African art and Porcelain: Difference between pages

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[[Image:Vesselwithanimalmotif.jpg|thumb|[[Igbo people|Igbo]] bronze vessel with animal motif, [[Igbo Ukwu]], [[Nigeria]] c. 9th century A.D.]]
{{redirect|Fine China|the band|Fine China (band)}}
[[Image:Yoruba-bronze-head.jpg|thumb|[[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] bronze head sculpture, [[Ife]], Nigeria c. 12th century A.D.]]
{{otheruses4|the ceramic material|other uses|Porcelain (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Makonde elephant.jpg|thumb|Makonde carving c.1974]]
{{dablink|For the "Chien de Franche-Comté" dog breed, see [[porcelaine]]}}
[[Image:Velour du kasaï.jpg|thumb|''Velours'' from Kasai]]
[[Image:Sculpture ebene.jpg|thumb|upright|A sculpture in [[ebony]]]]
[[Image:IMG 2267–77 b.JPG|thumb|Another carving in ebony]]
'''African art''' constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth. Though many casual observers tend to generalize African art, the continent is full of peoples, societies, and civilizations, each with a unique visual special culture. The definition also includes the art of the [[African diaspora]]s, such as the art of [[African American]]s. Despite this diversity, there are some unifying artistic themes when considering the totality of the [[visual culture]] from the continent of Africa.<ref>Blier, Suzanne: "Africa, Art, and History: An Introduction", ''A History of Art in Africa'', pp. 15-19</ref>


[[Image:Nymphenburg-porzellan.jpg|thumb|A porcelain piece from the [[Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory]], c. 1760-1765]]
*Emphasis on the human figure: The human figure is the primary subject matter for most African art. In historical periods involving trade between Africa and Europe, the introduction of the human body into existing European pottery and other art forms can reliably be taken as evidence of contact with African cultures. For example in the fifteenth century Portugal traded with the Sapi culture near the Ivory Coast in West Africa, who created elaborate ivory saltcellars that were hybrids of African and European designs, most notably in the addition of the human figure (the human figure typically did not appear in Portuguese saltcellars).
[[Image:Inkwell44.jpg|thumb|French Porcelain inkwell]]


'''Porcelain''' is a [[ceramic]] material made by heating raw materials, generally including [[clay]] in the form of [[kaolin]], in a [[kiln]] to temperatures between {{convert|1200|°C|°F|0|lk=on}} and {{convert|1400|°C|°F|0|lk=off}}. The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain arise mainly from the formation of glass and the mineral [[mullite]] within the fired body at these high temperatures. Porcelain is sometimes referred to as china. This is because until the 17th century, China was the sole producer of porcelain.
*Visual abstraction: African artworks tend to favor visual abstraction over naturalistic representation. This is because many African artworks, and generalize stylistic norms. <ref>Blier, Suzanne, "Africa, Art, and History: An Introduction", ''A History of Art in Africa'', p. 16</ref> Ancient Egyptian art, also usually thought of as naturalistically depictive, makes use of highly abstracted and regimented visual canons, especially in painting, as well as the use of different colors to represent the qualities and characteristics of an individual being depicted. <ref>''A History of Art in Africa'', p. 49</ref>
Porcelain derives its present name from its resemblance to the [[cowrie shell]], which in old [[Italian language|Italian]] porcellana, from feminine of porcellano, of a young sow (from the shell's resemblance to a pig's back), from porcella, young sow, diminutive of porca, sow, from Latin, feminine of porcus, pig, and from the Greek πὀρκος, (porcos).<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/porcellaneous porcellaneous - definition of porcellaneous by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Properties]] associated with porcelain include low permeability and [[elasticity (physics)|elasticity]]; considerable [[Strength of materials|strength]], [[hardness]], glassiness, [[brittleness]], [[white]]ness, [[translucence]], and [[resonance]]; and a high resistance to chemical attack and [[thermal shock]].
For the purposes of trade, the ''Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities'' defines porcelain as being "completely vitrified, hard, impermeable (even before glazing), white or artificially coloured, translucent (except when of considerable thickness) and resonant." However, the term ''porcelain'' lacks a universal definition and has "been applied in a very unsystematic fashion to substances of diverse kinds which have only certain surface-qualities in common" (Burton 1906).


Porcelain is used to make table, kitchen, sanitary, and decorative wares; objects of fine art; and [[tiles]]. Its high resistance to the passage of electricity makes porcelain an excellent [[electric insulation|insulator]]. [[Dental porcelain]] is used to make false teeth, caps and crowns.
*Emphasis on sculpture: African artists tend to favor three-dimensional artworks over two-dimensional works. Even many African paintings or cloth works were meant to be experienced three-dimensionally. House paintings are often seen as a continuous design wrapped around a house, forcing the viewer to walk around the work to experience it fully; while decorated cloths are worn as decorative or ceremonial garments, transforming the wearer into a living sculpture.


==Scope, materials and methods==
*Emphasis on performance art: An extension of the utilitarianism and three-dimensionality of traditional African art is the fact that much of it is crafted for use in performance contexts, rather than in static ones. For example, masks and costumes very often are used in communal, ceremonial contexts, where they are "danced." Most societies in Africa have names for their masks, but this single name incorporates not only the sculpture, but also the meanings of the mask, the dance associated with it, and the spirits that reside within. In African thought, the three cannot be differentiated.
=== Scope ===
The most common uses of porcelain are the creation of artistic objects and the production of more utilitarian wares. It is difficult to distinguish between [[stoneware]] and porcelain because this depends upon how the terms are defined. A useful working definition of ''porcelain'' might include a broad range of ceramic wares, including some that could be classified as stoneware.


