Faience - what is it? What is the difference between porcelain and earthenware? Porcelain, history, varieties, technology, marking What is heavier: porcelain or earthenware.

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Kirill Sysoev

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Many people have a cup or figurine made of bone china at home, but few know what it is or where to buy it. This type of material is distinguished by thin-walledness, translucency and sophistication. It was designed by English ceramicist Josiah Spode. Dishes made from this material are often labeled Bone chine or Fine bone china. According to its characteristics, it occupies an average value between soft and hard material. What is bone china This type of porcelain means a special variety

hard material

with the addition of burnt bone. It is very durable, but at the same time white and transparent. High strength properties are achieved by melting the main ingredients during the firing process. It was created in an attempt to recreate the formula for making famous Chinese porcelain. At the end of the 18th century, bone ash began to be added to the material, and as technology developed, a basic formula was developed.

Before ordering Chinese bone china, pay attention to the composition. The basic formula for making this type of material includes 25% each of kaolin (a special white clay) and feldspar with an admixture of quartz, and 50% burnt animal bones. The first firing is carried out at a temperature of 1200-1300 °C, and the second - 1050-1100 °C. The composition of bone ash includes about 85% calcium phosphate.

Bones that are used as part of the porcelain mass must undergo special treatment, as a result of which they begin to burn out - this is necessary to remove the glue from them and heat them to a temperature of 1000 °C. In this case, organic substances burn, and the structure of the bones changes to the required state. From the resulting mass, using gypsum molds, objects are obtained, onto the surface of which, after firing, various designs are applied.

If necessary, the product is covered with a layer of glaze and sent back to the oven. Flowers and artistic patterns and lines are applied to the product using decal - a thin film. Painting is also used. In general, the thickness of the finished plates, cups and other kitchen utensils is less than that of a conventional porcelain base. Modern technologies provide for the replacement of biological calcium phosphate with mineral one. The quality of the dishes does not change.

Advantages

If you need bone china, it is better to buy it in a specialized online store. Some deliver by mail. Branded items have a number of advantages, due to which they gain popularity among consumers. The material has a softer color and a special whiteness, which similar materials do not have. Quality is achieved by adding ground and processed bones to the composition. Many people prefer this type of porcelain for its:

• smoothness;
• airiness;
• translucency;
• sophistication.

What is the difference between bone china and ordinary china?

This type of porcelain differs from its analogues in that a unique component is added to the composition - ground and processed animal bones. Due to the ingredient finished products it becomes softer and its walls become thinner. In the light, the material begins to shine through a little, which gives the sets an airiness and originality, an aristocratic look. Despite all its elegance, thin porcelain has good mechanical strength, making it durable.

How to store

On sale in Moscow and St. Petersburg you can find a wide range of bone-type porcelain products - tea sets, table sets, decorative vases with different decors, figurines, figurines and more. All of them have an attractive and original appearance, different shades and can last for many years due to the unique properties of the mixture. Before ordering products, please read these care tips:

• do not place items one on top of another - plates, cups, saucers, but if such a need arises, be sure to arrange each of them with napkins;
• arrange kitchen utensils so that they do not touch each other - there should be a distance between them;
• do not wash items made of thin-walled porcelain with hard washcloths, hot water;
• It is better not to use chemicals for washing detergents, otherwise they may spoil the design or cause the colors of the cutlery to fade;
• products do not tolerate sudden temperature changes, so before brewing a cup of tea or coffee, preheat them - first with warm water, then a little hotter, etc.;
• When cleaning kitchen furniture, move objects made of bone material using paper napkins to prevent chipping;
• wipe the porcelain with a dry cloth, removing dust from cups, saucers, etc. as carefully as possible;
• Do not store sets near open flames - they may become deformed as a result of heating.

Major producers of bone china

The leaders among all manufacturers of products made from such porcelain are the British, who were the first to master the technique of making material with the addition of bone ash. Japanese manufacturers also have excellent skills and considerable experience in the field of creating thin-walled porcelain: they changed the established proportion of the bone component in the composition of the porcelain mass. The Japanese have developed a special formula, thanks to which the familiar technology has noticeably improved. Well-known manufacturers:

• Imperial Porcelain Factory (IPZ). It was founded in 1744 by Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. At that time, the plant became the first porcelain enterprise in Russia and the third in all of Europe. In the first years, small things were produced there - mostly snuff boxes for the Empress. Over time, a large forge was built and the plant began to produce larger items. The manufactory was reorganized with the accession of Catherine II. The end of the 18th century was the heyday of Russian porcelain, and IFZ became one of the leading factories in Europe. As for porcelain with bone ash in its composition, a suitable mass was first developed in Soviet times - in 1968. The first batch of this type was produced by IFZ. Now the enterprise is the only one in Russia that produces bone porcelain mass and objects made from it.
• Royal Doulton. A company from England that has been specializing in the production of bone material for a long time and has the status of one of its largest manufacturers and suppliers. Together with the British factory Wedgwood, it is part of the alliance. Founded in 1815, the headquarters is located in Stoke-on-Trent (UK). Royal Doulton produces porcelain items of various shapes, sizes and purposes. The collections of this company are extremely popular in many countries.
• Wedgwood. Another well-known company producing bone china products. It has been supplying it to the English royal court for over 200 years. The founding of the Wedgwood brand dates back to 1759, when Yeshua Wedgwood rented a manufactory in Burslem. In addition to classic tableware, the company produces avant-garde lines, which include products of non-traditional shapes and objects of art.
• Spode. UK bone china brand with 200 years of experience. The company offers mugs, plates, sets made according to to the highest standards quality. The manufactory has existed since 1770. Josiah Spode (the founder) at one time perfected the bone china formula and became the first to supply tableware for the English royal court of the 18th century. In 2009, Spode merged with Portmeirion Grou – well-known company for the production of luxury porcelain.
• Narumi. A Japanese company that was founded in 1911. Its products combine modernity and tradition, West and East, unique beauty and versatility. Since 1965, Narumi began to engage in mass production of porcelain. Narumi brand bone china products are mostly handcrafted. The brand has become a leader in the field of luxury porcelain Bone China.

