POTTKKY 



it asmimed to be the earliest form of Chinese porce- 

 lain, niitl genuine ancient pieces are highly valued. 



.In/mil. A knowledge of Chinese porcelain passed 

 into Japan as early, it is said, as '2, B.C. ; and it i- 

 known that a corporation of porcelain-makers WOH 

 established in that country in "20 A.D. In the 13th 

 century a Japanese (ratter went to ( 'liinii to improve 

 himself in the art of porcelain-making, and after 

 his return he carried on the manufacture in his 

 native country with great success. It is, however, 

 more in the manufacture of pottery than of porce- 

 lain that the Japanese exhibit pre-eminent skill. 

 Their mit famous manufacture ron-i-t- of Satsuma 

 ware, HO called fmm having been eatablislmd in the 

 neighbourhood of Kyoto by the formerly powerful 

 princes of Satsuma. It is of a pale yellowish colour, 

 covered with minute crackles in the glaze, and very 

 richly painted and lavishly gilt. The so-called 

 Satenma now manufactured is yellower in colour 

 than genuine old pieces, and it is principally made 

 at Awata near Kyoto. The Japanese potters 

 generally display a remarkable power in moulding 

 pottery and finishing it* surface so as to imitate 

 other substances, such as woods of various kinds, 

 basket-work, &c. Among their most remarkable 

 products as examples of delicate moulding is Banko 

 ware, which consist* of small tracts and other 

 vessels of a brownish and grayish unglozed earthen- 

 ware, extremely light and tl'iin in body, and very 

 much appreciated among the native population for 

 tea-making. The Japanese excel in the manufac- 

 ture of egg-shell porcelain, so called on account of 

 the extreme thinness of the body. Among their 

 other porcelain manufactures Kaga ware is the 

 most outstanding, being characterised by painted 

 ornaments in a rich ruby colour, which is generally 

 lavishly gilt. The chrysanthemum is a favourite 

 and frequent flower in their vases, the crane and 

 other birds figure most effectively, and figures of 

 warriors and ladies are frequently employed in the 

 resourceful and varied ornamentation of Japanese 

 ware. The principal centres of the pottery industry 

 in Japan are in the province of Hizen, where at 

 Arita is produced Imari ware ; the province of 

 Owari, whence comes Seto ware ; Kaga, for ware of 

 that name ; and Mino and KyOto. 



Persia. Chinese porcelain was known in Persia 

 aa early as the 12th century, a circumstance not to 

 be wondered at, seeing that country was then and 

 for centuries before the princi|>al Highway of com- 

 merce between the far East and Europe. Many 

 evidences exist of the acquaintance of the Persians 

 with the ceramic product* of China ; and at an 

 early date pottery and a species of soft porcelain 

 were made in Persia which both in form and decora- 

 tion were modelled on Chinese originals. But 

 Persia also had a manufacture of {tottery and of 

 enamelled tiles of an original and distinctive char- 

 acter, in which on a fine white enamelled glaze 

 brilliant metallic lustres were employed in a most 

 effective and original manner. 



Porcelain in Europe. In the l.'ith century the 

 early European traveller, Marco I'olo, visited the 

 porcelain factories of China. In 1487 Lorenzo de' 

 Medici received from the sultan of Egypt a present 

 of Chinese porcelain, and that is the first record 

 we pownm of the appearance of the ware in Europe. 

 The Portuguese were the first to import |>orcel.iin 

 direct from the East; and subsequently large quan- 

 tities were brought by the Dutch and by the East 

 India Companies of other nations. No "sooner did 

 the ware become known in Europe than strenuous 

 effort* were put forth in many quarters to imitate 

 it. A certain amount of porcelain is alleged to have 

 been mode in Venice about 1470; but the earliest 

 Euro|wiin imrcelain of which any examples exist is 

 that which was made by Francis de' Medici II., 

 (i rand d uke of Tuscany, about 1580. The quantity 



made appears to have been small, and the attempts 

 at Uie manufacture ceased with the death of the 

 grand duke in 1.">S7. Nearly a century later the 

 art was revived at Kouen and at Paris, Imt it was 

 net till lii'.i.'i that a permanent and well-established 

 industry was founded in !' ranee at St Cloud. 

 Thereafter it was taken up in other French towns. 

 At Vim-wines it was begun in 17-t.*>; in 17.VI Louis 

 XV. became a partner in that concern. In 1756 

 the works were transferred to Sevres, and in 17IHI 

 that establishment liecame entirely national pro- 

 perty; and so it has continued amid all fluctuations 

 of government to the present day. Hard porcelain 

 was first made at Sevres in 1764; but the fame of 

 that establishment rest* on its soft porcelain, in 

 which liody, glaze, and enamel colours blend to- 

 gether into a singularly smooth and lustrous 

 whole. 



But in Europe it was in Germany that the secret 

 of making hard or kaolinic porcelain was first dis- 

 covered. After years of labour and innumerable 

 trials, which resulted 

 only in the production 

 of a kind of opaque 

 glass or stoneware, 

 Bottger (q.v.), an 

 alchemist who had 

 entered the service of 

 Frederic Augustus II. 

 of Saxony, succeeded 

 in 1709 in making a 

 white hard i>orcelain 

 at Meissen, near Dres- 

 den. The china-clay 

 and china-stone he em- 

 ployed had previously 

 been discovered by 

 Schnorr at Aue. Extra- 

 ordinary precautions 

 were taken to prevent 

 the process of the 

 manufacture from be- 

 ing revealed ; but, 

 notwithstanding the 

 oaths imposed on the 

 workmen and the other 

 means employed for 

 their supervision, the secret was betrayed by one 

 Stofzel, who fled to Vienna, and there the imperial 

 factor)' which continues to this day was established 

 in 1718. Subsequently factories under national 

 protection were established at Hftchst in 1740, at 

 St Petersburg in 1744, at Berlin in 1750, and at 

 Ludwigshiirg in 17.~>8. Works at which soft porce- 

 lain was principally made were established at 

 Doccia near Florence in 1735, at Capo di Monte 

 near Naples in 1736, and at Buen Ketiro in Spain 

 in 17.59; and the product* of all these manufactories 

 have attained considerable reputation. 



In Great Britain manufacturers have at all times 

 devoted themselves principally to the making of a 

 variety of soft porcelain. The works at Chelsea, 

 Bow, and Derby were established about 174. r >, and 

 in 17">1 the manufacture began at Worcester, where 

 it st ill continues. Hani porcelain -making was begun 

 by Cookworthy at Plymouth in 1768, after he had 

 discovered china-clay in Cornwall. But his works 

 continued only for about three years. Cookworthy's 

 patent lights were then transferred to Kichard 

 Champion, who continued the manufacture at 

 Bristol till 17S1. In Staffordshire porcelain was 

 first made at Longton Hall near Newcastle in 1752, 

 but it was not till about the close of the 18th ecu 

 turv that Staffordshire porcelain l>ecame artistically 

 and technically fine in tlie hands of Thomas Minion, 

 who founded the famous works of Minton \- Com- 

 pany, and of Josiah Spode. whose undertaking 

 continues under the firm of Cnpeland V Company. 



Fig. 24. 

 Dresden Candelabrum. 