=== Materials ===
*Nonlinear scaling: Often a small part of an African design will look similar to a larger part, such as the diamonds at different scales in the Kasai pattern at right. Louis Senghor, Senegal’s first president, referred to this as “dynamic symmetry.” William Fagg, the British art historian, compared it to the logarithmic mapping of natural growth by biologist D’Arcy Thompson. More recently it has been described in terms of [[fractal]] geometry.<ref>Eglash, Ron: "African Fractals: Modern computing and indigenous design.” Rutgers 1999</ref>
{{further|[[Pottery]]}}
[[Image:Porte-chapeau-082006.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chinese porcelain]] from the reign of the [[Qianlong Emperor]] (1735-1796)]]
Clay is generally thought to be the primary material from which porcelain is made, even though clay minerals might account for only a small proportion of the whole. The word "paste" is an old term for both the unfired and fired material. A more common terminology these days for the unfired material is "body", for example, when buying materials a potter might order an amount of porcelain body from a vendor.


The composition of porcelain is highly variable, but the clay mineral [[kaolinite]] is often a significant component. Other materials can include [[feldspar]], [[ball clay]], [[glass]], [[bone ash]], [[steatite]], [[quartz]], [[petuntse]] and [[alabaster]]; further information on these formulations is given at "[[soft-paste porcelain]]".
==Area of influence==
African art has a long and surprisingly controversial history. Up until recently, the designation "African" was usually only bestowed on the arts of "Black Africa", the peoples living in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]. The non-black peoples of [[North Africa]], the blacks of the [[Horn of Africa]], as well as the art of [[Ancient Egypt]], generally were not included under the rubric of African art. Recently, however, there has been a movement among African art historians and other scholars to include the visual culture of these areas, since all the cultures that produced them, in fact, are located within the geographic boundaries of the African continent. The notion is that by including all African cultures and their visual culture in ''African art'', laypersons will gain a greater understanding of the continent's cultural diversity. Since there was often a confluence of traditional African, Islamic and Mediterranean cultures, scholars have found that drawing distinct divisions between Muslim areas, ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean and indigenous black African societies makes little sense. Finally, the arts of the people of the [[African diaspora]], prevalent in [[Brazil]], the [[Caribbean]] and the southeastern [[United States]], have also begun to be included in the study of African art.


The clays used are often described as being long or short, depending on their [[plasticity]]. Long clays are cohesive (sticky) and have high plasticity; short clays are less cohesive and have lower plasticity. In [[soil mechanics]], plasticity is determined by measuring the increase in content of water required to change a clay from a solid state bordering on the plastic, to a plastic state bordering on the liquid, though the term is also used less formally to describe the facility with which a clay may be worked. Clays used for porcelain are generally of lower plasticity and are shorter than many other pottery clays. They wet very quickly, meaning that small changes in the content of water can produce large changes in workability. Thus, the range of water content within which these clays can be worked is very narrow and the loss or gain of water during storage and throwing or forming must be carefully controlled to keep the clay from becoming too wet or too dry to manipulate. This property also contributes to porcelain's use as a [[slipcasting]] body.{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}
==History==
The origins of African art lie long before recorded history. African rock art in the [[Sahara]] in [[Niger]] preserves 6000-year-old carvings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the153club.org/giraffe.html|title=“New” Giraffe Engravings Found|publisher=The 153 Club|accessdate=2007-05-31}}</ref> The earliest known sculptures are from the [[Nok]] culture of [[Nigeria]], made around [[500s BC|500 BCE]]. Along with sub-Saharan Africa, the cultural arts of the western tribes, [[ancient Egypt]]ian artifacts, and indigenous southern crafts also contributed greatly to African art. Often depicting the abundance of surrounding nature, the art was often abstract interpretations of animals, plant life, or natural designs and shapes.


=== Methods ===
More complex methods of producing art were developed in sub-Saharan Africa around the [[10th century]], some of the most notable advancements include the bronzework of [[Igbo Ukwu]] and the terracottas and metalworks of [[Ile Ife]] [[Bronze]] and [[brass]] castings, often ornamented with [[ivory]] and [[precious stone]]s, became highly prestigious in much of [[West Africa]], sometimes being limited to the work of court artisans and identified with [[Royal family|royalty]], as with the [[Benin Bronzes]].
{{Cleanup-section|date=February 2008}}
[[Image:CzechdollS.jpg|thumb|A porcelain doll from the Czech Republic]]
The following section provides background information on the methods used to form, decorate, finish, glaze, and fire ceramic wares.


'''Forming.''' The relatively low plasticity of the material used for making porcelain make shaping the clay difficult. In the case of throwing on a potters wheel it can be seen as ''pulling'' clay upwards and outwards into a required shape and potters often speak of ''pulling'' when forming a piece on a wheel, but the term is misleading; clay in a plastic condition cannot be pulled without breaking. The process of throwing is in fact one of remarkable complexity. To the casual observer, throwing carried out by an expert potter appears to be a graceful and almost effortless activity, but this masks the fact that a rotating mass of clay possesses energy and momentum in an abundance that will, given the slightest mishandling, rapidly cause the workpiece to become uncontrollable.
==Influence on Western art==
At the start of the twentieth century, artists like [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]], [[Henri Matisse|Matisse]], [[Vincent van Gogh]], [[Paul Gauguin]] and [[Amedeo Modigliani|Modigliani]] became aware of, and inspired by, African art. In a situation where the established avant garde was straining against the constraints imposed by serving the world of appearances, African Art demonstrated the power of supremely well organised forms; produced not only by responding to the faculty of sight, but also and often primarily, the faculty of imagination, emotion and mystical and religious experience. These artists saw in African Art a formal perfection and sophistication unified with phenomenal expressive power. The study of and response to African Art, by artists at the beginning of the twentieth century facilitated an explosion of interest in the abstraction, organisation and reorganisation of forms, and the exploration of emotional and psychological areas hitherto unseen in Western Art. By these means, the status of visual art was changed. Art ceased to be merely and primarily [[aesthetic]], but became also a true medium for philosophic and intellectual discourse, and hence more truly and profoundly aesthetic than ever before.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}