Choice

Buying an elegant porcelain product with underglaze painting requires a competent and serious approach, especially if you are going to choose an expensive souvenir self made. In addition, it is important to distinguish a fake. A real quality creation has a pure translucent white color and shine with good strength properties. Some companies try to combine innovative solutions with traditional recipes and design. Criterias of choice:

• Material color. It should have a warm, light tint and not be too white.
• Transparency. If the product is of high quality, then its walls will transmit light well. Holding the item in your hands, you will clearly see the outline of your fingers through it.
• Study the drawing, applied to a porcelain object. It is often applied manually, so you can see characteristic strokes and brush marks.
• Please note the manufacturer. It is advisable that the back of the porcelain creation bear the markings of one of the well-known brands. If the manufacturer is unfamiliar to you, then postpone the purchase, first study all the information about it.
• It is important to make sure the object is smooth, absence of holes, inclusions, bubbles, scratches, chips on the surface and along the edges.

Where can I buy

You can purchase products made from bone china with a cool white tint at retail outlets that specialize in selling luxury tableware. Look for large stores that often run promotions that reduce the cost of goods. Visit retail outlets yourself: you will have a chance to take a good look at the items and ensure authenticity. You can order the following product from a trusted seller online. It will be good if you can agree on what you will produce basic payment after you check the product.

Price

The cost of bone china varies greatly depending on the manufacturer and type of product. Sets with cups and saucers that are so thin that they can transmit light are in great demand. From the table you can find out the current prices for some types of bone china sets:

Set name	What is included	Price in rubles
Royal Bone China Gold embroidery for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers
Japonica Grace JDYSQH-5 for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers
Royal Aurel Frost for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers, teapot
Hankook Chinaware Silver Ribbon for 2 persons	2 cups, 2 saucers
Lenardi series Golden Symphony for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers
Royal Aurel Grace for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers
Lenardi series Silver Symphony for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers
Lenardi series Meissen bouquet for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers
Japonica Paradise JDFES-9 for 2 persons	2 cups, 2 saucers
Japonica Grace JDYSQH-4 for 6 persons	6 cups, 6 saucers, 1 teapot, 1 milk jug, 1 sugar bowl

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Bone china - what is it: properties of dishes

- siblings, but not twins. The elder brother is strong and strong - the younger brother is thin and hard. Faience is rich in body and rough in appearance; porcelain is delicate in appearance and famous for its refined beauty. One of the brothers is dark by nature, but loves to decorate himself colorfully and brightly. The other one shines with light and prefers pastel colors. At the same time, both do not shy away from gold – and fame!

Faience and porcelain – noble ceramics

The result of a long, centuries-long selection of materials was the identification of optimal ingredients for the manufacture of high-quality ceramic products. Both earthenware and porcelain are made mostly from white clay, quartz sand and. Products made of porcelain and earthenware are most often covered with a glassy glaze.

This is where the similarities end.

Differences between porcelain and earthenware

Visually distinguishing earthenware from porcelain is not always easy, but there is one immutable rule: good porcelain is translucent, earthenware - even the most expensive - is not!

Unpainted areas of porcelain and earthenware differ not only in light transmission, but also in color. Porcelain is always whiter than earthenware! The difference is determined by the recipe: faience contains more clay, which darkens when sintered. However, there are certain varieties of earthenware, the whiteness of which can compete with the whiteness of porcelain due to additives and.

Earthenware dishes are usually thicker than their porcelain counterparts. Primarily because the strength of earthenware is lower than that of porcelain. The relative fragility of faience is explained by the lesser “baking” of its shard. Numerous pores penetrating the earthenware thickness and constituting up to 12% of the volume of ceramics reduce the resistance of the object to mechanical loads.

Porosity causes the ceramic mass to become wet. To reliably isolate earthenware from moisture, the glaze on the surface of the product is made with a layer thicker than that of porcelain. The thickened glaze smoothes out the reliefs - that’s why earthenware is simple in shape.

Faience and porcelain in the history of mankind

Earthenware is much older than porcelain. Porcelain itself can be considered the most advanced type of earthenware: the initial components of these ceramic materials are the same, only the proportions differ.
The appearance of faience was a logical result of the improvement of primitive ceramics. Initially, clay products were fired in a fire or dried in the sun. Subsequently, glazes were invented that strengthened and decorated household products.

Ceramics, made from light clay and covered with a layer of glaze, began to be called faience in honor of the city of Faenza (province of Emilia-Romagna, Italy). Faenza manufactories became famous during the Renaissance - however, materials similar to modern faience were produced for a long time and everywhere, starting from Ancient Egypt and Ancient China, and ending with the most remote regions of the spread of civilization.

The invention of porcelain, associated with the discovery and development of deposits, spurred the growth of the quality of earthenware. It is safe to say: modern faience was born in attempts to reveal the secret of the porcelain recipe. This is a cause-and-effect paradox...

Artistic differences between porcelain and earthenware

Philosophy teaches: form and content are interconnected. Even insignificant - from the point of view of the average person - variations in the recipe of noble ceramics radically change the design of products for similar purposes.

China richer than faience in relief details? This means that she does not need a lot of coloring. But the smooth contours of massive faience are like a primed canvas for a painter! Painting on faience has long become a separate type of fine art. True, the golden details of artistic decor - strokes, ornamental stripes and solid edgings - look equally advantageous on porcelain and earthenware.

Earthenware or porcelain: which is better in everyday life?

A thin porcelain cup will decorate the tea table and help create a festive atmosphere. A thick-walled earthenware mug will keep your tea hot and give you the opportunity to feel the comfort of your home.

Porcelain is expensive and therefore suitable for making designer jewelry and formal sets. Earthenware is cheap to produce and therefore is used much more widely than porcelain.

At the same time, porcelain is not afraid of heat and sudden temperature changes. In earthenware, such tests can cause cracking of the glaze with subsequent penetration of moisture into the shard. Strong coffee, poured into a faience cup with microscopic cracks in the glaze, will leave behind indelible marks...

