History and Types of Porcelain: From China to Europe

Majolica

**To be decorated, parts were acquired at a lower cost, and thus the slab was imposed on metal objects.** He influenced all of Europe. The majolica ceramic body is covered with a porous coating with tin and painted with enamel colors. This technique, originating from the Islamic world, was widely used in the Iberian Peninsula and Italy, especially in Majorca, hence the term "majolica" (Italian *Maiolica* = Mallorca).

Once baked, the enamel is spread with a thin layer of copper or silver pigment mixed with ochre. It is then fired again, producing a total or partial metallization of the copper pigments. This gives the object a special shine and produces reflective effects. There is a wide color gamut.

Porcelain

Porcelain is the most refined of ceramic products. Its origin is in China and dates back to the ninth century. The formula was known in China in its most primitive form during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It was known in Europe since the Middle Ages, and Marco Polo spoke of a wonderful product made with seashells.

In the seventeenth century, the East India Company imported and sold porcelain, as Europe did not yet know the secret of its manufacture. In the sixteenth century, something similar to "Medici porcelain" (soft-paste porcelain) had been achieved.

The discovery of the art of porcelain in Europe was made by the German alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger. He worked at Meissen (Saxony) in the early eighteenth century and first invented *Jaspiporzellan*: a dark red stoneware, hard and formed by a filling of clay that does not fuse, ground red earth (Zwickau earth), and a compound of light clay from Plauen. With this, Böttger discovered the principle of the composition of porcelain.

After that, Böttger tested materials of the same kind:

• Kaolin from Kolditz (later replaced by that from Aue), which turns white when fired.
• Alabaster from Northausen, calcined (later replaced by petuntse = feldspar).

These two elements are feldspar and are baked for 12 hours at a maximum temperature of 1300 to 1400 ºC.

The Creation of Porcelain

On January 15, 1708, the first porcelain object similar to Chinese porcelain was made, due to its hardness, brilliance, and translucence. On January 23, 1710, the founding of the first factory in Meissen was announced. In 1713, the products of the Meissen factory were sold at the Leipzig Easter fair.

Böttger's formula was kept secret until 1719. That year, two traitors sold the secret to a factory in Vienna, and the formula eventually spread throughout Europe. Production ended up partnering with monarchies.

Types of Porcelain

There are three basic types of porcelain, based on the filling and firing:

Soft-Paste Porcelain

In connection with the attempt to imitate Chinese porcelain, soft-paste porcelain emerged in 1575 in Florence under the patronage of Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco Maria de' Medici. It appears that the experiments were conducted by the ceramist Orazio Fontana of Urbino, aided by a mysterious "Levantine." It was composed on the basis of powdered rock crystal, glass, sand, and white earth from Faenza. Subsequently, it was made based on a mixture of clay and glass granules cooked in ovens that did not reach 1200 ºC. It only started to become popular in Europe in the late seventeenth century, and production continued even long after the discovery of the hard-paste formula. The decoration is usually in blue on white, although there are also cases that include manganese.

Hard-Paste Porcelain

This may be regarded as the true porcelain. It consists of a mixture of feldspar, kaolin, and quartz, baked in ovens at temperatures below 1540 °C. The formula was known in China in its most primitive form during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). The first known in Europe corresponds to the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368 AD) and was popularized by Marco Polo. In Europe, the formula was discovered by Johann Friedrich Böttger in Meissen (Saxony) in 1707.