942' E. Ys B R A N T S 
the Emperor*s Command, they were removed to Pe- 
^ and all imaginable Care taken to furnifh them 
wich proper Utenfils and Materials, to intitle the 
Capita] to fo valuable a Branc|i of Trade, the fame 
‘‘ Misfortune happened to them, and the Emperor very 
“ wifely determined thereupon, to leave the Porcelain 
Manufadlure where Chance or Nature placed it. 
“ Thus much may fuffice in Regard to the Origin 
and Antiquity of this elegant Manufadure ; for tho* 
“ more may be expedled, yet I know not where it is 
“ to be found : Perhaps in Time, when the Chinefe 
“ Learning comes to be regularly ftudied in Europe^ 
“ we may come to have a clearer Infight into this Af- 
“ fair, fmee though the beft China be made at Kim te 
tchim % yet as Perfe(5tion is not attained at once, it is 
‘‘ very highly probable, that the Art was invented elfe- 
where, and that the particular Pliftory of the Place 
jpf its Invention may hitherto have efcaped the Inqui- 
‘‘ fies of the Europeans. We will now fay a Word or 
“ two as to the Name of this Manufadure. Some 
“ have imagined that Porcelain was either a Derivation 
“ or Corruption of the Chinefe Appellation ; but this is 
“ fo far from being true, that the Chinefe have no fuch 
“ Sounds in their Language, and confequently no Cha- 
“ raders to exprefs them. The Word is abfolutely 
“ Portuguefe, and in their Orthography is writ Parcel- 
“ lana. It fignifies literally and ftridly fpeaking a Cup, 
“ a Bafon, or a Saucer, and was firft applied to thofe 
“ Kind of Shells which we call Cowries, and which 
“ paft for Money on the Coaft of Africa. The Infide 
“(^of thefe Shells having a glofiy, beautiful white Colour j 
when the Portuguefe firft faw this admirable Earthen 
“ Ware, they beftowed upon it the fame Name, either 
“ becaufe they thought it would give their Countrymen 
“ an Idea of its Beauty, or poftibly from a Perfuafion 
“ that it might be made of ftich Shells, or of fome 
‘‘ Compofition that refembled them. As for the Chi- 
nefe themfelves, the Word they commonly ufe to 
“ exprefs what we call China, is ‘Tfeki, or rather, accord- 
ing to their Manner of Writing and pronouncing it, 
“ Tfe ki. 
“ We will now come to the Ingredients of which it 
‘‘ is compofed. We had heretofore very ftrange Noti- 
ons in Europe upon this Head ; fome People were 
‘‘ perfuaded that Egg-Shells were the principal, if not 
‘‘ the only Matter of China, and that the Chinefe were 
extreamly careful and fecret as to the Method of pre- 
“ paring it. After this another Fable was invented, of 
“ a kind of Clay that was fuffered to rot for one 
“ hundred Years, after which Time, and not before, it 
“ was fit to make Porcelain. This Story it is thought, 
“ took Rife from the fuppofed Difference, between new 
and old China, which was to be accounted for thus ; 
“ the former, for the Sake of Expedition, and to fup- 
“ ply the increased Demand for this kind of Ware, was 
made, if we may be allowed the ExprefTion, of half 
“ ripe Clay, and therefore fell Ihort in Beauty of the 
“ latter, compofed of Clay^ that had rotted its full Time. 
“ Some other Notions I have met with in German 
“ Writers, which are not worth repeating, as being 
“ founded like the former purely in Fancy and Con- 
jefture. 
“ What I have to offer as more fatisfadory, has nc- 
“ ver yet appeared in our own Language, and is ta- 
“ ken from a fhort Treatife written upon this Subjebt, 
“ by Dennis Kao, a Chinefe, converted to the Chriftian 
“ Religion, and is the more likely to be true, becaufe 
“ it is very fimple and intelligible. There are, exclu- 
“ five of the Colours, three principal Ingredients in 
“ China and not to trouble the Reader or myfelf with 
“ Chinefe Terms, which neither of us would underftand, 
“ I fhall tell him in plain Englifh, that thefe Ingredi- 
‘‘ ents are a dry Earth, a moift Clay, and a ftony Oil. 
“ It is very remarkable, that not one of thefe Ingredients 
“ is to be found in the Neighbourhood oi Kim te Tchim, 
“ where the beft China is made, but are brought thither 
from feveral Places j and it is thought that the Situa- 
tion of that Place, furrounded, though at a moderate 
“ Diftance, with Hills of confiderable Height, has fome- 
“ thing fo peculiar in the Temper of the Air, and in 
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the (^lahty of its Waters, that thefe Ingredients, 
wrought with ever fo much Diligence and Circum- 
Ipecftion in another Place, never fucceed fo well. Be 
this as It will, vi?e will keep clofe to our Subieeft, and 
fpeak diftindlly of each Ingredient. 