'''Glazing.''' Unlike their lower-fired counterparts, porcelain wares do not need glazing to render them impermeable to liquids and for the most part are glazed for decorative purposes and to make them resistant to dirt and staining. Great detail is given in the [[Ceramic glaze|glaze]] article. Many types of glaze, such as the iron-containing glaze used on the celadon wares of [[Longquan celadon|Longquan]], were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain.
==Traditional art==
[[Image:Korean celadon.jpg|left|thumb|[[Korea]]n [[celadon]] incense burner from the [[Goryeo]] period]]
Traditional art describes the most popular and studied forms of African art which are typically found in [[museum]] collections.
'''Decoration.''' Porcelain wares may be decorated under the glaze using pigments that include cobalt and copper or over the glaze using coloured [[Vitreous enamel|enamels]]. Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often [[bisque (pottery)|bisque]]-fired at around 1000 degrees [[Celsius]], coated with glaze and then sent for a second [[Ceramic glaze|glaze]]-firing at a temperature of about 1300 degrees Celsius or greater. In an alternative method particularly associated with Chinese and early European porcelains, the glaze is applied to the unfired body and the two fired together in a single operation. Wares glazed in this way are described as being ''green-fired'' or ''once-fired''.


'''Firing.''' In this process, ''green'' (unfired) ceramic wares are heated to high temperatures in a [[kiln]] to permanently set their shapes. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature than earthenware or stoneware so that the clay can [[vitrification|vitrify]] and become non-porous.
Wooden [[mask]]s, which might either be human or animal or of mythical creatures, are one of the most commonly found forms of art in western Africa. In their original contexts, ceremonial masks are used for celebrations, initiations, crop harvesting, and war preparation. The masks are worn by a chosen or initiated dancer. During the mask ceremony the dancer goes into deep trance, and during this state of mind he "communicates" with his ancestors. The masks can be worn in three different ways: vertically covering the face: as helmets, encasing the entire head, and as crest, resting upon the head, which was commonly covered by material as part of the disguise. African masks often represent a spirit and it is strongly believed that the spirit of the ancestors possesses the wearer. Most African masks are made with wood, and can be decorated with: [[Ivory]], animal hair, plant fibers (such as raffia), pigments (like [[kaolin]]), stones, and semi-precious [[Gemstone|gem]]s also are included in the masks.


== Categories of porcelain ==
Statues, usually of wood or ivory, are often inlaid with [[cowrie]] shells, metal studs and nails. Decorative clothing is also commonplace and comprises another large part of African art. Among the most complex of African textiles is the colorful, strip-woven [[Kente cloth]] of [[Ghana]]. Boldly patterned [[mudcloth]] is another well known technique.


Western porcelain is generally divided into the three main categories: hard-paste, soft-paste, and bone, depending on the composition of the paste, the material used to form the body of a porcelain object.
==Contemporary African Art==


=== Hard paste ===
:''Main article [[Hard-paste porcelain]]''


Some of the earliest European porcelains were produced at the [[Meissen porcelain|Meissen factory]] in the early 18th century; they were formed from a paste composed of kaolinite, quartz, and alabaster and fired at temperatures in excess of {{convert|1350|°C|°F|0|lk=off}}, producing a porcelain of great hardness and strength. Later, the composition of the Meissen hard paste was changed and the alabaster was replaced by [[feldspar]], allowing the pieces to be fired at lower temperatures. Kaolinite, feldspar and quartz (or other forms of [[silica]]) continue to provide the basic ingredients for most continental European hard-paste porcelains.
[[Image:Chidongo.JPG|thumb|100px|left|Sculpture. Medium: wood. Attributed to [[Zimbabwe]]an artist [[Gideon Chidongo]], 4th quarter of 20th century.]]


=== Soft paste ===


:''Main article [[Soft-paste porcelain]]''
Africa is home to a great and thriving [[contemporary art]] culture. This has been sadly understudied until recently, due to scholars' and art collectors' emphasis on traditional art. Notable modern artists include [[Marlene Dumas]],[[William Kentridge]], [[Kendell Geers]], [[Yinka Shonibare]], [[Zerihun Yetmgeta]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Siangla/Odhiambo_Siangla Odhiambo Siangla], [[Olu Oguibe]], [[Lubaina Himid]], and [[Bill Bidjocka]]. Art [[biennale|biennial]]s are held in [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]], and [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]]. Many contemporary African artists are represented in museum collections, and their art may sell for high prices at art [[auction]]s. Despite this, many contemporary African artists tend to have difficult times finding a market for their work. Many contemporary African arts borrow heavily from traditional predecessors. Ironically, this emphasis on abstraction is seen by Westerners as an imitation of European and American cubist and totemic artists, such as [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Amedeo Modigliani]] and [[Henri Matisse]], who, in actuality were heavily influenced by traditional African art. This became the first step of evolution in Western art where people started becoming more open-minded and came out of their shell to explore the different aspects of art.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}


