PORCELAIN.
Tse-ki, CHIN. I Cheni-kam, Gus., HIND.
Porcelaine, . . FR. Poreellana, . . IT.
Porzelan, . . . GEU. Poreelana, . . . SP.
Very fine earthenware, white, semi-transpar ent, and sometimes beautifully coloured and gilt. Chinese porcelain of an exceedingly fine texture .has long been renowned ; but British porcelain, although unable to boast of such fine specimens of costly workmanship, has risen to be a matter of great. importance. Dresden has long been famous for the beauty of its porcelain productions; but the finest and most magnificent work of European ware halt been produced! at Sevres In }'ranee. name was given by the Portuguese to the Reim-transparent. cups they RAW on their arrival in China, from their riateniblatice to the lustrous nacre of sea-shells or porcellana, for they supposed it to be a composition of eggshells, and scales. In China, kno-lin, quartz, and atispatone are ingredients tired in the manufacture.
Kao - lin or Kau - ling, i.e. high ridge, the name of a hill near Jau•chau-fu, is obtained! from the disintegrated granite in that region, and is nearly pure felspar ; by slow decomposition the alkali and part of the sex is removed and water imbibed. - An analysis of the clay used in Europe shows the constituents to be—Silica, 43 ; aluinine, 36 ; water, 19 ; and a trace of magnesia and car bonate of lime.
The Pe-tun-tec or Peh-tun-tez of China is nearly pure quartz, and the best of the Chinese is brought from liwui-ehau in Ngan-hwui, but is procurable elsewhere ; it is reduced to an impalpable powder by toilsome processes, and formed into cakes to sell to the manufacturers.
Steatite or soapstone, called llawh-shih, is also employed, and some forms of carbonate and sul phate of lime, which are mixed in to produce an inferior article, though still among the best now manufactured ; the soapstone ware is more brittle than the other, but fine, white, and very light. The proportions of the ingredients vary according to the desired fineness of the ware.
Coloured Ware of China.—After the paste or biscuit is formed into the required shape, the dishes are painted by workmen, each of whom takes a single colour and a single part of the picture.
The whole surface of the dish is sometimes covered with gay figures, but the most common decora tions consist of heroes, statesmen, etc., in different attitudes and costumes, and sentences beautifully written referring to them and their times. Most of the inscriptions and figures seen upon mantel piece ornaments, teacups, and jars are of this nature, explaining some event in the life, or a panegyric upon the personage there represented ; this affords an opportunity for persons to show their scholarship in explaining the quotation. The colours used on the flue porcelain have long been admired ; and Des Guignes, who made many en deavours to procure stunplea of them and ascertain the mode of mixing them, has given the composi tion of sonic of the principal colours ; but at present there is probably little to learn from them in this branch. After the workmen have finished the painting, the pieces are covered with a liquid mixture of alkali, obtained from burning ferns with the quartzose Pe-tun.tse, after which they tire baked. The best articles are surrounded with a case lined with sand, in order to protect them from the flame; and as the furnaces are only about six or eight feet square, the clostait attention can be paid to the condition of the ware, and the exact time ascertained for reducing the heat and opening the kiln. Some of the pieces brought from the interior are perfectly white, and the patterns are afterwards painted and fixed on them according to the fancy of the customer. The finest specimens are from the kilos of laing-teh chin in Kiang-si.
Black China-ware, the Ow-tni-ew, ornamented with gold, is very much prized in China_ To make this ware they mix three ounce., of azure and seven of the oil of stones ; this is laid on the ware, and when perfectly dry it is baked, after which the gold is laid on, and the vessel is re baked.