Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, PLA-RAM

P O R [ 386 1 P O R
Porcelain.
^rt of ma¬
lting it in
greater per-
fration in
the Eafl
than in Eu¬
rope.
4
5efl Chi-
nefe porce¬
lain at
King-te-
tdung.
Orig in of
tke art.
P. d’Entre.
colies firft
gave an ac
count of
Chinefe
j)oi ceiaim
7
Nature of
the mate¬
rials, and
mode of
preparing
the palle.
preKcnds no fuch founds. It is probable tbat we are
indebted to the Portuguefe for it : the word porcellana,
however, in their language, iiguifies properly a cup or
dilh; and they themfelves diilinguilh all works of porce¬
lain by the general name of loca. Porcelain is called in
China tsJ-ku
The art of making porcelain is one of thofe in which
Europe has been excelled by oriental nations. The
'firft porcelain that was feen in Europe was brought
from Japan and China. The whitenefs, tranfparency,
finenefg, neatnefs, elegance, and even the magniiicence
of this pottery, which foon became the ornanunt of
fumptuous tables, did not fail to excite the admiration
and induftry of Europeans ; and their attempts have fue-
ceeded fo well, that i« different parts of Europe earth¬
en wares have been made fo like the oriental, that they
have acquired the name of porcelain. 1 he firft European
porcelains were made in Saxony and in France ; and af¬
terwards in England, Germany, and Italy: but as all
thefe were different from the Japanefe, fo each of them
had its peculiar character.
The fineft and belt porcelain of China is made in a
villageocalled King-te-tcbrng, in the province of Kiang-fi.
This-celebrated village is a league and a half in length,
and we are affured that it contains a million of inhabi¬
tants. The workmen of King-te-tching, invited by
the attracting allurements of the European trade, have
eitablifhed. manufactories alfo in the provinces of Fo-
kien and Canton ; but this porcelain is not efteemed.—
The emperor Kang-hi was defirous of having feme made
under his own infpeCfion at Pe-king. For this pur-
pofe he collected workmen, together with tools, and all
materials neceffary ; furnaces were alfo ereCted,- but the
attempt mifearried. The village of King-te-tching 11 ill
continues the molt celebrated place in the empire for
beautiful porcelain, which is tranfported to all parts of
the world, and even to japan.
Wc are unable to difeovtr who firll found out the
art of making porcelain, nor is it known whether the
Chinefe were indebted to chance for it, or to the re¬
peated efforts of inventive genius ; we cannot even de¬
termine its antiquity with precifion ; we know only
from the annals of Feoudeang, a city in the diitricl to
which King-te-tching belongs, that, iince the year 442
of our era, the workmen of this village have always fur-
nilhed the emperors with porcelain ; and that one or
two mandarins were fent from court to infpeCl their la¬
bours. It is, however, fuppofed that the invention of
porcelain is much older than that epocha.
We are indebted to Father d’EntrecolIes, a Romifh
mifiionary, for a very accurate account of the manner in
'which porcelain is made in China ; and as he lived in
King-te-tching, his information mull have been the very
belt poffible. We fhall therefore give his account of
the Chinefe manner of making it, as abridged by Gro-
fier in his General Defcription of Lhina. The principal
ingredients of the fine porcelain are pe-tun-tfe and kao-iin,
two kinds of earth from the mixture of which the pafte
is produced. I he kao-hn is intermixed with fmall filming
particles ; the other is purely white, and very fine to the
touch, i hefe firll materials are carried to the manu-
fadlories in the fhape of bricks. The pe-tun-tfe, which
is fo fine, is nothing elfe but fragments of rock taken
from certain quarries, and reduced to powder. Every
kind of Hone is not fit fo^tkis purpofe. The colour
of that which is good, fay the Chinefe, ought to incline Porcelam^
a little towards green. A large iron club is ufed for *—•>*
breaking thefe pieces of rock : they are afterwards put
into mortars ; and, by means of levers headed with Hone
bound round with iron, they are reduced to a very fine
powder. Thefe levers are put in aclion either by the
labour of men, or by water, in the fame manner as the
hammers of our paper-mills. The dull afterwards col-
ledted is thrown into a large velfel full of water, which
is ftrongly llirred writh an iron fhovel. When it ha*
been left to fettle for feme time, a kind of cream rifel¬
on the top, about four inches in thicknefs, which i»
fkimmed off, and poured into another veffel filled with
water: the water in the firft vefiel is Itirred feveraf
times; and the cream which arifes is Hill collefted, until
nothing remains but the coarfe dregs, which, by theie
own weight, precipitate to the bottom : thefe dregs arc
carefully colleCled, and pounded anew.
With regard to what is taken from the firll veffel, ft
is fuffered to remain in the fecond until it is formed into
a kind of cruft at the bottom. When the water above
it feems quite clear, it is poured off by gently inclining'
the veffcl, that the fediment may not be difturbed; and
the pafte is thrown into large moulds proper for drying
it. Before it is entirely hard, it is divided into final!
fquare cakes, which are fold by the hundred. The co*
lour of this pafte, and its form, have ©ccalioned it to re«
ceive the name ofpe tun-t/e.
The kao lin, which is ufed in the compofition of por¬
celain, requires Ids labour than the pe-tun-tfe. Nature
has a greater fnare in the preparation of it. There are
large mines of it in the bofoms of certain mountains, the
exterior llrata of which conlift of a kind of red earth.
Thefe mines are very deep, and the kao-lin is found in
fmall lumps, that are formed into bricks after having
gone through the fame procefs as the pe-tun-tfe. Fa¬
ther d’Entixcolles thinks, that the earth called terre de
Malte, or St Paul's earth, has much affinity to the kao¬
lin, although thofe fmall Ihining particles are not obfer-
ved in it which are interfperfed in the latter.
It is from the kaodjn that fine porcelain derive*
all its ilrength ; if we may be allowed the expreffion,
it ftands it inftead of nerves. It is very extraordinary,
that a foft earth ffiould give ftrength and conliftency ta
the pe-tun-tfe, which is procured from the hardeft rocks.
A rich Chinefe merchant told F. d’EntrecolIes, that
the Englilh and Dutch had purchafed fume of the pe-
tun-tfe, which they tranfported to Europe with a de-
fign of making porcelain ; but having carried with them
none of the kao-lin, their attempt proved abortive, as
they have fince acknowledged. “• They wanted (faid
this Chinefe, laughing) to form a body, the fleffi of
which ffiould fiipport itfelf without bones.” g
The Chinefe have difeovered, within thefe few years, A new full*
a new fubftance proper to be employed in the comP°^"coveixd and
tion of porcelain. It is a itone, or rather fpecies of ufecj by the
chalk, called boa-che, from which the pbyfieians prepare Chinele,
a kind of draught that is laid to be deterfive, aperient,
and cooling. The manufaclurers of porcelain have
thought proper to employ this Hone inftead of kao-lin.
It is called hoa, becaufe it is glutinous, and has a great
refemblance to foap. Porcelain made with hoa-che is
very rare, and much dearer than any other. It has an
exceeding fine grain, and, with regard to the painting,
if it be compand with that of the common porcelain.