Its history dates from the early attempts by European potters to replicate Chinese porcelain by using mixtures of china clay and ground-up glass or frit; soapstone and lime were known to have also been included in some compositions. As these early formulations suffered from high pyroplastic deformation, or slumping in the kiln at raised temperature, they were uneconomic to produce. Formulations were later developed based on kaolin, quartz, feldspars, nepheline syenite and other feldspathic rocks. These were technically superior and continue in production.
Comtemporary African Art was pioneered in the 1950's and 1960's in South Africa by artists like [[Irma Stern]], [[Cyril Fradan]], [[Walter Battiss]] and through galleries like the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. More recently European galleries like the October Gallery in London and collectors like [[Jean Pigozzi]] and Gianni Baiocchi in Rome have helped expand the interest in the subject. Exhibitions like the African Pavilion at the 2007 [[Venice Biennale]] that showcased the Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art have gone a long way to countering many of the myths and prejudices that haunt Contemporary African Art. The appointment of Nigerian Okwui Enwezor as artistic director of [[Documenta]] 11 and his African centred vision of art jettisoned the careers of countless African artists into the international headlights


==By country==
=== Bone china ===
:''Main article [[Bone China]]''
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Although originally developed in England to compete with imported porcelain, [[Bone china]] is now made worldwide. It has been suggested that a misunderstanding of an account of porcelain manufacture in China given by a [[Jesuit]] missionary was responsible for the first attempts to use bone-ash as an ingredient of Western porcelain (in China, china clay was sometimes described as forming the ''bones'' of the paste, while the ''flesh'' was provided by refined porcelain stone). For whatever reason, when it was first tried it was found that adding bone-ash to the paste produced a white, strong, translucent porcelain. Traditionally English bone china was made from two parts of bone-ash, one part of china clay [[kaolin]] and one part [[china stone]] (a feldspathic rock), although this has largely been replaced by feldspars from non-UK sources
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===Botswana===
In the northern part of Botswana, tribal women in the villages of [[Etsha]] and [[Gumare]] are noted for their skill at crafting [[basket]]s from [[Mokola Palm]] and local [[dye]]s. The baskets are generally woven into three types: large, lidded baskets used for storage large, open baskets for carrying objects on the head or for winnowing threshed grain, and smaller plates for winnowing pounded grain. The artistry of these baskets is being steadily enhanced through color use and improved designs as they are increasingly produced for commercial use.


== History ==
The oldest evidence ancient paintings from both Botswana and [[South Africa]]. Depictions of hunting, both animal and [[human]] figures were made by the [[Khoisan]] (Kung San!/[[Bushmen]] dating before civilization over 20,000 years old within the [[Kalahari]] desert.
===Chinese porcelain===
{{main|Chinese ceramics}}
[[Image:Kangxi plate in bristol city museum arp.jpg|thumb|right|A Chinese porcelain-ware displaying battles between [[Chinese dragon|dragons]], Kangxi era (1662-1722), Qing Dynasty.]]
Porcelain is generally believed to have originated in [[China]]. Although proto-porcelain wares exist dating from the [[Shang Dynasty]], by the [[Eastern Han Dynasty]] (100-200 CE) high firing glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, and porcelain manufactured during the [[Tang Dynasty]] period (618–906) was exported to the Islamic world where it was highly prized.<ref name="columbia">{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/po/porcelai.html|title=''Porcelain''|publisher=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] Sixth Edition. 2001-07|accessdate=2008-06-27}}</ref> Early porcelain of this type includes the tri-color glazed porcelain, or ''[[sancai]]'' wares. Historian S.A.M. Adshead writes that true porcelain items in the restrictive sense that we know them today could be found in dynasties after the Tang,<ref name="adshead 80 83">Adshead, S.A.M. (2004). T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403934568 (hardback). Page 80 & 83.</ref> during the [[Song Dynasty]], [[Yuan Dynasty]], [[Ming Dynasty]], and [[Qing Dynasty]].


By the [[Sui dynasty|Sui]] and [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] dynasties, porcelain had become widely produced. Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas; by the seventeenth century, it was being [[Chinese export porcelain|exported]] to Europe.
===Côte d'Ivoire===
[[Image:Child-soldier-afrika.jpg|thumb|"[[military use of children|Childsoldier]] in the [[Ivory Coast]]", [[Gilbert G. Groud]], 2007, mixed materials: tusche and wax crayon ]]
The [[Baoulé]], the [[Senoufo]] and the [[Dan]] peoples are skilled at carving wood and each culture produces wooden [[mask]]s in wide variety. The Côte d'Ivorian peoples use masks to represent animals in [[caricature]] to depict deities, or to represent the souls of the departed.


=== Islamic porcelain ===
As the masks are held to be of great spiritual power, it is considered a taboo for anyone other than specially trained persons or chosen ones to wear or possess certain masks.
{{main|Islamic pottery}}
In the 9th century, Chinese porcelain reached the [[Abbasid]] [[caliphate]]. A passage in a work written by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Baihaki (circa 1059) stated that the governor of [[Khorasan]], ‘Ali ibn ‘Isa, sent as a present to the [[caliph]] [[Harun al-Rashid]] (786-809), “twenty pieces of Chinese Imperial porcelain (Chini faghfuri), the like of which had never been seen at a Caliph’s court before, in addition to 2,000 other pieces of porcelain”.


The influence of [[Blue and white porcelain| blue and white]] porcelain of the [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]] and [[Ming dynasty|Ming dynasties]] is evident in many ceramics made by Muslim potters. Wares made in the town of [[Iznik pottery|Iznik]] in [[Anatolia]], are particularly notable and had major influence on [[Europe]]an decorative arts, for example on Italian [[Majolica|Maiolica]].
These ceremonial masks each are thought to have a soul, or life force, and wearing these masks is thought to transform the wearer into the entity the mask represents.


