History

Porcelain is generally believed to come from china. It was supposedly discovered by the Shang dynasty in 1600 BCE. By 100-200 BCE high firing ceramic glazes had developed into porcelain. At about 600 CE porcelain was widely sold throughout Asia and had began exporting to other continents around the world. By the 17th Century the porcelain rush had reached Europe. These exports to Europe in the 17th and 18th Century were held with great esteem that in the English language it became known as china. In 1708 Eherfired Walther von Tschirnhaus discovered a new ype of porcelain that was mixed with normal clay. It became known as Hard Paste porcelain. In It is generally believed that the name porcelain originated from the Italian word porcellana meaning cowry shell. It was called this due to the resemblance of its translucent surface of the shell. Porcelain from Europe is that of a harder paste that has more clay properties whereas, porcelain from china is soft paste and has been for over 1500 years.

Manufacturing
The three main types of porcelain are bone china, soft paste and hard paste. Porcelain is manufactured by gathering pieces of porcelain rock/clay and then grinding it into tiny pieces and then you sieve it to get pieces the same size. Then you run it over a magnet to remove iron from it. Then you put a medium amount of water in it to create slurry Porcelain is fired through a kiln. The temperature is dependant on the type of porcelain. Porcelain is decorated through a special type of paint called glazes. Glazes are shiny liquids that turn into glass when they are in they kiln. As anything heated at a high enough temperature will ultimately become glass.

Uses
Many things are manufactured from porcelain such as pots and pans. Porcelain is a material that common people call china. China is our plates and our bowls. It is easy to smash but is an overall balanced material as it is very good looking because after it has been fired the glazes colours are very clear and it looks great. My favourite type of porcelain is soft past because it is the most glass-like porcelain out of three main types. I like it because it has a great shiny white finish and looks good with any type of glaze.

Pamela Irving Pamela Irving is an Australian artist who specializes in mosaic, bronze and ceramics. Her work is really quite amazing I love the way she crafts her work with much detail. She has a natural talent for sculpting fur as well as seen in her ceramics, she has a knack for precision painting glazes on to give an excellent, detailed look with excellent geometrical patterns. These geometrical patterns are generally blue or a shade of yellow. These colours have been chosen, I think because they are not too eye catching but are still easy to see. Pamela has participated in 18 solo exhibitions, so she has a fair amount of work. She has participated in over 20 museums. She has also participated in private gallery exhibitions such as the gallery of ANZ bank.