Porcelain
True or 'hard paste' porcelain is made out of kaolin (china-clay) and petuntse (china-stone), which are both forms of decomposing granite. When fired at high temperature (over 1300°C), the ingredients fuse together to form a fine, white translucent ceramic perfectly suited for containing hot liquids such as tea, coffee and chocolate.
Hard paste porcelain was first made in China in the ninth century and was known as 'china' in the West. From the middle of the sixteenth century, China exported its blue and white porcelain wares to Europe, in ships also carrying consignments of tea and other exotic goods, through the English and Dutch East India Companies. By the end of the seventeenth century, European potters and entrepreneurs were attempting to discover the secret of making porcelain with local materials to satisfy the demand of the tea-drinking upper classes. There were huge profits to be made in china manufacture. In 1710 the Duke of Saxony's alchemist J F Böttger managed to recreate porcelain at Meissen near Dresden in Germany. The recipe was closely guarded but eventually the secret spread to the rest of Europe.
The Museum of London has significant holdings of eighteenth century English porcelain, particularly from the Chelsea and Bow factories. There are also some important pieces of Chinese export porcelain, mainly with armorial decoration. There are a number of donations of personal collections, including the J G Joicey collection, the Salting bequest, and the K H Macalaster collection of over 400 teacups.
Featured types
| Other British (1700 - 1800) |
| Continental (1700 - 1800) |
| Oriental (1700 - 1800) |
| Bow (1745 - 1775) |
| Chelsea (1745 - 1770) |
| Other London (1745 - 1795) |
| St James's (Charles Gouyn) (1748 - 1759) |
Related objects
There are 524 related objects.<Previous pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next >
74.3/321 tea bowl.  | 74.3/219 tea bowl.  | 74.3/183 cup; coffee cup.  | 74.3/159 cup; coffee cup.  |
74.3/153 cup; coffee cup.  | 74.3/152 cup; coffee cup.  | 74.3/353 tea bowl.  | 74.3/105 cup; coffee cup.  |
74.3/87 cup; coffee cup.  | NN24065 bowl; tea bowl.  | C1055a bowl; tea bowl.  | 9866b knife.  |
9866a fork.  | Z4084 bowl.  | Z4077 bowl; slop bowl.  | Z4061 cup; tea cup.  |
Z4055 saucer.  | Z4035 cup; tea cup.  | Z4023 mug.  | NN24666 vase; vase and cover.  |
A17232 knife.  | A9749b vase; frill vase.  | A9700d vase; vase cover.  | A9700c vase; pot-pourri vase.  |
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