=== European porcelain ===
Côte d'Ivoire also has modern painters and illustrators. [[Gilbert G. Groud]] criticizes the ancient beliefs in [[black magic]], as held with the spiritual masks mentioned above, in his illustrated book ''[[Magie Noire]]''.
These exported Chinese porcelains of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were held in such great esteem in Europe that in the [[English language]] ''[[wikt:china|china]]'' became a commonly–used synonym for the Franco-Italian term ''porcelain''. After a number of false starts, such as the [[Medici porcelain]], the European search for the secret of porcelain manufacture ended in 1708 with the discovery by [[Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus]] and [[Johann Friedrich Böttger]] of a combination of ingredients, including [[Colditz]] [[clay]] (a type of ''[[kaolinite]]''), [[calcination|calcined]] [[alabaster]], and [[quartz]], that produced a hard, white, translucent porcelain. It appears that in this discovery [[technology transfer]] from East Asia played little part.


==== Meissen ====<!-- This section is linked from [[Meissen]] -->
===Tanzania and Mozambique===
[[Image:Meissen porcelain candalebra.jpg|350px|thumb|Meissen porcelain - 19th Century pair of candelabras and a clock.]]
The art of the Makonde must be subdivided into different areas. The Makonde are known as master carvers throughout East Africa, and their statuary can be found being sold in tourist markets and in museums alike. They traditionally carve household objects, figures and masks. Since the 1950s years the socalled Modern Makonde Art has been developed. An essential step was the turning to abstract figures, mostly spirits (Shetani) that play a special role. Makonde are also part of the important contemporary artists of Africa today. An outstanding position is taken by George Lilanga.
Tschirnhaus and Böttger were employed by [[Augustus the Strong]] and worked at [[Dresden]] and [[Meissen]] in the German state of Saxony. Tschirnhaus had a wide knowledge of European science and had been involved in the European quest to perfect porcelain manufacture when in 1705 Böttger was appointed to assist him in this task. Böttger had originally been trained as a pharmacist; after he turned to alchemical research, it was his claim that he knew the secret of transmuting dross into gold that attracted the attention of Augustus. Imprisoned by Augustus as an incentive to hasten his research, Böttger was obliged to work with other alchemists in the futile search for transmutation and was eventually assigned to assist Tschirnhaus. One of the first results of the collaboration between the two was the development of a red stoneware that resembled the red stoneware of [[Yixing]].


A workshop note records that the first specimen of hard, white European porcelain was produced in January 1708. At the time, the research was still being supervised by Tschirnhaus; however, he died in October of that year. It was left to Böttger to report to Augustus in March 1709 that he could make true white porcelain. For this reason, credit for the European discovery of porcelain is traditionally ascribed to him rather than Tschirnhaus.
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===Egypt===<!-- This section is linked from [[Culture of Egypt]] -->
Persisting for 3000 years and thirty dynasties, the "official" art of Egypt was centred on the state religion of the time. The art ranged from stone carvings of both massive statues and small statuettes, to wall art that depicted both history and mythology. In [[26th century BC|2600 BC]] the maturity of Egyptian carving reached a peak it did not reach again for another 1500 years during the reign of [[Ramesses II|Rameses II]].


The [[Meissen porcelain|Meissen factory]] was established in 1710 after the development of a kiln and a glaze suitable for use with Böttger's porcelain, which required firing at temperatures greater than {{convert|1350|°C|°F|0|lk=off}} to achieve translucence. Meissen porcelain was ''once-fired'', or ''green-fired'', in the Chinese manner. It was noted for its great resistance to [[thermal shock]]; a visitor to the factory in Böttger's time reported having seen a white-hot teapot being removed from the kiln and dropped into cold water without damage. Evidence to support this widely disbelieved story was given in the 1980s when the procedure was repeated in an experiment at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].
A lot of the art possesses a certain stiffness, with figures poised upright and rigid in a most regal fashion. Bodily proportions also appear to be mathematically derived, giving rise to a sense of fantastic perfection in the figures depicted. This most likely was used to reinforce the godliness of the ruling caste.


====Other developments====
==See also==
[[William Cookworthy]] discovered deposits of [[china clay]] in [[Cornwall]], making a considerable contribution to the development of porcelain and other whiteware ceramics in the United Kingdom. Cookworthy's [[Plymouth Porcelain|factory at Plymouth]], established in 1768, used Cornish china clay and [[china stone]] to make porcelain with a body composition similar to that of the Chinese porcelains of the early eighteenth century.
{{portal|Africa|Africa satellite orthographic.jpg}}
*[[Culture of Africa]]


==As a building material==
{{Africa topics}}


[[Image:Dakinbldg.jpg|thumb|[[Dakin Building]], Brisbane, California using porcelain panels]]
==Notes==
<references/>


In rare cases, porcelain has been used as a [[building material]], usually in the form of large rectangular panels on exterior surfaces. The [[Dakin Building]] in [[Brisbane, California]], constructed in 1986, is notable for its porcelain skin. An older example is the [[Gulf Building (Houston)|Gulf Building]] in Houston, Texas; constructed in 1929, it had a seventy-foot long logo of porcelain on its exterior.
==Sources==
*''A history of art in Africa'' (2001) Monica Blackmun Visonà et al. Prentice Hall, New York ISBN 0-13-442187-6


==External links==
== See also ==
*[[Pottery]]
{{commons|African art|African art}}
*[[Lithophane]]
*[http://www.ijele.com/ Ijele: Art eJournal of the African World]
*[[Bone china]]
*[http://www.all-about-african-art.com/ Learn about African art, the region and the people who make them]

*[http://flickr.com/photos/71909327@N00/sets/72157602085585719/ Photos of Kuba cloth from Zaire]
===Europe and the Americas===
*[http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/%7Erwj1/afr.html Map of Contemporary Africa and African Art]