Earthenware is not porcelain

It is also useful to confidently distinguish between earthenware and porcelain because both types of noble ceramics are collectibles.

Physical properties:

• porcelain is whiter, earthenware is darker;
• porcelain is louder, earthenware is duller;
• porcelain is translucent, earthenware is opaque;
• porcelain is durable, earthenware is fragile.

Technological parameters:

• porcelain is dense, earthenware is porous;
• fused into a monolithic mass, sintered grains are observed in the structure of the earthenware;
• porcelain is covered with a thin glaze, earthenware glaze is thicker and not always uniform;
• Porcelain tableware has an unglazed rim on the bottom. Earthenware dishes are most often completely covered with glaze.

Artistic Features:

• Porcelain figurines are beautiful with elaborate details and amaze with the subtlety of plasticity. Earthenware objects are less intricate in shape;
• The color range of earthenware products is rich in colors thanks to painting on top of the glaze. Artistic porcelain is usually not so flowery;
• porcelain does not age. Over the years, earthenware becomes covered with a network of small cracks (craquelure) - which does not in any way affect the value of antique earthenware.

Price qualities:

• mass-produced porcelain is more expensive than mass-produced earthenware;
• porcelain antiques are not necessarily more expensive than rare earthenware.

Instead of a conclusion

It is impossible to draw a clear boundary between earthenware and porcelain. Materials science calls both types “ceramics,” and the production features of some types of earthenware bring the material so close to porcelain that visual differences become difficult to determine.

We systematize porcelain according to the composition of raw materials. All porcelain can be divided into three main groups - oriental porcelain, European hard porcelain and soft porcelain (semi-porcelain).

Hard porcelain, or simply porcelain, is a homogeneous, white, strongly ringing, hard and difficult-to-melt mass, with a small thickness, a very transparent mass, oily-shiny when broken, conchoidal, fine-grained; hard porcelain consists mainly of kaolin and feldspar with an admixture of quartz, lime, etc., and is covered with a hard glaze. Finer varieties have a glaze of feldspar, without lime, resulting in a milky matte tone; simpler varieties have a completely transparent lime glaze.

Porcelain fired without glaze is known commercially as “b and c k v i t a”; But for the most part Porcelain is glazed, painted and gilded over the glaze or under the glaze. French production is distinguished by its outstanding advantages, especially in Limoges, where each factory has its own special specialty in which it achieves incomparable results. In Germany, Meissen ranks first, followed by Berlin, as well as Pirkenhammer and Elnbogen in Bohemia.

Porcelain masses

Porcelain products are distinguished by fine grinding of the initial components of the mass, high firing temperature, whiteness, translucency, lack of open porosity, high strength, thermal and chemical resistance. Porcelain masses consist of fine mixtures of kaolin, quartz, feldspar and other aluminosilicates. The main charm of porcelain is its whiteness and translucency, therefore the purest ceramic raw materials are used for the manufacture of porcelain products. To increase the plasticity of the mass, part of the kaolin is sometimes replaced with highly plastic white refractory clay or bentonite. Depending on the composition of the mass and the firing temperature, a distinction is made between hard porcelain, fired at a temperature of 1350-1450°C and above, and soft porcelain, the firing temperature of which is below 1350°C. Compared to soft porcelain, hard porcelain contains more kaolin and less feldspar (up to 36% and up to 28% feldspar, respectively). Soft porcelain is divided into feldspar, low-temperature (high-feldspar), frit, bone, etc.

The first firing of hard porcelain is carried out to a temperature of 850-950°C. Bone china is made from masses containing bone ash, calcium phosphate, feldspar, etc. It is first fired at a temperature of 1230-1250°C, then at the melting temperature of the glaze 1050-1150°C. Frit porcelain contains alkaline low-melting frits fused from quartz sand, soda, potash, saltpeter, gypsum and other materials. Frit porcelain is fired first at a higher temperature. high temperature(1200-1300°C), and at lower. Low-temperature porcelain is made from low-sintering masses and coated with a white dull zirconium glaze. The main components for its production are kaolin, bentonite, pegmatite, alumina, dolomite and other materials. The shard is sintered and fired once at a temperature of 1160-1180°C, water absorption up to 0.5%.

Semi-porcelain is characterized by a white or colored dense semi-sintered shard covered with a translucent or colored glaze. In terms of composition and firing temperature, it occupies an intermediate position between porcelain and hard feldspar faience. Water absorption is 5-8%. Firing of products at a temperature of 1150-1250°C. Porcelain products must have a sintered shard covered with a colorless transparent glaze, sometimes a specially colored shard, or specially coated with colored glazes. The whiteness of porcelain is currently regulated by the standard and is 55-68%. Products are made smooth or with relief, with a smooth or figured edge, decorated with underglaze and overglaze ceramic paints, decals, chandeliers, preparations precious metals etc. Porcelain products are made mainly in two ways: casting and molding using a template in plaster molds. Products made from bone and frit china, due to the absence or small amount of plastic materials in the composition, are made only by casting, sometimes with adhesive additives. The mechanical strength of soft porcelain is one and a half times less than that of hard porcelain.

Hard porcelain, depending on its purpose, is divided into 3 groups:
1.Household and artistic (dishes, figurines, vases).
2.Electrical engineering (insulators).
3. Chemical porcelain (laboratory glassware, etc.).

The most harmful impurities in porcelain are Fe2O3 and TiO2. To improve the molding properties, highly plastic white-burning refractory clays and plasticizers (4-5% bentonite) are introduced into the porcelain mass along with kaolin. Feldspar or pegmatite are used as fluxes for the production of porcelain. Sometimes dolomite, lime spar, etc. are additionally introduced to enhance translucency. High Quality products, raw materials are subjected to fine grinding, the fineness of which is controlled by a sieve of 10,000 holes/cm2. Due to the very short sintering interval of fritted porcelain, to prevent deformation, the products are fired in special clay molds with stands. Rejection of products after firing often exceeds 50%.

