Page 77 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 2 The Production of Enamelled Porcelain and Knowledge Transfer

The combination of kaolin and baidunzi was very significant for porcelain

production, because the proportion of these two clays determined the quality of the

porcelain body. A specific proportion of kaolin and baidunzi was mixed and kneaded

with wooden spatulas inside a large paved pit. This process was called ‘making the

clay malleable’. Figure 2-4 shows the process of forming clay. Prepared clay was put

on the potters’ wheel and all sorts of complex shapes were made by moulding and

hand modelling. Such skilled work required years of apprenticeship. Figure 2-4 shows

a potter placing the desired amount of body on a wheel and shapes it while the wheel

turns.

Figure 2-4 Shaping the body on a wheel, late 18th century.

The shaped clay bodies had to be dried in the open air and would then be polished

on a wheeled table. After the clay was prepared, it needed to be decorated and then

glazed. From here, there were two separate processes of production depending on the

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