*[http://web.onetel.net.uk/~herbertroese/index.html African Sculptural Art]
{|
*[http://www.africancontemporary.com African Contemporary Art]
|valign=top|
*[http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/publications/pdfs/Africa_Teacher_Packet/The%20Art%20of%20Africa.pdf The Art of Africa: A Resource for Educators] - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2006.
*[[Denmark]]
*[http://wysinger.homestead.com/yoruba.html Yoruba Art & Culture]
**[[Royal Copenhagen]]
* [[Finland]]
** [[Arabia (company)|Arabia]]
* [[France]]
**[[Haviland porcelain]]
**[[Limoges porcelain]]
** [[Manufacture nationale de Sèvres|Sèvres]]
** [[Vincennes porcelain]]
* [[Germany]]
** [[Arzberg porcelain]]
** [[Hutschenreuther]] of [[Selb]]
** [[Meissen porcelain]]
** [[Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory]]
** [[Reinhold Schlegelmilch]] of [[Tillowitz]]
** [[Rosenthal]]
** [[Villeroy & Boch]]
* [[Hungary]]
** [[Herend Porcelain]]
** [[Hollóháza]]
** [[Pécs]]
* [[Italy]]
** [[Capodimonte porcelain]]
** [[Majello|Majello Capodimonte]]
*[[Norway]]
** [[Porsgrund Porcelain]]
*[[Portugal]]
** [[Vista Alegre]]
** [[Studio Braz Gil]]
|valign=top|
|valign=top|
* [[Russia]]
** [[Gzhel]]
** [[Lomonosov Porcelain Factory|Lomonosov]]
* [[Spain]]
** [[Lladro]]
* [[United Kingdom]]
** [[Belleek Pottery Ltd]]
** [[Chelsea porcelain factory]]
** [[Goss crested china]]
** [[Josiah Spode]]
** [[Josiah Wedgwood]]
** [[Liverpool porcelain]]
** [[Mintons Ltd]]
** [[Nantgarw Pottery]]
** [[Plymouth Porcelain]]
** [[Rockingham Pottery]]
** [[Royal Doulton]]
** [[Royal Worcester|Worcester porcelain]]
* [[United States]]
** [[Lenox (company)|Lenox]]
** [[Lotus Ware]]
|valign=top|
|valign=top|
|}

===East Asia===
* [[Chinese porcelain]]
* [[Japanese pottery and porcelain]]
* [[Korean pottery and porcelain]]
* [[Porcelain Tower of Nanjing]]

==References==
<references/>
* Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities - EC Commission in Luxembourg, 1987 .
* Burton, William. ''Porcelain, its Nature, Art and Manufacture.'' Batsford, London, 1906.


== External links ==
*[http://www.gotheborg.com/ Antique Chinese and Japanese Porelain Collector's Help and Info Page]
*[http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Porcelain.html How porcelain is made]
*[http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Bisque-Porcelain-Figurine.html How bisque porcelain is made]
{{commonscat|Porcelain}}
*[http://www.ceramic-link.de/ International Ceramic Directory - providing you with links to ceramic artists, backstamps, manufacturers, historical sites and more]
*[http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/p/porcelain.html ArtLex Art Dictionary - Porcelain]
*[http://www.scientificamericanpast.com/Scientific%20American%201870%20to%201879/1/lg/sci3201875.htm Porcelain Manufacture in New York in 1875]


[[Category:African art]]
[[Category:Ceramic materials]]
[[Category:Chinese culture]]
[[Category:Dielectrics]]
[[Category:Porcelain| ]]
[[Category:Pottery]]


[[af:Porselein]]
[[bs:Afrička umjetnost]]
[[zh-min-nan:Iù-hûi-á]]
[[ca:Art africà]]
[[bs:Porcelan]]
[[de:Afrikanische Kunst]]
[[et:Aafrika kunst]]
[[bg:Порцелан]]
[[es:Arte africano]]
[[cs:Porcelán]]
[[cy:Porslen]]
[[fr:Art africain traditionnel]]
[[gl:Arte africana]]
[[da:Porcelæn]]
[[de:Porzellan]]
[[hr:Afrička umjetnost]]
[[it:Arte africana]]
[[et:Portselan]]
[[es:Porcelana]]
[[hu:Fekete-Afrika művészete]]
[[eo:Porcelano]]
[[ja:アフリカ美術]]
[[fa:پرسلان]]
[[pl:Sztuka afrykańska]]
[[pt:Arte de África]]
[[fr:Porcelaine]]
[[sk:Africké umenie]]
[[gl:Porcelana]]
[[hr:Porculan]]
[[sr:Афричка уметност]]
[[sv:Afrikansk konst]]
[[ko:도자기]]
[[io:Porcelano]]
[[is:Postulín]]
[[it:Porcellana]]
[[he:חרסינה]]
[[lb:Parzeläin]]
[[lt:Porcelianas]]
[[nl:Porselein]]
[[ja:陶磁器]]
[[nap:Purcellamma]]
[[no:Porselen]]
[[nn:Porselen]]
[[pl:Porcelana]]
[[pt:Porcelana]]
[[ru:Фарфор]]
[[simple:Porcelain]]
[[sk:Porcelán]]
[[sl:Porcelan]]
[[sr:Порцелан]]
[[fi:Posliini]]
[[sv:Porslin]]
[[th:เครื่องเคลือบดินเผา]]
[[tr:Porselen]]
[[uk:Порцеляна]]
[[zh:瓷器]]

Revision as of 00:07, 11 October 2008

"Fine China" redirects here. For the band, see Fine China (band).
This article is about the ceramic material. For other uses, see Porcelain (disambiguation).
For the "Chien de Franche-Comté" dog breed, see porcelaine
A porcelain piece from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory, c. 1760-1765
French Porcelain inkwell

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 °C (2,192 °F) and 1,400 °C (2,552 °F). The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain arise mainly from the formation of glass and the mineral mullite within the fired body at these high temperatures. Porcelain is sometimes referred to as china. This is because until the 17th century, China was the sole producer of porcelain.

