hard quartz, function as fluxes in the porcelain body or mixture. Fluxes reduce the temperature at which

liquid glass forms during firing to between 1,835 and 2,375 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 and 1,300 degrees Celsius). This liquid phase binds the grains of the body together. Silica is a compound of oxygen and silicon, the two most abundant elements in the earth's crust. Its resemblance to glass is visible in quartz (its crystalline form), opal (its amorphous form), and sand (its impure form). Silica is the most common filler used to facilitate forming and firing of the body, as well as to improve the properties of the finished product. Porcelain may also contain alumina, a compound of aluminum and oxygen, or low-alkali containing bodies, such as steatite, better known as soapstone. The Manufacturing Process After the raw materials are selected and the desired amounts weighed, they go through a series of preparation steps. First, they are crushed and purified. Next, they are mixed together before being subjected to one of four forming processessoft plastic forming, stiff plastic forming, pressing, or casting; the choice depends upon the type of ware being produced. After the porcelain has been formed, it is subjected to a final purification process, bisque-firing, before being glazed. Glaze is a layer of decorative glass applied to and fired onto a ceramic body. The final manufacturing phase is firing, a heating step that takes place in a type of oven called a kiln. Crushing the raw materials 1 First, the raw material particles are reduced to the desired size, which involves using a variety of equipment during several crushing and grinding steps. Primary crushing is done in jaw crushers which use swinging metal jaws. Secondary crushing reduces particles to 0.1 inch (.25 centimeter) or less in diameter by using mullers (steel-tired wheels) or hammer mills, rapidly moving steel hammers. For fine grinding, craftspeople use ball mills that consist of large rotating cylinders partially filled with steel or ceramic grinding media of spherical shape.

Cleaning and mixing 2 The ingredients are passed through a series of screens to remove any under- or over-sized materials. Screens, usually operated in a sloped position, are vibrated mechanically or electromechanically to improve flow. If the body is to be formed wet, the ingredients are then combined with water to produce the desired consistency. Magnetic filtration is then used to remove iron from the slurries, as these watery mixtures of insoluble material are called. Because iron occurs so pervasively in most clays and will impart

After bisque firing, the porcelain wares are put through a glazing operation, which applies the proper coating. The glaze can be applied by painting, dipping, pouring, or spraying. Finally, the ware undergoes a firing step in an oven or kiln. After cooling, the porcelain ware is complete. an undesirable reddish hue to the body if it oxidizes, removing it prior to firing is essential. If the body is to be formed dry, shell mixers, ribbon mixers, or intensive mixers are typically used. Forming the body 3 Next, the body of the porcelain is formed. This can be done using one of four methods, depending on the type of ware being produced:

soft plastic forming, where the clay is shaped by manual molding, wheel throwing, jiggering, or ram pressing. In wheel throwing, a potter places the desired amount of body on a wheel and shapes it while the wheel turns. In jiggering, the clay is put on a horizontal plaster mold of the desired shape; that mold shapes one side of the clay, while a heated die is brought down from above to shape the other side. In ram pressing, the clay is put between two plaster molds, which shape it while forcing the water out. The mold is then separated by applying vacuum to the upper half of the mold and pressure to the lower half of the mold. Pressure is then applied to the upper half to free the formed body. stiff plastic forming, which is used to shape less plastic bodies. The body is forced through a steel die to produce a column of uniform girth. This is either cut into the desired length or used as a blank for other forming operations. pressing, which is used to compact and shape dry bodies in a rigid die or flexible mold. There are several types of pressing, based on the direction of pressure. Uniaxial pressing describes the process of applying pressure from only one direction, whereas isostatic pressing entails applying pressure equally from all sides. slip casting, in which a slurry is poured into a porous mold. The liquid is filtered out through the mold, leaving a layer of solid porcelain body. Water continues to drain out of the cast layer, until the layer becomes rigid and can be removed from the mold. If the excess fluid is not drained from the mold and the entire material is allowed to solidify, the process is known as solid casting.

Bisque-firing After being formed, the porcelain parts are generally bisque-fired, which entails heating them at a relatively low temperature to vaporize volatile contaminants and minimize shrinkage during firing.

