Chinese porcelain - elegance of form and elegance

Even people far from history know that between the words "porcelain" and "China" there is a very close relationship. It was in this country that they first learned how to make fine and elegant things from ordinary clay.

Chinese porcelain was invented in the 6th-7th century, although historians from China claim that this event occurred 400 years earlier. A variety of clay products were actually made long before the invention of porcelain, but it was in the 6th-7th century that the masters learned by improving technology to obtain products that differed from their predecessors by subtlety and extraordinary whiteness. As a consequence, Chinese porcelain became the most carefully protected secret of the Middle Kingdom. Dishes from porcelain, of course, was sold to foreigners, but production technology remained a state secret, and the disclosure of its secrets was punishable by death.

The flowering of the production of porcelain products in China came in the 15th-16th centuries, when the technology of manufacture reached the highest degree of perfection. And it was at this time that Chinese porcelain appeared in European countries, where it was brought by sailors and traders from Portugal. Products from porcelain could afford only rich people, not without reason the very word "porcelain" means "imperial". And in our time to buy Chinese porcelain of modern production can not afford far from poor people - one vase of medium size costs from three hundred dollars. But connoisseurs are ready to pay more substantial sums. After all, porcelain vases, jugs and cups are not just dishes, but works of art.

Chinese porcelain is traditionally covered with a glaze of different shades and degrees of transparency, which allows to give the surface a special matte shine. At the same time in different historical periods, other colors were used, so connoisseurs and specialists distinguish porcelain items of "green", "blue" and "pink" families. It is noteworthy that the Chinese craftsmen in the mural specialized in any one kind of ornament - for example, clear lines and contours, landscapes, faces. Therefore, one product was painted by several people. And if you remember that for the manufacture of any object it was necessary to find and sort the clay, rinse it, make dishes and burn, it turns out that several hundred people could work on one product.

The top of the skill was Chinese bone porcelain, which is distinguished by a special whiteness and so thin that it literally appears through. The secret of this porcelain is to add 50 percent of bone ash to the substances that are commonly used in making porcelain such as kaolin and quartz.

It is interesting that after the formation of the PRC, the government began to restore old and destroyed porcelain factories, while actively attracting famous masters to work. In addition, work is under way to restore the old methods of roasting and lost dye recipes, so that modern Chinese porcelain is fully consistent with the old traditions.