Porcelain derives its present name from its resemblance to the cowrie shell, which in old Italian porcellana, from feminine of porcellano, of a young sow (from the shell's resemblance to a pig's back), from porcella, young sow, diminutive of porca, sow, from Latin, feminine of porcus, pig, and from the Greek πὀρκος, (porcos).[1] Properties associated with porcelain include low permeability and elasticity; considerable strength, hardness, glassiness, brittleness, whiteness, translucence, and resonance; and a high resistance to chemical attack and thermal shock.

For the purposes of trade, the Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities defines porcelain as being "completely vitrified, hard, impermeable (even before glazing), white or artificially coloured, translucent (except when of considerable thickness) and resonant." However, the term porcelain lacks a universal definition and has "been applied in a very unsystematic fashion to substances of diverse kinds which have only certain surface-qualities in common" (Burton 1906).

Porcelain is used to make table, kitchen, sanitary, and decorative wares; objects of fine art; and tiles. Its high resistance to the passage of electricity makes porcelain an excellent insulator. Dental porcelain is used to make false teeth, caps and crowns.

Scope, materials and methods

Scope

The most common uses of porcelain are the creation of artistic objects and the production of more utilitarian wares. It is difficult to distinguish between stoneware and porcelain because this depends upon how the terms are defined. A useful working definition of porcelain might include a broad range of ceramic wares, including some that could be classified as stoneware.

Materials

Further information: [[:Pottery]]
Chinese porcelain from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796)

Clay is generally thought to be the primary material from which porcelain is made, even though clay minerals might account for only a small proportion of the whole. The word "paste" is an old term for both the unfired and fired material. A more common terminology these days for the unfired material is "body", for example, when buying materials a potter might order an amount of porcelain body from a vendor.

The composition of porcelain is highly variable, but the clay mineral kaolinite is often a significant component. Other materials can include feldspar, ball clay, glass, bone ash, steatite, quartz, petuntse and alabaster; further information on these formulations is given at "soft-paste porcelain".

The clays used are often described as being long or short, depending on their plasticity. Long clays are cohesive (sticky) and have high plasticity; short clays are less cohesive and have lower plasticity. In soil mechanics, plasticity is determined by measuring the increase in content of water required to change a clay from a solid state bordering on the plastic, to a plastic state bordering on the liquid, though the term is also used less formally to describe the facility with which a clay may be worked. Clays used for porcelain are generally of lower plasticity and are shorter than many other pottery clays. They wet very quickly, meaning that small changes in the content of water can produce large changes in workability. Thus, the range of water content within which these clays can be worked is very narrow and the loss or gain of water during storage and throwing or forming must be carefully controlled to keep the clay from becoming too wet or too dry to manipulate. This property also contributes to porcelain's use as a slipcasting body.[dubious – discuss]

Methods

File:CzechdollS.jpg
A porcelain doll from the Czech Republic

The following section provides background information on the methods used to form, decorate, finish, glaze, and fire ceramic wares.

Forming. The relatively low plasticity of the material used for making porcelain make shaping the clay difficult. In the case of throwing on a potters wheel it can be seen as pulling clay upwards and outwards into a required shape and potters often speak of pulling when forming a piece on a wheel, but the term is misleading; clay in a plastic condition cannot be pulled without breaking. The process of throwing is in fact one of remarkable complexity. To the casual observer, throwing carried out by an expert potter appears to be a graceful and almost effortless activity, but this masks the fact that a rotating mass of clay possesses energy and momentum in an abundance that will, given the slightest mishandling, rapidly cause the workpiece to become uncontrollable.

Glazing. Unlike their lower-fired counterparts, porcelain wares do not need glazing to render them impermeable to liquids and for the most part are glazed for decorative purposes and to make them resistant to dirt and staining. Great detail is given in the glaze article. Many types of glaze, such as the iron-containing glaze used on the celadon wares of Longquan, were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain.

Korean celadon incense burner from the Goryeo period

Decoration. Porcelain wares may be decorated under the glaze using pigments that include cobalt and copper or over the glaze using coloured enamels. Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often bisque-fired at around 1000 degrees Celsius, coated with glaze and then sent for a second glaze-firing at a temperature of about 1300 degrees Celsius or greater. In an alternative method particularly associated with Chinese and early European porcelains, the glaze is applied to the unfired body and the two fired together in a single operation. Wares glazed in this way are described as being green-fired or once-fired.

Firing. In this process, green (unfired) ceramic wares are heated to high temperatures in a kiln to permanently set their shapes. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature than earthenware or stoneware so that the clay can vitrify and become non-porous.

Categories of porcelain

Western porcelain is generally divided into the three main categories: hard-paste, soft-paste, and bone, depending on the composition of the paste, the material used to form the body of a porcelain object.

Hard paste

Main article Hard-paste porcelain

Some of the earliest European porcelains were produced at the Meissen factory in the early 18th century; they were formed from a paste composed of kaolinite, quartz, and alabaster and fired at temperatures in excess of 1,350 °C (2,462 °F), producing a porcelain of great hardness and strength. Later, the composition of the Meissen hard paste was changed and the alabaster was replaced by feldspar, allowing the pieces to be fired at lower temperatures. Kaolinite, feldspar and quartz (or other forms of silica) continue to provide the basic ingredients for most continental European hard-paste porcelains.

Soft paste

Main article Soft-paste porcelain

Its history dates from the early attempts by European potters to replicate Chinese porcelain by using mixtures of china clay and ground-up glass or frit; soapstone and lime were known to have also been included in some compositions. As these early formulations suffered from high pyroplastic deformation, or slumping in the kiln at raised temperature, they were uneconomic to produce. Formulations were later developed based on kaolin, quartz, feldspars, nepheline syenite and other feldspathic rocks. These were technically superior and continue in production.