Bone china It is distinguished by high whiteness, translucency and decorativeness, but such porcelain is easily deformed during firing. Separate types of unglazed bone porcelain are called pariana (a low-transparent material with a yellowish tint) and carrara (reminiscent of white Carrara marble). Bone china is used to make tea and coffee sets, as well as biscuit sculptures. This material is not used for the manufacture of tableware, as it is unstable to acids and alkalis.

High feldspathic porcelain resembles hard porcelain and is characterized by a lower content of clay matter and a higher content of quartz and feldspar. It is produced according to the production scheme for hard porcelain, with the temperature of the first firing being 950-1000°C, and the second firing 1250-1300°C. It has less mechanical strength and heat resistance than porcelain, but has greater translucency and greater decorative capabilities (lower firing temperature). Used for making expensive sets, sculptures, etc.
In some cases, porcelain masses can be painted with ceramic pigments based on cobalt, chromium, nickel, etc., depending on the maximum firing temperature. Ready-made porcelain masses can be used as a material for the manufacture of decorative products with crystalline and matte glazes, firing them at a temperature of 1100-1200T.

Soft porcelain embraces two completely different varieties, more or less approaching porcelain in color, transparency and glaze, but very sensitive to rapid changes in temperature. Before hard porcelain appeared in Europe, soft porcelain was used. If you run a knife across soft porcelain, the glaze cracks; In this way, it is easiest to distinguish it from hard porcelain, the glaze of which in such a case will not suffer at all.

French soft porcelain consists of an incompletely melted, glassy, ​​fine-grained mass, with a leaden, crystal-like, siliceous glaze. The low-melting glaze, which makes it look like Chinese porcelain in appearance, allows for thick writing and much more delicate tones than hard porcelain. The composition of English soft porcelain (bone china) includes burnt bone, phosphate salts, kaolin, etc. It occupies a place between stone mass and hard porcelain, resembles white alabaster and is extremely transparent. For painting it offers the same advantages as French and German, but is especially favorable for gilding and decoration with precious stones.

Main component Oriental and European solid porcelain is kaolin (non-melting porcelain clay and feldspar). European porcelain contains more kaolin than Eastern porcelain, and it requires a hotter fire when firing. This gives it transparency, but in such a fire all colors burn out except blue. Therefore, European porcelain has to be painted over the glaze, while Eastern porcelain allows the use of a number of paints for underglaze painting.

European semi-porcelain does not contain kaolin and therefore is only suitable for porcelain appearance, but its composition is closer to glass. When fired, it does not require high temperature, which allows it to be consumed large quantity paints, which, fused with the glaze, give the painting a special transparency and shine.

If we try to classify baked clay products in order of complexity of their manufacturing technology, we will get the following scheme: manual primitive modeling and fire firing; pottery and furnace firing; majolica; semi-faience; faience; porcelain. These technologies appeared in different time and in different countries, depending on this, having significant features. Today almost all of them exist in modern versions, and in any, even the most primitive technique, using the most simple technology, a talented ceramist can achieve great success. Terms denoting products made from clay have long been firmly established in the Russian language. So, as they say, let’s first understand the terms.

The most general concept, which includes all products and materials obtained by sintering clays and their mixtures with mineral additives, as well as oxides and other inorganic compounds, is ceramics. Next, if you follow the chronology of people's mastery of the properties and capabilities of clay as a material, there are stucco and pottery. I think everyone understands that pottery is made on a pottery wheel, and molded items are molded by hand. But nevertheless, there is one nuance here. Pottery is a term for items made on the potter's wheel without further application of glaze. Earthenware, majolica, and even porcelain can also be made using a pottery wheel, but we do not call them pottery. The main distinguishing feature is that faience and majolica are covered with glaze. Moreover, it is very difficult to draw a line and determine how many percent a piece of pottery needs to be glazed and painted in order for it to turn into majolica.

Some modern masters cover their pottery from the inside with glaze, which is why, in their opinion, it does not turn into majolica. The name of this ceramics comes from the name of the island of Mallorca, where, under the influence of the Moriscos from the city of Malaga (Spain), in the 14th-15th centuries the production of ceramic products from naturally colored clays, completely covered with a dull tin glaze and painted, flourished. Majolica production spread in Northern Italy, receiving particular development in the vicinity of the cities of Faenza and Urbino. I think you guessed that it was the name of the city of Faenza that gave the name to the next type of ceramics - faience. But here I must make a reservation: it is still not completely clear what appeared first - majolica or faience - not as names, but as types of ceramics. After all, majolica is still sometimes called “simple faience,” which means faience is a more general concept that includes majolica.

Today, majolica is the name given to ceramic products made from naturally colored fusible clays, the red shards of which are covered with a dull glaze, with a water absorption of 10-15 percent. Faience is a ceramic product coated with a transparent glaze with a water absorption of 9 to 12 percent. The color of faience can be different: mainly light tones to white. The composition of earthenware masses can be divided into three groups: clay ancient earthenware - made of clay and ground burnt flint or quartz; limestone, or soft, faience (typical medieval) - made of clay, burnt flint or quartz and marl or chalk; feldspathic, or hard, - made of clay, flint or quartz and feldspar, first made at the beginning of the 18th century in Germany.

The most ancient clay vessels covered with glaze, or, as it was otherwise called, glaze, were made in Egypt. From Egypt the art of glazing came to Babylonia and Assyria, and from there it penetrated into Persia, where it flourished mainly in the field of building art. Different literary sources have different assessments of the use of glaze by the Greeks and Romans. For example, the German researcher of the history of faience A.N. Kube believed that the Greeks and Romans knew the technology of using glaze, but their exclusive love for pure shards limited them in its use. And when ancient culture collapsed, the art of glazing died along with it for Europe. But in the Middle Ages, faience appears again in the East. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Arabs who crossed from Africa, after seven years of stubborn struggle, took possession of the Iberian Peninsula. And now, along with the Arabs, faience production appears in Spain, which will remain in the grip of eastern traditions for a long time. Eventually, Spanish-Moorish pottery appears - a kind of bridge between East and West. Then, from Spain, faience production penetrated to Italy, where it reached its peak in the middle of the 16th century in the so-called Italian majolica.

