Porcelain

[Travellers | Cities | Routes | Trade Goods | Themes]

by Rose Kerr

The name porcelain is said to have been coined by Marco Polo in the 13th century, from porcelino. This was the name of a cowrie shell which looked like a little pig or porcelino. He likened Chinese porcelain to this translucent white shell.

Porcelain is a kind of ceramic, and a manmade material. It is white-bodied, and when thin can transmit light. It requires the correct raw materials, porcelain stone and porcelain clay, which occur in defined geological areas. It is formed from porcelain stone, ground to a fine powder and mixed with water, or from porcelain clay. The malleable material is then shaped and fired in a very hot kiln to temperatures above 1250oC, causing it to vitrify. It is generally finer and more difficult to make than other types of ceramic such as stoneware and earthenware. For all these reasons, it was also rarer than other ceramics, and was only made by a limited number of countries.

China has been the major source of porcelain for more than 1400 years. Chinese potters first manufactured porcelain shortly before AD 600, in the northern province of Hebei, and for a long time China retained a monopoly on production. Korean kilns made porcelain from the 10th century but did not export it. Japanese potters discovered how to make porcelain in the early 17th century, but the first European porcelain was not created until 1708 at Meissen in Germany.

Chinese porcelain travelled around the globe. By the 9th century it was a valuable trade commodity, being shipped to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and as far as Arab kingdoms in eastern Africa. Starting in the 10th century porcelain was also made in southern China, in the region of Jingdezhen. From the 11th century production of green-glazed porcelains (celadons) was stepped up at Longquan, near the southeast coast. Mass-production developed in the south, and wares dating from the 10th to 20th centuries have been found at sites all over the world.