Porcelain Pottery

Porcelain Pottery is one of the most elegant kinds of pottery. Its beauty perhaps lies in its delicate appearance and fine designs. It is also called chinaware or china. This is because porcelain pottery has been made in China since the time of the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.)

How is porcelain pottery made? :
The first step in the manufacture of porcelain pottery is the making of porcelain. Porcelain is basically a mixture of kaolin and petuntse. Kaolin is a clay that is white in color and is formed of feldspar. Petuntse is another type of feldspar. Kaolin is mixed with the finely ground petuntse powder. This mixture is then molded by hand or thrown on a potter's wheel . Thereafter, the object is fired in a kiln at a high temperature. The petuntse melts and forms a type of glass. The kaolin does not melt and makes the porcelain item hold its shape. During the firing process, the petuntse fuses with the kaolin.

There are three kinds of porcelain:

• Hard paste porcelain: This is the authentic Chinese porcelain made of kaolin and petuntse.
• Soft paste porcelain: This is made of white clay and glass like ingredients.
• Bone china: This is made of bone ash, kaolin and petuntse.

Decoration of pottery made of porcelain

Porcelain pottery may be decorated in numerous ways:

• Glazing
• Painting
• Engraving
• Carving
• Metal plating
• Varnishing

The patterns used to decorate porcelain pottery items could be

• Linear
• Geometric
• Floral
• Ethnic Indian
• Abstract

One of the most popular colors used is a deep blue got from cobalt.