Glazed ceramics have been known in Ancient Rus' since the 10th century. Thus, at the end of the 19th century, in rich pagan mounds near the village of Gnezdovo (near Smolensk), fragments of two plates and mugs of white clay, covered with glaze and decorated with multi-colored paintings, were discovered.
The production of majolica, which passed from Italy to other countries of central Europe, further developed into the production of faience with a white or cream-colored skull, covered with a transparent lead glaze. This is how French faience, the famous Dutch Delft faience, German and English faience arose. Even oddities often contributed to the development of earthenware production in Europe. So, at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, wars undermined the economy of France and, in need of funds, Louis XIV banned the use of gold and silver tableware, which led to the rapid development of the production of ceramics, and in particular earthenware.

In the 17th century, faience covered with a transparent lead glaze was called semi-faience. The prefix “semi” did not contain anything disparaging or indicating low quality, it only indicated the technical differences between these faiences and “real” faiences, covered with an opaque tin glaze. The highest results in the use of transparent lead glazes were achieved in Germany by the Hirsch-Vogel family and in France by Bernard Palissy.

The so-called Turkish semi-faience (XVI-XVII centuries) belongs to the group of soft faience, which was made from a mixture of red-burning clay and chalk. Typically, this semi-faience was engobed or covered with tin glaze and decorated with thick pastes using ocher (bolus), which gave the surface of the product some relief.

In Europe, the production of earthenware reached its peak in England in the 17th century, when the English ceramist Josiah Wedgwood (Wedgwood) invented high-quality earthenware masses (“cream”, “basalt”, “jasper”). His most remarkable work is in Russia. This is a table service of 952 pieces, made by order of Catherine II (in England it was called “Russian”). Each item of this service has the author's personal mark - a green frog.

In Russia, the time of birth and rapid development of faience production was the 18th century. The first factory known to us was founded in Moscow in 1724 by the merchant of the first guild Afanasy Grebenshchikov. In 1752, the State Faience Factory was opened in St. Petersburg, and then the Imperial Faience Factory, where Dmitry Vinogradov worked. In 1757, the factory of Ivan Sukharev, which had previously been engaged in the production of paints, began operating. In the second half of the 18th century, the products of numerous factories and workshops in Gzhel near Moscow became widespread. In August 1809, in the village of Domkino, Tver province, one of the most interesting Russian earthenware factories arose, which soon occupied leading place in domestic ceramics- the future Konakovsky (Kuznetsovsky) plant. And in September 1810, A.Ya. became the owner of this earthenware factory. Auerbach, who from the very first days carried out a number of measures to strengthen his enterprise.

In 1870, the Auerbach plant was sold to M.S. Kuznetsov - a bright, colorful personality, typical of the period of development of capitalism in Russia. M.S. Kuznetsov annexed this enterprise to his factories in Dulevo, Vladimir province (founded in 1832) and in Riga (founded in 1843). By this time, Kuznetsov's enterprises were already noticeable in Russia. The former Auerbach plant in the Tver province became one of the enterprises of the extensive Kuznetsov company, which included: a ceramic enterprise in the village of Budy, Kharkov province, a Gardner plant in the village of Verbilki, Dmitrov district, a plant in the city of Slavyansk, Chernigov province, a plant in the village of Pesochnaya, Yaroslavl province, and a faience factory. in the village of Pesochnya, Kaluga province. In 1889, the M.S. Kuznetsov Partnership for the Production of Porcelain and Earthenware Products was established with the board in Moscow. In 1918, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, among other large industrial enterprises, the Kuznetsov factory in the Tver province was nationalized. But only in the 30s the factory established production and young talented artists I. Frikh-Khar, I. Chaikov, I. Efimov, V. Favorsky, V. Filyanskaya, P. Kozhin, S. Lebedeva, M. Kholodnaya came here.

Some earthenware factories, along with earthenware, began to produce porcelain products from the middle of the 18th century. Earthenware differs from porcelain in that the earthenware mass contains significantly more clay. In “clay” faience, the clay content reached 85 percent, the firing temperature was 950-960°C, such faience was covered with a colored dull glaze. This faience was characterized by high porosity and low mechanical strength. The limestone faience of the Middle Ages contained, in addition to clay and flint, another 10-35 percent limestone or chalk; its firing temperature reached 1100-1160°C; the shard was porous (19-22% in terms of water absorption) and low strength. Solid, or feldspathic, faience has become widespread since the end of the 19th century. The chalk was partially or completely replaced by feldspar. Solid earthenware was fired twice: first at a higher temperature (1230-1280°C) to obtain a high-quality shard, and secondly at a lower temperature (1050-1150°C) only to melt the glaze.

Unlike European faience, which is not translucent in the shard, Persian faience, the production of which went through a long era of growth and prosperity (from the 10th to the 17th centuries), had a highly translucent shard. Persian faience was prepared from a mass rich in quartz with a small addition of clay vitrified after firing. The products were coated with a thin layer of white engobe and a transparent alkaline glaze with a luster metallic sheen or opoka lead-tin glaze. The technology of lustrated ceramics was first described in a 12th-century treatise by Abu-l-Fazl Khubaysh of Tiflisi. If we talk about the disadvantages of earthenware, then first of all we need to talk about its porosity, which leads to the absorption of moisture from the air, which leads to some swelling (0.016-0.086% of the volume), to rupture of the glaze and to the appearance of ceka (small cracks). glaze), increasing over time. On all antique faience products, the glaze is covered with a tsek mesh, which for collectors is a kind of sign of the authenticity of the long-standing origin of old faience or majolica.
Glaze for earthenware is fritted and fusible. The introduction of 3-4 percent of chalk, magnesite and dolomite into the mass, as well as an increase in the firing temperature by 20-40°C can eliminate the block. Typically, earthenware products reach the limit of increasing their volume after two to three years.

