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Introduction to Ceramics
21/05/2009
An Introduction to Ceramics
Ceramics refers to all items made from a mixture of clay and water, along with various
additives, that have been shaped by hand or machine.
Firing is the term used when ceramic items are baked in ovens at high temperature causing chemical changes to the clay so they become hard and keep their shape.
Glazing is the process of covering the object in a thin layer of material (most often liquid with particles in suspension) and firing it for a second time to make it waterproof and for decorative purposes.
There are two main types of ceramics namely Pottery and Porcelain
The basic difference between Pottery and Porcelain is that porcelain is translucent - allowing light to penetrate, whereas pottery is not.
Pottery
This is the older branch of ceramics with a history of pieces dating from more than 30,000 years ago
There are two subcategories of pottery:
Earthenware: These items, look the same colour as the clay they are made from and remain porous after firing, unless they are glazed
Stoneware: Items are fired at a higher temperature and are non porous (will hold water) even when not glazed.
Porcelain
Porcelain was first made in the country of
China during the Han Dynasty ( 202 BC -220AD) and was not successfully or widely produced by Europeans until the early 18th Century.
Porcelain is commonly called '
China' because it took the Europeans two hundred years of experimenting after it had been brought back from
China before it was successfully copied in Europe
There are 3 distinct types of European Porcelain which were developed in the following order
Soft Paste
Hard Paste
Bone China
The first process, ‘Soft Paste’ was developed initially in
Florence,
Italy in the 16th Century, resulting in a semi porous form of porcelain
‘True’ or ‘Hard Paste Porcelain’ was developed in
Germany in the early 1700s, particularly in the cities of
Meissen and
Dresden.
In about 1750 the English experimented with adding bone ash to clay and thus developed what is known as ‘Bone China’
.
