The inventors and first producers of porcelain were Chinese.
Even in ancient times, since the second century B.C. Chinese had been forming vessels from porcelain mass defined by specialists
as “protoporcelain”.
Improvement of technology allowed Chinese to fire vessels called porcelain around the seventh century. They were marked by white color, a kind of transparency of material and made specific resonance.
Since porcelain is formed after burning, in a very high temperature (above 1280 st. C), the mixture of special white clay-kaolin and feldspars.
Glazed material gets translucent and does not let in water. Chinese, especially, discovered kaolin deposits earlier than others, and also they were able to get such a high temperature in a kiln to fire porcelain mass. The foreigners were amazed by unknown and unusual works. The traveller, Sulejman, probably Persianor Arabic merchant, in 851 wrote:
“Chinese own a very delicate white clay, from which they form vessels so translucent, as if from glass; one can see water through vessel sides, although it is madeof clay”.
These facts are confirmed by excavations. Marco Polo, Venetian, was the first European who came across this kind of vessels. During his famous travel to China he stayed in 1275 at the court of emperor Kubilaja ( from the dynasty founded by Dżingis-chan). In his diary he used the name “porcelain” for defining works he saw. Probably he associated the gaze of this work with the shells genus porcellana which have brightly glistening, colored surface. The term “porcelain” was caught on in Europe not until the sixteenth century.
Even in ancient times, since the second century B.C. Chinese had been forming vessels from porcelain mass defined by specialists
as “protoporcelain”.
Improvement of technology allowed Chinese to fire vessels called porcelain around the seventh century. They were marked by white color, a kind of transparency of material and made specific resonance.
Since porcelain is formed after burning, in a very high temperature (above 1280 st. C), the mixture of special white clay-kaolin and feldspars.
Glazed material gets translucent and does not let in water. Chinese, especially, discovered kaolin deposits earlier than others, and also they were able to get such a high temperature in a kiln to fire porcelain mass. The foreigners were amazed by unknown and unusual works. The traveller, Sulejman, probably Persianor Arabic merchant, in 851 wrote:
“Chinese own a very delicate white clay, from which they form vessels so translucent, as if from glass; one can see water through vessel sides, although it is madeof clay”.
These facts are confirmed by excavations. Marco Polo, Venetian, was the first European who came across this kind of vessels. During his famous travel to China he stayed in 1275 at the court of emperor Kubilaja ( from the dynasty founded by Dżingis-chan). In his diary he used the name “porcelain” for defining works he saw. Probably he associated the gaze of this work with the shells genus porcellana which have brightly glistening, colored surface. The term “porcelain” was caught on in Europe not until the sixteenth century.