At the end of this brief information about earthenware, I will give the composition of earthenware masses from some factories. Barmina plant, Moscow, 1876: 3 pounds of Glukhov clay, 1 pounds of 20 pounds of English clay, 6 pounds of sand, 6 pounds of opoka; Konakovo plant, mid-19th century: clay 29 percent, kaolin 32.5 percent, quartz waste 32.5 percent, 6 percent culls, roasting at 1250-1280°C. Let's continue our acquaintance with the types of ceramics. The most complex material in composition, the highest temperature in firing, and the hardest material for humans to obtain is porcelain. The distinctive features of porcelain - white color, lack of porosity, translucency, strength, heat resistance and chemical resistance - are determined both by the composition of the raw materials and the technology of its processing. Porcelain was invented in China during the Han period (206 BC - 221 AD). There are the following periods in Chinese porcelain production, named after the ruling dynasties: Tang (618 - 907), Song (960 - 1279), Ming (1367 - 1643), Kang-Hsi (1662-1722), Chieng-Lung (1723 - 1795) ) and new - from 1795. Porcelain reached its heyday in the development of form and decoration during the Kang-Hsi period.

The rarely encountered favorable composition of “porcelain stone” (nan-kan), large reserves of which are located near the original place of porcelain production (Jindezhen), greatly simplifies the composition and preparation of porcelain mass by adding kaolin. Mineralogically, Nan-kan is a sericite sandstone with the composition: 75.06 percent silicon oxide, 0.05 percent titanium oxide, 16.01 percent aluminum oxide, 0.41 percent iron oxide, 0.28 percent calcium oxide, 0.60 percent magnesium oxide, 1.97 percent sodium oxide, 3.3 percent potassium oxide and other impurities - 2.2 percent. The mass was kept closed in the ground for 100 years, which made it possible to obtain from non-plastic raw materials a mass with high molding properties, which made it possible to produce (already in the Song period) the famous “eggshell porcelain,” that is, products with very thin walls. Chinese ceramists of the school of Professor Zhou-Zhen have established that grinding “porcelain stone” in a modern ball mill does not impart to the porcelain mass the plasticity and coherence that is achieved by pounding this stone in mortars and curing it, as was done in the old days.

Naturally, the high cost of Chinese porcelain imported to Europe in the 15th - 17th centuries (a whole company of soldiers could be given for one porcelain vase) caused attempts to imitate it. These are soft Medici porcelain, French fritted porcelain with the addition of marly clay and chalk to glass, Reaumur porcelain, etc. In 1708, the Meissen alchemist I.F. Boettger succeeded in making a prototype of European porcelain from kaolin, sand and chalk; but already from 1720 chalk was replaced by feldspar, and true hard porcelain was obtained. The manufacture was strictly classified. In the 18th century, large manufactories developed, and subsequently factories in Meissen itself, famous for its “Saxon” porcelain.

In Russia, the composition of porcelain was independently developed in 1744 by D.I. Vinogradov, who established porcelain production at the Imperial Factory near St. Petersburg (now the M.V. Lomonosov Porcelain Factory). The recipe for porcelain in Vinogradov’s note is as follows: “Take calcined quartz for 768 hours, prepared clay for 384 hours, gerbil, sifted alabaster for 74 hours.” In this mass, quartz plays the role of a thinning agent, alabaster - the role of flux, clay - the role of a binding plastic additive. The preparation of clay (a type of Gzhel white-burning gerbil) consisted of elutriating it.

Modern technologists distinguish two main types of porcelain - hard (with a small amount of flux), fired during poured firing at a temperature of 1380-1460 ° C, and soft (with an increased amount of flux), fired during poured firing and at lower temperatures, but not lower 1200°C. The first, warm, firing is the same - at 900-1000°C. It is known that Brongniart (Sèvres porcelain factory in France) tested masses in the middle of the last century, firing them even at 1500-1550°C, using very finely ground pegmatite as a glaze (pegmatite is a light, coarse-grained magmatic rock, By physical properties similar to granite).

In addition to the two main types of porcelain, many are currently known special types technical porcelains and porcelain-like materials. For example, semi-porcelain, or low-temperature Vitries China porcelain, or English bone china, which began to be produced by I. Spode (the second) in 1759) in the Stoke-on-Trent area, where most English porcelain factories are currently concentrated . Bone china has high decorative qualities, and they depend on the correct preparation of the ashes of large bones. cattle, which is part of porcelain. The preparation of bones consists of degreasing, steaming and roasting.

Since ancient times, humanity has used earthenware to make plates and cups. And in the modern world, ceramic dishes are considered almost irreplaceable. Although the style of products and their production technology are constantly changing, the material itself remains unchanged. What is faience and what features does it have? Let’s try to figure it out in this article.

What is faience

Earthenware is a material from which dishes, interior items, etc. are made. It is characterized by fragility, density and fine porosity. The name of this material comes from the Italian city of Faenza, which was famous for the production of ceramic products.

Earthenware is mainly used for the production of dishes, souvenirs and various ceramic gifts. Figurines of this type differ from porcelain ones in the brightness and richness of their colors and look very fabulous. When it comes to tableware, earthenware dishes are most often made in a simple shape and look ordinary. It is ideal for everyday meals with a simple table setting.

Varieties of earthenware

Depending on the composition and amount of impurities, several types of earthenware are distinguished:

1. Limestone faience - in addition to quartz and white clay, the composition includes chalk and dolomite. Thanks to these additives, products are manufactured much easier and faster.
2. Soft faience - various fluxes are added to the traditional composition - substances that, during thermal treatment, form fusible compounds.
3. Feldspathic earthenware - it contains a certain amount of (rock-forming minerals).
4. Solid earthenware is the most durable material. Such products are distinguished by high mechanical characteristics. Hard earthenware is fired at a very high temperature.

History of faience

Humanity knew what faience was as far back as 4 thousand years BC. e. The composition of the first ceramics was slightly different from that produced today. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, earthenware products were made from quartz pebbles with admixtures of soda, limestone, copper and iron ore.

Much later, faience appeared in the Old World. At first it was produced under the name majolica in some Italian cities. Then high-quality earthenware products were produced in France, in the city of Saint-Porcher.

