104 



PORCELAIN. 



Porcelain, be found in various parts of China and of the East. 

 Wp "V~ p ' Nor is this the only art in the department of painting 

 which, though once fully understood, the Chinese have 

 now altogether forgotten ; and while it may be affirmed, 

 with much truth, that while the manufacture of por- 

 celain in China has not improved in the smallest de- 

 gree these last five centuries, it has, in some respects, 

 entirely deteriorated. In addition to the loss of the 

 knowledge of producing the fine deep blue, as just men- 

 Magic por- tioned, the art of making the magic porcelains has also 

 celains. entirely disappeared. These magic porcelains exhibit 

 their colour and their devices only when filled with 

 water, and were thus regarded as the most curious and 

 romantic specimens of the art to which they belonged. 

 Though the mode in which they were manufactured 

 cannot now be described with accuracy, the following 

 has been conjectured as not very remote from the 

 truth. The first requisite, which was quite indispen- 

 sable, was that the vessel be extremely thin, so that 

 the figures to be formed might be sufficiently clear and 

 perceptible. After the vessel had been baked, (a pro- 

 cess soon to be described,) the figures, which were most- 

 ly fish, as these corresponded best with the water, must 

 be formed on the inside ; and after the colour has had 

 time to dry, a second extremely thin coat, of the same 

 substance of which the vessel was constructed, must 

 be inserted on the inside, and varnished. The fish, or 

 whatever is the device, will now, it is evident, be bu- 

 ried between the two coats of the ware of which the 

 vessel is made. All that now remains to be done, is 

 to grind the outside of the vessel as close to the figures 

 as possible -to varnish it again to subject it a second 

 time to the furnace ; and though, after the operation, 

 the figures and embellishments will not be at all per- 

 ceptible, yet, so soon as the vessel is filled with water, 

 they will all at once be rendered clear and distinct to 

 a degree scarcely credible. This beautiful art it has 

 been attempted of late years to revive ; but as the pains 

 and delicacy required are so extremely great, and as 

 the Chinese seem not now to be characterised by the 

 same ingenuity or dexterity as in former ages, these 

 attempts have hitherto been wonderfully unsuccessful. 

 It may here be mentioned with propriety that, 

 though the painting of porcelain is distributed among 

 a great variety of workmen, each having his own de- 

 partment, this art has not attained to any eminence or 

 perfection in the east. With the exception of flowers 

 and landscapes, which, though never remarkably ele- 

 gant, are yet pretty correct and beautiful, the other 

 species of painting are total failures, deficient both in 

 design and execution, and such as would bring dis- 

 grace on the merest tyro in the art in this quarter of 

 the world. If the Chinese, however, do not excel in 

 painting, the colours which they use are prepared with 

 a degree of niceness and skill, of which there is yet no 

 instance in Europe, and are indeed so lively and bril- 

 liant, as to challenge all rivalry. 



The different colours by which the Chinese porce- 

 colours arc i a { n i s distinguished, are made from the oxyds of dif- 

 n * tl> ferent metals, with other slight ingredients prepared 

 and amalgamated in a way which, as just remarked, 

 we cannot successfully imitate or understand. On this 

 curious subject, almost the only information we possess 

 is derived from Clouet and Brongniart. (Vide Philo- 

 sophical Magazine, vol. vii. p. 1. and Nicholson's Jour- 

 nal, vol. iii. p. 101.) The following brief sketch will, 

 we fear, afford the reader but a faint idea of the im- 

 portant art in question. Carmine red is obtained from 

 the purple precipitate of the solution of gold by mu- 



Painiing. 



How the 



riate of tin. .This beautiful colour, however, is now Porcelain. 

 comparatively little used, as it is apt to change from >i -'v-' 

 the great heat necessary to bake the vessel after it is 

 applied. Violet results from the application of the 

 same substances with a larger quantity of oxyd of lead. 

 Rose red is produced by the oxyd of iron, highly oxy- 

 dized by the action of nitric acid. For this purpose, 

 the purest iron is dissolved in strong nitric acid ; and 

 the solution thus obtained must be allowed to stand 

 till it is perfectly clear. Then add a solution of the 

 carbonate of potash, till the whole of the oxyd of iron 

 is precipitated. This precipitate must now be washed 

 carefully with hot water, and the last washing drawn 

 off by heat, raised almost to redness, which will expel 

 the carbonic acid. The oxyd, after this operation, will 

 have assumed a fine red colour, and be fit for applica- 

 tion. The white oxyd of antimony, with oxyd of lead 

 and silex, is employed to give a yellow colour. Blue, 

 as formerly hinted, is produced from oxyd of cobalt ; 

 green from oxyd of copper ; brown from various pro- 

 portions of manganese, copper, and iron mixed. The 

 colours thus obtained are applied to the surface of por- 

 celain by means of fluxes or enamels, more fusible than 

 the matter of the porcelain. " The flux generally era- 

 ployed to fix the colouring matter," says a celebrated 

 chemist, " is either a mixture of vitrified oxyd of lead 

 and silex or borax, or sometimes a mixture of all these. 

 By promoting the fusion of the metallic oxyd, it causes 

 it to adhere at a lower heat than that by which it might 

 be decomposed, and the colour changed ; it also serves 

 as a medium of union with the matter of the porcelain, 

 and renders the surface more smooth. The method 

 of applying it is either to mix the metallic oxyd, or 

 mixture of oxyds, which is to give the colour, with the 

 materials of the flux, the whole being reduced to an 

 impalpable powder, which is made into a thick liquid, 

 with gum water or with a volatile oil, and applied by 

 a pencil to the surface of the unglazed porcelain ; *r 

 the colouring matter and the matter of the flux are 

 fused together, and the enamel thus formed being re- 

 duced to a fine powder, is applied in a similar manner. 

 The first mode is generally employed with those co- 

 lours which are liable to be altered by heat." The 

 common kinds of porcelain, it may be remarked, are 

 painted by means of copperplate prints, which, how- 

 ever, are more used in common earthen-ware than in 

 porcelain. 



But painted figures and embellishments are not.thestamnii**. 

 only ornaments by which the porcelain of the Chinese 

 is distinguished. That celebrated and ingenious people 

 stamp or imprint a great variety of figures on the sur- 

 face of vessels of white porcelain, though the surface 

 be quite smooth and the vessels extremely thin. The 

 mode in which this operation is performed is the fol- 

 lowing : A vase of the finest materials, and as thin as 

 possible, is constructed ; and when it has been polished 

 on the wheel, both inside and out, they insert into it a 

 stamp of nearly its own shape and dimensions, but cut 

 with such figures as they wish the newly formed vase 

 to assume. They next press down this stamp so firm- 

 ly, that the moist vessel receives, in the most perfect 

 way, the impression thus communicated ; and if in 

 consequence of this pressure, the shape of the new 

 vessel be injured, they have merely to apply it to the 

 wheel again to restore it. After having polished and 

 finished it as nearly as possible, the only other step is 

 to cover it within and without with the finest white 

 varnish ; and this varnish, while it occupies all the 

 cavities which the stamp had made, and renders the 



