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The Most Enduring Chinese Export

Porcelain

Il Milione Di Marco Polo; Testo Di Lingu... (by Marco Polo)
Il Milione Di Marco Polo; Testo Di Lingu... (by Marco Polo)
William Cookworthy (by THEODORE. COMPTON)
Chinese Porcelain (by Xiang, Yuanbian, 1525-1590)
Catalogue of Fine Old Chinese Porcelain,... (by Christie, Manson and Woods)
Japanese Porcelain (by Mew, Egan)
Porcelain (by Dillon, Edward, D.)

The discovery of China by Marco Polo opened western countries to a wealth of new products that Europeans soon coveted and China soon manufactured in great quantities to meet that lucrative demand. Porcelain, a ceramic material that transcends mere crockery in terms of strength and translucent white color, was not the least of these fine products. Polo’s record of his journey, Il Milione (volume 1 and volume 2) contain the first mention by a European of this fine pottery.

The characteristics of porcelain arise from the type of clay used (kaolin) and the extremely high firing temperature (1,200 to 1,400 degrees Celsius). According to the World Heritage Encyclopedia, other materials used in porcelain include feldspar, ball clay, glass, bone ash, steatite, quartz, petunse, and alabaster. China began exporting porcelain to Islamic cultures during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). Not until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) did the export of porcelain to European countries become common with wares traveling the Silk Road. In the 16th century, Portuguese and then Dutch merchants redirected the porcelain trade by sea, which allowed for faster, more frequent transport and larger shipments to satisfy insatiable demand.

China kept a tight lock on the secret to manufacturing porcelain. However, each successive dynasty established an organized manufacturing network, thus spreading the knowledge of porcelain manufacture further. The secret spread, first by Koreans who learned in Chinese factories and then taught their Japanese captors. Japanese porcelain did not match the finest Chinese wares until the 19th century.

Eager to manufacture their own porcelain--and increase profits--merchants and artisans sought to recreate Chinese porcelain. Unfortunately, they did not understand the manufacturing process and their attempts usually failed. In 1708, German mathematician, physicist, physician, and philosopher Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, forcibly assisted by alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger, unlocked the secret using a mixture containing kaolin and alabaster obtained from a mine in Colditz. Some scholars credit him as the first to produce true European porcelain. Regardless of whether he was the first, the Saxon enterprise closely guarded its lucrative trade secret. Böttger’s compulsory participation in the quest for porcelain manufacture arose from incarceration resulting from claims that he could turn dross into gold.

In 1756, the Vincennes porcelain factory in France produced an innovative soft-paste porcelain that came close to hard-paste Chinese porcelain. That success and ongoing perfection of the manufacturing process led to the factory’s move to Sèvres, where fine china is still manufactured.

England joined the race to produce porcelain. Thomas Briand presented the results of his soft-paste pottery to the Royal Society in 1742. He based his formula upon the French recipe. In 1949, Thomas Frye’s competing product used bone ash and received a patent for “bone china” which was perfected by Josiah Spode. Quaker William Cookworthy’s discovery of kaolin in Cornwall inspired the founding of a factory, in 1768, in Portsmouth, and enabled a European country finally to produce hard-paste porcelain rivaling the fine wares imported from China.

by Karen M. Smith