In Rus', faience became famous in the 18th century. Entire factories producing ceramic products operated in Moscow. spread among the population at a rapid pace and enjoyed incredible popularity. Products from different factories differed from each other. Thus, the masters of the Grebenshchikov manufactory painted dishes on raw enamel. The faience of the Kuznetsov Partnership was distinguished by multi-colored glaze coatings, three-dimensional reliefs or printed designs. The Gzhel factory produced products predominantly blue, as well as with gold painting.

Konakovo faience

Great development in the production of earthenware was made by M. S. Kuznetsov, who bought a porcelain factory in the city of Konakovo in 1870. He produced mainly earthenware with hand-painted or printed designs. About 20 years later, Kuznetsov began producing dishes from semi-faience, porcelain and ceramics. From the mid-20s. In the 20th century, the plant began to attract the best artists and masters of painting to create beautiful designs on dishes and create animalistic sculptures. Their works were in demand, which, in turn, contributed to the expansion of production.

Over time, artists managed to create a certain style for their products: earthenware objects, organic in shape, played with cheerful bright painting and flowing glaze. Konakovo faience was exported to many countries. Some products have been safely preserved to this day.

Semikarakorsk ceramics

Semikarakor faience is a striking artistic phenomenon of the Don land. The Rostov region has been producing ceramics since ancient times. Many archaeological finds indicate the existence of handicraft pottery workshops in Semikarakorsk since pre-Christian times.

The artistic style of Semikarakor faience is distinguished by original painting, natural scenes, and historical motifs. The masters in their drawings were able to convey all the beauty and power of their region, the Don traditions, and the spirit of the Cossacks.

Thanks to the high level of artistic skill, Semikarakor faience is considered works of art all over the world.

Types of earthenware products

Nowadays, earthenware is used almost everywhere. This is due not only to its low cost, but also to the ease of manufacturing such products. The most common dishes made from earthenware are: salad bowls, plates for appetizers and main courses, deep bowls, herring bowls, bread stands and confectionery, gravy boats, broth vases and tureens, cups for hot drinks, milk jugs, mugs, salt shakers and sugar bowls. Often these days in stores you can see a large assortment of architectural elements made of faience, facing tiles, and toilets. Such interior items indicate not only the good taste of the owner, but also his financial well-being.

How to make earthenware

To create earthenware, two components are necessarily used: quartz and refractory. The process of making a ceramic product begins with processing the latter. So, the clay mass is fired several times at a temperature of 1050 ºС, during which it should change color. Then, at a temperature of 950 ºC, colored or transparent glaze is applied. At the final stage, re-firing is done. As a result of this effect, the earthenware mass remains porous and suitable for decorating with designs. If earthenware is fired at low temperatures, it will better retain the intense underglaze colors.

Thus, the material goes through many stages of processing until it turns out to be ready-made earthenware. A photo of the plate making process illustrates the subtlety of this process.

Earthenware sanitary ware

IN Lately All more popular uses faience plumbing. Its production uses a different technology than the production of dishes or figurines. To create high strength of the material, the products are coated with a special glaze. With proper and careful use, earthenware plumbing fixtures can last quite a long time, and they will look the same as they did when purchased.

How to distinguish earthenware from porcelain

Many people do not know the difference between porcelain and earthenware, and are often confused, although there is a certain difference between them. Earthenware products are characterized by a low degree of whiteness, greater wall thickness and lower strength. Finished items are distinguished by smooth shapes. Earthenware, compared to porcelain, is unable to retain heat for a long time. In addition, such products cannot withstand high temperatures. If dishes are washed in hot water, they may crack. Therefore, in many cases it is more practical to use porcelain cutlery.

To understand well the difference between porcelain and earthenware, you can compare products made from these materials. The first and important difference is the sonority of the subject. Lightly tap the edge of the plate. The porcelain product will emit a long and distinct hum. At the same time, the earthenware will ring with a dull sound.

You can also identify earthenware by external signs. Dishes made from this ceramic do not transmit light at all. This is explained by the fact that the products are fired at a relatively low temperature. A significant difference is the smooth bottom surface of the cookware. Sometimes you can notice small depressions that were formed during firing. In comparison, the bottom of porcelain is always rough.

Owners of earthenware should treat them more carefully and monitor their condition. When cracks appear, it is undesirable to use such products, since pathogenic bacteria penetrate the pores of the earthenware and can provoke the development of various diseases.

How to care for faience

Like any dishes, earthenware requires some care. Considering all the properties of this material, it is very important to adhere to the operating rules in order to extend the service life of earthenware.

The most important rule is that you can wash earthenware products only in warm water and rinse them in cold water. If hot water is used, small cracks form on the dishes and the structure of the material is disrupted.

It is better not to use detergents, especially powders. To lighten darkened earthenware, you can use a solution of baking soda or salt with vinegar in a 1:1 ratio. You should be especially careful when caring for gold-plated items. The fact is that the drawings with which faience products are decorated are covered with glaze. Therefore, after repeated washing, they remain in their original form. As for the gilding, it is applied over the glaze and gradually wears off due to regular use. Therefore, the decorated areas should not be rubbed too hard; it is better to use a soft cloth or sponge. You can remove stains from earthenware using a cloth soaked in a small amount of ammonia.

Despite the advantages of porcelain, people still continue to buy earthenware. This encourages ceramic manufacturers to produce new products for a wide variety of purposes.

(this porcelain is called feldspathic). The term “porcelain” in English-language literature is often applied to technical ceramics: zircon, alumina, lithium, bornocalcium and other porcelain, which reflects the high density of the corresponding special ceramic material.

Porcelain is also differentiated depending on the composition of the porcelain mass. soft And solid. Soft porcelain is different from hard not by hardness, but by the fact that when firing soft porcelain, more liquid phase is formed than when firing hard porcelain, and therefore there is a higher risk of deformation of the workpiece during firing.

Hard porcelain

Porcelain decoration methods

Porcelain is painted in two ways: underglaze painting and overglaze painting.

In underglaze painting of porcelain, paints are applied to unglazed porcelain. The porcelain piece is then coated with a transparent glaze and fired at high temperatures of up to 1350 degrees.