Bone china

Main article Bone China

Although originally developed in England to compete with imported porcelain, Bone china is now made worldwide. It has been suggested that a misunderstanding of an account of porcelain manufacture in China given by a Jesuit missionary was responsible for the first attempts to use bone-ash as an ingredient of Western porcelain (in China, china clay was sometimes described as forming the bones of the paste, while the flesh was provided by refined porcelain stone). For whatever reason, when it was first tried it was found that adding bone-ash to the paste produced a white, strong, translucent porcelain. Traditionally English bone china was made from two parts of bone-ash, one part of china clay kaolin and one part china stone (a feldspathic rock), although this has largely been replaced by feldspars from non-UK sources

History

Chinese porcelain

Main article: Chinese ceramics
A Chinese porcelain-ware displaying battles between dragons, Kangxi era (1662-1722), Qing Dynasty.

Porcelain is generally believed to have originated in China. Although proto-porcelain wares exist dating from the Shang Dynasty, by the Eastern Han Dynasty (100-200 CE) high firing glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, and porcelain manufactured during the Tang Dynasty period (618–906) was exported to the Islamic world where it was highly prized.[2] Early porcelain of this type includes the tri-color glazed porcelain, or sancai wares. Historian S.A.M. Adshead writes that true porcelain items in the restrictive sense that we know them today could be found in dynasties after the Tang,[3] during the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty.

By the Sui and Tang dynasties, porcelain had become widely produced. Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas; by the seventeenth century, it was being exported to Europe.

Islamic porcelain

Main article: Islamic pottery

In the 9th century, Chinese porcelain reached the Abbasid caliphate. A passage in a work written by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Baihaki (circa 1059) stated that the governor of Khorasan, ‘Ali ibn ‘Isa, sent as a present to the caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809), “twenty pieces of Chinese Imperial porcelain (Chini faghfuri), the like of which had never been seen at a Caliph’s court before, in addition to 2,000 other pieces of porcelain”.

The influence of blue and white porcelain of the Yuan and Ming dynasties is evident in many ceramics made by Muslim potters. Wares made in the town of Iznik in Anatolia, are particularly notable and had major influence on European decorative arts, for example on Italian Maiolica.

European porcelain

These exported Chinese porcelains of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were held in such great esteem in Europe that in the English language china became a commonly–used synonym for the Franco-Italian term porcelain. After a number of false starts, such as the Medici porcelain, the European search for the secret of porcelain manufacture ended in 1708 with the discovery by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus and Johann Friedrich Böttger of a combination of ingredients, including Colditz clay (a type of kaolinite), calcined alabaster, and quartz, that produced a hard, white, translucent porcelain. It appears that in this discovery technology transfer from East Asia played little part.

Meissen

Meissen porcelain - 19th Century pair of candelabras and a clock.

Tschirnhaus and Böttger were employed by Augustus the Strong and worked at Dresden and Meissen in the German state of Saxony. Tschirnhaus had a wide knowledge of European science and had been involved in the European quest to perfect porcelain manufacture when in 1705 Böttger was appointed to assist him in this task. Böttger had originally been trained as a pharmacist; after he turned to alchemical research, it was his claim that he knew the secret of transmuting dross into gold that attracted the attention of Augustus. Imprisoned by Augustus as an incentive to hasten his research, Böttger was obliged to work with other alchemists in the futile search for transmutation and was eventually assigned to assist Tschirnhaus. One of the first results of the collaboration between the two was the development of a red stoneware that resembled the red stoneware of Yixing.

A workshop note records that the first specimen of hard, white European porcelain was produced in January 1708. At the time, the research was still being supervised by Tschirnhaus; however, he died in October of that year. It was left to Böttger to report to Augustus in March 1709 that he could make true white porcelain. For this reason, credit for the European discovery of porcelain is traditionally ascribed to him rather than Tschirnhaus.

The Meissen factory was established in 1710 after the development of a kiln and a glaze suitable for use with Böttger's porcelain, which required firing at temperatures greater than 1,350 °C (2,462 °F) to achieve translucence. Meissen porcelain was once-fired, or green-fired, in the Chinese manner. It was noted for its great resistance to thermal shock; a visitor to the factory in Böttger's time reported having seen a white-hot teapot being removed from the kiln and dropped into cold water without damage. Evidence to support this widely disbelieved story was given in the 1980s when the procedure was repeated in an experiment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Other developments

William Cookworthy discovered deposits of china clay in Cornwall, making a considerable contribution to the development of porcelain and other whiteware ceramics in the United Kingdom. Cookworthy's factory at Plymouth, established in 1768, used Cornish china clay and china stone to make porcelain with a body composition similar to that of the Chinese porcelains of the early eighteenth century.

As a building material

Dakin Building, Brisbane, California using porcelain panels

In rare cases, porcelain has been used as a building material, usually in the form of large rectangular panels on exterior surfaces. The Dakin Building in Brisbane, California, constructed in 1986, is notable for its porcelain skin. An older example is the Gulf Building in Houston, Texas; constructed in 1929, it had a seventy-foot long logo of porcelain on its exterior.

See also

Europe and the Americas

East Asia

References

  1. ^ porcellaneous - definition of porcellaneous by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia
  2. ^ "Porcelain". Columbia Encyclopedia Sixth Edition. 2001-07. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  3. ^ Adshead, S.A.M. (2004). T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403934568 (hardback). Page 80 & 83.
  • Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities - EC Commission in Luxembourg, 1987 .
  • Burton, William. Porcelain, its Nature, Art and Manufacture. Batsford, London, 1906.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Porcelain.
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