Glazing After the raw materials for the glaze have been ground they are mixed with water. Like the body slurry, the glaze slurry is screened and passed through magnetic filters to remove contaminants. It is then applied to the ware by means of painting, pouring, dipping, or spraying. Different types of glazes can be produced by varying the proportions of the constituent ingredients, such as alumina, silica, and calcia. For example, increasing the alumina and decreasing the silica produces a matte glaze. Firing Firing is a further heating step that can be done in one of two types of oven, or kiln. A periodic kiln consists of a single, refractory-lined, sealed chamber with burner ports and flues (or electric heating elements). It can fire only one batch of ware at a time, but it is more flexible since the firing cycle can be adjusted for each product. A tunnel kiln is a refractory chamber several hundred feet or more in length. It maintains certain temperature zones continuously, with the ware being pushed from one zone to another. Typically, the ware will enter a preheating zone and move through a central firing zone before leaving the kiln via a cooling zone. This type of kiln is usually more economical and energy efficient than a periodic kiln. During the firing process, a variety of reactions take place. First, carbon-based impurities burn out, chemical water evolves (at 215 to 395 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 to 200 degrees Celsius), and carbonates and sulfates begin to decompose (at 755 to 1,295 degrees Fahrenheit or 400 to 700 degrees Celsius). Gases are produced that must escape from the ware. On further heating, some of the minerals break down into other phases, and the fluxes present (feldspar and flint) react with the decomposing minerals to form liquid glasses (at 1,295 to 2,015 degrees Fahrenheit or 700 to 1,100 degrees Celsius). These glass phases are necessary for shrinking and bonding the grains. After the desired density is achieved (greater than 2,195 degrees Fahrenheit or 1,200 degrees Celsius), the ware is cooled, which causes the liquid glass to solidify, thereby forming a strong bond between the remaining crystalline grains. After cooling, the porcelain is complete.

Quality Control The character of the raw materials is important in maintaining quality during the manufacturing process. The chemical composition, mineral phase, particle size distribution, and colloidal surface area affect the fired and unfired properties of the porcelain. With unfired body, the properties evaluated include viscosity, plasticity, shrinkage, and strength. With fired porcelain, strength, porosity, color, and thermal expansion are measured. Many of these properties are monitored and controlled during manufacturing using statistical methods. Both the raw materials and the process parameters (milling time and forming pressure, for example) can be adjusted to achieve desired quality. The Future High-quality porcelain art and dinnerware will continue to enhance the culture. Improvements in manufacturing will continue to increase both productivity and energy efficiency. For instance, a German kiln manufacturer has developed a prefabricated tunnel kiln for fast firing highquality porcelain in less than 5 hours. Firing is achieved by partly reducing atmosphere at a maximum firing temperature of 2,555 degrees Fahrenheit (1,400 degrees Celsius). The kiln uses high-velocity burners and an automatic control system, producing 23,000 pounds (11,500 kilograms) of porcelain in 24 hours. Manufacturers of porcelain products may also have to increase their recycling efforts, due to the increase in environmental regulations. Though unfired scrap is easily recycled, fired scrap poses a problem: mechanically strong and therefore hard to break down, it is usually dumped into landfills. However, preliminary research has shown that fired scrap can be reused after thermal quenching (where the scrap is reheated and then quickly cooled), which makes it weaker and easier to break down. The scrap can then be used as a raw material. Porcelain appears to be playing a more important role in technical applications. Recent patents have been issued to Japanese and American companies in the area of electrical insulators and dental prostheses. NGK Insulators, Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer, has developed high-strength

porcelain for electrical insulators, whereas Murata Manufacturing Co. has developed lowtemperature-sintering porcelain components for electronic applications.

ADVANTAGES Durability One of the main advantages of porcelain tile is its durability. It is fired at higher temperatures and made from more refined clay, so it's much more dense than standard ceramic tile. It's durable enough to last a lifetime if you install it properly. Moisture Porcelain tile is also less prone to absorbing moisture since it is so dense. This is especially useful in colder climates that can lead to freezing. This means that your tile won't crack. Cleaning You will also like the fact that porcelain tile is very easy to maintain. It is non-porous so it won't harbor bacteria. The tile's dense nature also makes it more resistant to staining. This type of tile can be used in either indoor or outdoor applications.

DISADVANTAGES Density You've already learned about the advantages that the density of porcelain tile provides. However, it also leads to a disadvantage. Its increased density means that it's very hard and more difficult to cut.

Weight You will not like the fact that porcelain tile is also very heavy. If you accidentally drop one of these tiles, it will almost certainly break. You will also need to ensure that the subfloor is strong enough to support the weight of the porcelain tiles. These are some of the advantages and disadvantages of porcelain tile. It's denser than standard ceramic tile, so it's very durable. This type of tile also won't absorb moisture easily, so you don't have to worry about it cracking when used in colder climates.