Porcelain Antiques
Porcelain is composed of fine white clay known as kaolin, and other raw materials such as feldspar, which can be fired at a higher temperature than earthenware and stoneware, which ultimately results in an intrinsically tougher ceramic that can be crafted into more delicate forms.
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Bowls and TureensDating a piece of antique porcelain can provide information pertaining to use, care, composition, and restoration options. Domestic porcelain china produced in the west in the 17th century is often unmarked as the result of a highly competitive marketplace maintaining confidentiality of the retailer's source to protect his trade interests.
Creamers and Sugar BowlsThe potters so delighted in the pure form of the pieces that the earliest porcelain was undecorated. But by the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) decorating with elaborate cobalt-oxide paintings and blue and white wares became immensely desirable in the West. So unlike the earthenwares, it must have seemed miraculous. Monarchs and rulers alike vied with each other for pieces.
Cups and SaucersInspired by a similar Chinese design; the willow pattern which pictures a bridge, three figures, birds, trees and a Chinese landscape was introduced to England by Thomas Turner in 1780 at the Caughley Pottery Works. Original pieces were hand painted, while later creations used transfer design techniques. No pattern has been copied more frequently than the willow pattern.
Dishes and PlatesMeissen produced a blue and white onion design since the 18th century that has changed little over the years of production. The design originated from traditional Chinese illustrations, and depicts peaches and pomegranates. Prior to 1800, the fruit on the boarder pointed toward the center of the plate, in later designs the fruit pointed in and out alternately.
Figurines Unglazed porcelain is known as bisque, or biscuit. Gaining popularity in the Victorian era, ceramic bisque was eventually the subject of mass production. The heyday of European bisque production was prior to the mid 1800s; superior bisque was being fabricated in English, French, and other European factories. Austrian factories were largely credited for producing the highest quality bisque during this golden era.
Odds and EndsKaolin, or china clay, is the essential ingredient of hard porcelain and bone china. The Chinese discovered its use in making porcelain at least a thousand years before the Western world. Imitation being the truest form of flattery, the West so admired the magnificent white, hard and translucent material that they gave their attempts to imitate it the term of china.
Pitchers and VasesWhen Marco Polo returned from China with the first pieces of porcelain brought to Europe, it was initially valued as a precious commodity. It was not until the 18th century that the Europeans were able to duplicate porcelain china when the secret was uncovered in the Meissen factory in Germany, bringing to a close the intense effort of European Royalty to reproduce the fabrication process.
Sets and CombinationsThomas Ellis Tucker, a Philadelphian is credited with producing some of the earliest porcelain china in America. Tuckers enterprise commenced in 1825 and produced ceramics that rivaled the porcelain produced by his European counterparts for over a decade. Although attempts at manufacturing porcelain in America began as early as the late 1700s, early American porcelain is extremely rare, often unmarked, and produced in the European style, making identification difficult.
Teapots and CoffeepotsMeissen, a town in Germany where a porcelain factory was built in 1710 never physically moved but was situated in three different countries as the national boundaries shifted with the outcome of several wars. The factory was established in Saxony, then Prussia, and finally in Germany. The term Meissen refers to any ware that was made in the Meissen factory.