“ That which is ftiled a dry Earth is in Reality a kind 
of Hre-Stone cutout of Quarries, and fent by Water 
to the Place where the Manufadlure is carried on. 
“ There it is beat to Pieces, and reduced into a grofs 
Powde r; then with an Iron Peftle it is beat in a Brafs 
Mortar till it becomes as fine as poffible but they do 
not give themfelves the Trouble of Sifting, from an 
Apprehenfion that the fineft Parts would fly off in 
the Operation On the contrary, they throw it, thus 
beaten into Water, and giving it Time to fettle, fkim 
off; with great Nicenefs and Dexterity, the Cream 
and this in Yheir figurative Way of fpeaking, they 
ftile the Flefli of the China. As for the moift Clav^ 
it IS undoubtedly a kind of Fuller’s Earth, for they de- 
fcribe It to be of a greyifli white, very even, clammy 
and, in fhort, a Sort of natural Soap. This is like- 
wife brought by Water, and is, generally fpeakino* 
made up in the Form of Bricks j but as the ChinTfe 
are for the moft part ftrongiy tindured with the S pi- 
nt of Fraud, they very often adulterate this precious 
Clay, though it is not of a very great Price, with, 
other Things that are however of Jefs Price ; and this 
obliges the Manufadlurers to be at a great Deal of 
Trouble in refining it, which is done by the Help 
of Water; for it is a fettled Rule, with Refpeft to 
thefe two Ingredients, never to make Ufe of Fire. 
“ This moift Clay is intermixed naturally with a 
Sort of fparry Subftance, which to the Eye looks like 
the Infide of Oyfter-Shells, and with which the whole 
Mafs is fo thoroughly impregnated, that when it is 
purified and cleanfed from all other Mixtures, the 
fmalleft Particle of it, if broken, will difeover Spedfs 
of this fparry Matter. This fecond Subftance, when 
perfeaiy pure, they dififolve in Water till it has ac- 
quir’d the Confiftency of the former, and this they 
call the Bones of the China. For the fineft Sort thefe 
Materials are equally mixt and incorporated *, for 
the middle Sort, there are three Parts of dry Earth 
to two of moift Clay; for the coarfeft China, 
they mix three Parts of the former with one of the 
latter. 
“ The third Ingredient is the Oil which is drawn 
“ from the dry Earth or Stone, by a very curious Procefs, 
“ and this, they mingle with another Oil extradfed from 
“ Lime feven times burnt. There is a very great Art in 
“ making this Mixture, for in certain Proportions thefe 
“ Oils will incorporate, but thofe Proportions vary con- 
“ tinually, according to the Nature of the refpedive 
“ Liquors, The great Point therefore is to hit this exadtly 
“ and when this is done, there refulrs from thefe two 
“ Oyls a third, which is the laft Ingredient, and ferves 
“ for a Varnifh to the China. 
“ In the Manufadlure the feveral Pieces go through dif- 
“ ferent Hands, but the moft troublefome Part is pre- 
“ paring the Pafte, compofed of the two firft Ingredi- 
“ ents, which are kneeded together upon Tiles, or ra- 
“ ther upon Floors made of Tiles, till they become fo 
“ clofe and even, 'that, upon breaking, there does not 
“ appear the leaft Vacuity ; for a Hair, a Grain of Sand, 
“ the fmalleft Fragment of any Metal, if taken up in 
“ the Pafte, will infallibly fpoil the Piece into which it 
“ happens to light. 
“ When all this is performed, it comes into the 
“ Hands of the Potters, who firft adjuft the Weight of 
“ what they are to make, and then raifing it in a rough 
“ Way, pafs it from Hand to Hand, every Man taking 
“ that Share of the Work, in which his particular Ta- 
“ lent lies ; fo that one applies it to the Mold, another 
“ pares it with the Chiflel to a proper Thinnefs, a third 
fmooths its Edges, and, in this Manner, a Cup and 
Saucer fhall fometimes pafs through feventy Hands. 
When it is clear of the Potters, it comes to thofe 
who give it the Oil or Varnifh, and with them it 
“ paffes from Hand to Hand, according to their vari- 
“ ous Capacities, and their Addrefs in finifhing different 
^ Sorts of Work. “ The 