Decorative porcelain. Uzbek tea set

The palette of colors for overglaze painting is richer; overglaze painting is applied over glazed linen (the professional term for unpainted white porcelain) and then fired in a muffle furnace at a temperature of 780 to 850 degrees.

During firing, the paint fuses into the glaze, leaving behind a thin layer of glaze. After a good firing, paints shine (except for special matte paints used only for decorative purposes), do not have any roughness and in the future better resist the mechanical and chemical effects of acidic food products and alcohol.

Among the paints for painting porcelain, the group of paints prepared using noble metals stands out. The most common paints using gold, platinum and silver paint (or Argentine).

Gold paints with a lower percentage of gold content (10-12%) are fired at a temperature of 720 to 760 degrees (bone china is fired at a lower temperature than solid - “real” porcelain). These paints are more decorative, and products decorated with them cannot be subjected to mechanical impact (wash with abrasive agents and in the dishwasher.) Gold and silver chandeliers, polishing polish and powdered gold and silver (50-90 percent) are fired at a higher temperature along with paints . Polishing polish and powdered gold after firing have a matte appearance and are marked with an agate pencil (the pattern is applied approximately like a simple pencil on paper, only you cannot make a mistake with shading the pattern, since this cannot be corrected in any way. The master in this case must be very highly qualified) Combination matte and shiny after gold zitting creates an additional decorative effect on porcelain. Chandeliers and gold powder paints are more durable on porcelain than 10-12% gloss. However, in the entire history of the creation of porcelain and its technologies, nothing better and cheaper than decorating porcelain with gloss has been invented.

Professional overglaze painting is carried out using gum turpentine and turpentine oil. The paints are pre-soaked on the palette for a day or more. After work, they are thoroughly rubbed with the addition of turpentine oil. Turpentine in jars should be dry, slightly greasy (turpentine gradually changes from one state to another). The oil should also be more fluid and thicker. To work, take a piece of soaked paint, add oil and turpentine - and dilute the mixture to the consistency of thick sour cream. For brush stroke painting the paint is diluted a little thicker, for pen painting - a little thinner.

It is important that the paint does not bleed from under the pen or brush. Underglaze paint is diluted with water, sugar with the addition of a small amount of glycerin.

Story

Porcelain was first produced in China. The method of its manufacture was kept secret for a long time, and only in the city did the Saxon experimenters Tschirnhaus and Böttger manage to obtain European porcelain.

Attempts to discover the secret of Oriental porcelain continued for almost two centuries in Italy, France and England. However, the result was materials that vaguely resembled porcelain and were closer to glass.

Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682-1719) began to conduct experiments in the creation of porcelain, which in 1707/1708 led to the creation of “rothes Porcelain” (red porcelain) - fine ceramics, jasper porcelain.

However, real porcelain had yet to be discovered. Chemistry as a science in its modern understanding did not yet exist. Neither in China or Japan, nor in Europe, raw materials for the production of ceramics could yet be determined in terms of chemical composition. The same applied to the technology used. The process of porcelain production is carefully documented in the travel accounts of missionaries and merchants, but the types of porcelain used could not be inferred from these reports. technological processes. Known, for example, are the notes of the Jesuit priest Francois Xavier d'Entrecol (English) Russian , containing the secret technology of producing Chinese porcelain, made by him in 1712, but which became known to the general public only in 1735.

Understanding the basic principle underlying the porcelain production process, namely the need to fire the mixture various types soils - those that are easily fused and those that are more difficult to fusion - arose as a result of long systematic experiments based on experience and knowledge of geological, metallurgical and “alchemical-chemical” relationships. It is believed that the experiments to create white porcelain were carried out simultaneously with the experiments to create "rothes Porcelain", since just two years later, in 1709 or 1710, white porcelain was already more or less ready for production.

It should be noted that Chinese porcelain, from a modern point of view, is soft porcelain, since it contains significantly less kaolin than hard European porcelain; it is also fired at a lower temperature and is less durable.

Experts and scientists from various specialties worked together with Böttger to create solid European porcelain. European hard porcelain (pate dure) was a completely new product in the field of ceramics.

At the end of December 1707, a successful experimental firing of white porcelain was carried out. The first laboratory notes on usable porcelain mixtures date back to January 15, 1708. On April 24, 1708, an order was given to create a porcelain manufactory in Dresden. The first examples of porcelain fired in July 1708 were unglazed. By March 1709, Böttger had solved this problem, but he did not present glazed porcelain samples to the king until 1710.

In 1710, at the Easter fair in Leipzig, salable "jasper porcelain" tableware was presented, as well as examples of glazed and unglazed white porcelain.

In Russia, the secret of producing hard porcelain was rediscovered by Lomonosov's associate D.I. Vinogradov in the late 1740s. The manufactory in St. Petersburg, where he worked, eventually turned into the Imperial Porcelain Factory, better known in the USSR under the abbreviation LFZ.

The world's largest private collection of Soviet porcelain belongs to lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky, and was exhibited in five halls of the Pushkin Museum.

see also

• Porcelain making

Notes

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Porcelain and earthenware production technology, M. , .

Links

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Synonyms

See what "Porcelain" is in other dictionaries: - (Turkish farfur, fagfur, from Persian fegfur), fine ceramic products, sintered, impenetrable to water and gas, usually white, ringing, translucent in a thin layer, without pores. Porcelain appeared in China in the 4th–6th centuries: elongated slender vessels with... ...

Art encyclopedia PORCELAIN, a white, glassy, ​​non-porous, hard, translucent ceramic material. Porcelain is widely used for tableware, decorative items, laboratory equipment, and electrical insulators. Porcelain appeared... ... Scientific and technical

encyclopedic Dictionary - (Turkic). 1) the title of the Chinese emperor among the Arabs. 2) a type of clay used to make the best dishes. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. PORCELAIN is the highest grade of earthenware, has hardness,... ...

Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language Modern encyclopedia

- (Turkish farfur fagfur, from Persian), ceramic products (dishes, vases, figurines, architectural details, insulators, chemical equipment, etc.), obtained by sintering porcelain mass (from plastic refractory clay, kaolin, feldspar, ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary