Porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is kaolin or porcelain clay fired at a high temperature

Porcelain is a specific form of ceramic, composed of kaolin (a recalcitrant, white clay), quartz and a feldspar, and fired at a high temperature. This makes porcelain hard, translucent, non-porous and sounds clear, unlike earthenware, for example.

Japanese bowl with three herons, ca. 1700. Hizen Kyushu Ceramic Museum

Japanese covered bowl in kakiemon style (1645)

Plate from the Kangxi period

Porcelain is a Chinese invention. It is odorless and tasteless and hardly discolors, even if it has been in a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea for several centuries, for example. It is mainly used to produce plates, bowls, cups and other vessels used for serving and consuming food and drinks. Oven-safe porcelain is primarily used for preparing food in an oven and can withstand temperatures of up to 250 °C to 300 °C.

In addition, porcelain, like silver and crystal, has a function as interior decoration, such as in the case of vases, candlesticks, decorative doorknobs, cache pots, human or animal figures, etc. Porcelain tableware is usually sold in specialized stores. There is usually also cutlery, glass or crystal for sale.

Porcelain has been widely used as a material for manufacturing insulators because it is sturdy, durable, weather-resistant, heat-resistant and does not conduct electricity. Porcelain was also used in dental laboratories for the production of crowns and bridges. Finally, porcelain has been used to make doll heads and is often used in making objects with a sanitary function, for example a toilet or a washbasin.

Manufacturing process

Kaolin

Clay is required to make porcelain. Clay has the property that it can be kneaded when the material is wet. The clay is stored in dark cellars or pits for several months to rot. Many clays are too fatty to be processed without additives. To make porcelain, silver sand (quartz) is added to the whitest possible clay, called kaolin, to make the mass less greasy and glassy when heated. The special thing about porcelain is that a pulverized stone, feldspar (or granite), is added to the clay to lower the firing temperature. The ratio between the three different ingredients is 2:1:1. Then the water is squeezed out of the mass and the "dough" is ready for further preparation.

Northern Song celadon, 10th century

After the object is formed using a turntable and molds, a drying process takes three months. The European porcelain is then fired twice. The first time at 900 °C, after which the so-called biscuit is created. The glaze (an aqueous mixture of porcelain clay mixed with tin or lead) is then applied. The smooth firing takes place at approximately 1400 °C and takes one and a half days. Shrinkage is a problem when baking: about 10% of the mass has evaporated.

When the kiln has burned out and cooled down, the porcelain is assessed for quality. In the 18th century, sometimes half of the production had to be thrown away (the so-called misfires), due to a baking temperature that was too low or too high. Many porcelain factories did not last long and went bankrupt. The object is usually painted in refined colors, after which the decorations are baked in an oven at 600-900 °C. Originally the ovens were fired with wood, now with gas.

Early history

Blanc de Chine from the Yuan dynasty

Celadon from the Song Dynasty

The cradle of porcelain lies in ancient Chinese empire, where it was used in ancestor worship rituals and for serving food. Porcelain was made between the 7th and 9th centuries AD. developed during the Tang Dynasty to imitate the expensive green jade and white jasper. The pottery has a noble simplicity. Sometimes the development of porcelain is placed 500 years earlier, during the Han dynasty, when the pottery was first glazed. [2] By suddenly extinguishing the kiln, porcelain with a crackle decor was obtained.

After the Chinese became acquainted with Persian ceramics, cobalt was imported from that country to produce the famous blue-white porcelain. In the 14th century, painting a decor became increasingly important than the hitherto usually gloomy, sometimes fascinating glaze. That was a revolutionary development and the porcelain received much more attention.

In Europe, thin, glossy and translucent porcelain was unknown until the 13th century. The explorer Marco Polo was one of the first Europeans to become acquainted with porcelain eating utensils. According to him, the clay from the Jingdezhen area was exposed to sun, wind and rain for thirty to forty years and the fruits could first be harvested by the next generation. He compared the shiny end product with the delicate pink shell of a sea snail (family Cypraeidae), which was popularly called porcella (little pig) in Italian and gave it the name porcellana .

Imperial yellow cup, Kangxi (1662-1722)

Initially, the porcelain was supplied via the Silk Road. In Istanbul, in the Topkapi Palace, an old and interesting Chinese collection can be seen. The Chinese also produced objects without human images, with a deep kind of (Mohammedan) blue, for the Arab market. In Turkey, İznik ceramics were produced, increasingly influenced by Chinese porcelain. It was only when the Portuguese discovered the sea route to China around 1517 that porcelain also became popular in Europe. In 1520, Albrecht Dürer noted that he had received three pieces of "porcolona" from a Portuguese in Antwerp. Philip II owned 3,000 pieces of Ming porcelain and in 1585 there were already ten porcelain shops in Lisbon.

History of porcelain after 1600

Porcelain became known in the Netherlands when the Portuguese ship San Jago was overpowered by a fleet of Dutch ships in 1602. The cargo was transported to Amsterdam and auctioned. Also, at the end of February 1603, a Portuguese carrack was hijacked in the Strait of Malacca by Admiral Jacob van Heemskerck, loaded with silk and 100,000 pieces of porcelain. The so-called cracked porcelain fetched several million at the VOC auctions. Everyone fell under the spell of the exotic product. Johannes Isacus Pontanus mentions that in 1611 porcelain was an everyday but expensive item.

A plate of kraak porcelain in a museum in Malacca

The term kraak porcelain has its origins in the name of the Portuguese ships caraques or krabs, with which the cargo was transported to Europe. The kraak porcelain was cheap, coarse and unsigned. It was specially intended for the European market and was often loaded by the VOC as ballast at the bottom of the ship. In Dutch households, Chinese porcelain initially served as a decorative object. It was displayed on cabinets, on special ledges and on the mantelpiece. The potters in Delft were influenced by blue and white Chinese porcelain. They started producing a blue-white faience, often with Chinese Wanli motifs.

Chinese vase (Qing dynasty)

When the Dutch had difficulty obtaining Chinese porcelain due to a civil war between the Southern Ming and the Manchus in the period between 1650 and 1680 and had to give up the island of Formosa when Fort Zeelandia was surrendered to Coxinga in February 1662, the VOC ships went more often to Japan to purchase porcelain. The production of Imari in Arita (Japan) was started by Koreans around the year 1600. From 1640 Japan tried to be autarkic and stimulated the production of porcelain. From 1646, Arita also produced for export to Europe. In December 1659 Zacharias Wagener had 40 chests of porcelain shipped to Batavia. Wagener had stoneware from Westerwald used as an example, when approval from Amsterdam was delayed. There was another large order ready for more than 21,000 pieces for Mokka. However, Japanese porcelain was twice as expensive as Chinese porcelain. Only when the Dutch, including Joan Nieuhof and Joan van Hoorn, gave the Chinese emperor the necessary honor, was it allowed to visit Chinese ports regularly again. The supply problems from China were not unfavorable for the potters in Delft, Gouda, Harlingen and Makkum.

Wanlip porcelain with family crest of the Wittelsbach

Father d'Entrecolles, a French Jesuit, described production methods in China in a number of famous letters. After 1730, colored porcelain mainly came from China. The Chinese had help from an expert Jesuit in developing the process. The color pink or red was developed around 1685 by the Leiden, Potsdammer or Hamburg (?) physician, chemist or glazier Andreas Cassius and introduced in China at the beginning of the 18th century.

The ship Vryburg on a saucer, made to order (Chine de commande)(1756)

Meanwhile, the Dutch placed orders in China, the so-called Chine de commande, characterized by European scenes, family crests, landscapes, famous people, provincial coats of arms, and current events. In addition, Imari porcelain was ordered from China, as a result of the high prices in Japan. Cornelis Pronck drew five different Chinese motifs between 1734-1737 and on behalf of the VOC, including the lady with the parasol, the three doctors and the gazebo. The VOC became less and less involved in the import of porcelain and left the trade to private individuals.

Invention of European porcelain

Meissen porcelain, 18th century

The Chinese managed to keep the process of making porcelain secret for about a thousand years. In the early 18th century, the geologist Ehrenfried W. von Tschirnhaus, who had studied in Leiden and in 1687 developed a burning glass to obtain high firing temperatures, succeeded in making an important step in the development of porcelain with the help of the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger. Both men were financially supported and pressured by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, to develop new and innovative industries. On January 15, 1708, a good procedure was developed. On April 24 of that year, the first porcelain factory was officially founded with the help of two Amsterdam tile makers: Gerrit van Malsem and his stepfather.

One of the first results of the collaboration between Böttger and Tschirnhaus was the production of red stoneware similar to that of Yixing. On March 28, 1709, the invention of porcelain was reported to the Elector, when nine copies of Chinese porcelain had been produced. [5] In 1710 the factory moved to a better guarded location, the Albrechtsburg in Meissen. Meissen is a town near Dresden.

18th century engraving of production in Meissen

In the early period, Böttger mainly produced polished red or brown stoneware based on Chinese or Japanese examples. Initially he worked with alabaster, later with feldspar, which tolerated higher temperatures and produced a much more translucent product. Böttger was widely followed and had to deal with plagiarism and staff running away to the competition. Only his successor Johann G. Hörolt managed to develop 16 colors for painting porcelain. Then it became possible to imitate the increasingly popular kakiemon porcelain. Until then, porcelain had been painted by home workers, especially in Augsburg.

Many German princes founded their own (status-enhancing) porcelain factory, because drinking tea, coffee or chocolate milk became increasingly common in the 18th century. Porcelain turned out to be an expensive, but extremely beautiful and suitable product for drinking. It was then called "white gold". The tableware also became more extensive due to the changing table manners. Sometimes things got out of hand, as with the Swan Service, ordered by Heinrich von Brühl.

Production of porcelain. From: Traité élémentaire de chimie , L.Troost, 1884

The porcelain manufacturers increasingly faced competition from England, where a cheap process for producing white earthenware was invented around 1750 and wages were much lower. With the help of two Englishmen, the first Dutch porcelain factory was set up in an old gin distillery in Weesp in 1759. However, the factory did not last long. The production process was expensive: sometimes half of the porcelain that came out of the kiln had to be thrown away. The porcelain from Loosdrecht had a slightly different composition, so a lower firing temperature was sufficient. The origin of some of the raw materials used by Joannes de Mol and the process he used is an undiscovered secret.

Origin name of porcelain

The name "porcelain" refers to the Italian name for the cowries (Cypraeidae), also called porcelain snails. In 15th century Italy, it was believed that the porcelain originating in China was made from the crushed yellowish-white shells of cowries. which were called porcellana in Italian. This goes back to porcellino, "sow", (porcellus), referring to the similarity between the female's external genitalia and the opening of the cowries.

Countries with porcelain production

Tea caddy, porcelain with enamel.

Chinese porcelain

The most commonly used classification of Chinese porcelain is the chronological dynastic division. The so-called Ming vases are legendary. In the art trade and for sale, the division by color became more popular, introduced around 1860 by the painter and collector Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart and the art historian Edmond-Frederic Le Blant. Because of the diverse shades, colored porcelain has been divided into groups: the so-called famille rose and famille jaune . The famille verte was known before, but was perfected. The famille noir is quite rare . The monochrome porcelain is impressive, of which the ivory, so-called blanc de chine is an example. Enthusiasts also distinguish wucai or five-color porcelain, encre de chine or Jesuit porcelain, produced from 1727, milk and blood, spinach and eggs , coffee and cream , Amsterdam fur, imported either undecorated or blue-and-white decorated Chinese porcelain, which was painted or painted over with colored enamels and eggshell porcelain.

Ming bowl with dragon

Bowl from the Kangxi period

• Song porcelain is known for its shape and beautiful glaze, such as the green-gray Celadon
• Ming (1368-1644), mainly blue-white porcelain, sometimes also with green.
• Transitional porcelain (1626-1661) has a thicker shard, bright white glaze and is of better quality.
• Qing porcelain (1644-1912) has smooth, clear motifs; experiments are taking place with glaze and old forms are being revisited.

The Qing period can be divided into:

• Kangxi porcelain (1662-1722), combination of blue, red or green, including the milk and blood porcelain which is red and white.
• Yongzheng porcelain (1723-1735), use of colors such as pink and eggplant
• Qianlong porcelain (1736-1795), refined and subtle.

In the 19th century, whiter porcelain was produced and the pattern and shape returned to previously produced porcelain or bronze. The kilns were idle or destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion. The production of artistic porcelain came to a standstill again after 1937 as a result of the occupation of China by Japan.

Contemporary Chinese tableware that is exported to Europe also exists, such as the Auratic brand, a manufacturer of bone china.

Japanese porcelain

Imari plate made in Arita, 18th century

• Arita, usually blue and white
• Imari, always with the colors blue, white, red and gold
• Kakiemon, always with an asymmetrical pattern and usually a brown edge
• 1904-present: Noritake, a company that produces tableware for its own market and exports to Europe, among others.

In Japan, porcelain production began in 1616 when kaolin was found near Arita. The Japanese initially followed the Chinese style. In the 18th century, a unique Japanese style emerged.

Kinto is a well-known brand of contemporary porcelain.

Indian porcelain

• 1948–present: UPCeramics & Potteries Ltd, a bone china manufacturer

Belgian porcelain

From 1751 there was a factory in Tournai, which no longer exists. A collection of Tournai porcelain is kept in the Musée Royal de Mariemont. Porcelain was also made in Schaarbeek (1786-1790), Etterbeek (1787-1803) and Brussels in the 18th and/or 19th century.

In 1818, a porcelain factory was founded in Ixelles near Brussels by Fréderic Theodore Faber (1782-1844), who already had experience as a porcelain painter who decorated French porcelain. His company was supported by King William I of the Netherlands. Faber decorated a service consisting of 352 pieces for the king in the period 1819-1821. The porcelain for this came from France, because the oven that Faber owned in Brussels could not yet handle such a production. In 1829-1830 Faber ( Peintre sur porcelaine du Roi ) made the wedding tableware of Princess Marianne, the king's daughter. Kaolin from Limoges was used.

The Belgian revolution was a setback for Faber. His son, Henri Faber, continued the company after 1835 and made a luxurious dessert service for King Leopold I of Belgium.

• 1843-1977 Porcelaine de Baudour (La manufacture Declerq et De Fuisseaux), located in Baudour, province of Hainaut.

The press sometimes wrongly wrote about the Royal Boch porcelain factory in La Louvière. This company did not produce porcelain, but faience (earthenware), which was porous.

Pieter Stockmans, a designer who had worked at Mosa, made porcelain plates and vases in his studio in Genk-Winterslag.

Danish porcelain

• Royal Copenhagen was founded in 1775 and quickly became known for its exclusive tableware. An exceptional work was the making of the Flora Danica tableware, which was presented by Denmark to Empress Catherine the Great of Russia in 1790. The service consisted of almost 2,000 parts; the edges of plates and cups were gilded and the motifs were derived from plants and flowers from Denmark and Norway.

Part of the original Flora Danica tableware (Royal Copenhagen) on display in a porcelain cabinet at Christiansborg Palace

Norwegian porcelain

• The Porsgrund porcelain factory from Norway was founded in 1885 by Johan Jeremiassen.
• Figgjo AS, is a Norwegian porcelain factory founded in 1941, which exclusively produces tableware.

Swedish porcelain

• Rörstrand has been a porcelain factory in Sweden since 1726. A well-known and very popular tableware from this brand in Sweden is Ostindia.
• Marieberg was a pottery and porcelain factory in Sweden, which operated from 1758 to 1788. Marieberg was founded by JE Ehrenreich. Real porcelain was only made in 1778 and 1779. The products were influenced by French designers. Polychrome decoration.

Dutch porcelain

• Bertrand Philip, Count of Gronsveld Weesper porcelain factory (1759-1771)
• Joannes de Mol Manufacture Oud-Loosdrecht (1774-1782)
• Friedrich Daeuber Amstel porcelain (1784-1801)
• Anton Lyncker Hague porcelain (1777-1790)
• Petrus Regout, Maastricht. Porcelain factory (1836-1931)
• NV Porcelain and Tile Factory Mosa in Maastricht, founded in 1883, which, in addition to wall tiles, makes porcelain tableware for the catering industry (hotel porcelain).
• NV Haagsche Plateelbakkerij Rozenburg (1883-1916), with production of eggshell porcelain from 1899.

German porcelain

A chandelier made of porcelain, Linderhof Palace, Ettal; 19th century copy from Meissen after an 18th century example

• 1710-present: Staatliche Porzellan-ManufakturMeissen. For more than 150 years, the company was located in the Albrechtsburg, a castle in Meissen.
• 1746-1796: Höchst Frankfurt am Main. Refounded in 1947 by Rudolf Schäfer.
• 1747-present: Fürstenberg Fürstenberg
• 1747-present: Nymphenburg, Munich
• 1748-present: Villeroy & Boch Keramische Werke, founded in Audun-le-Tiche with branches in Germany and Luxembourg. The head office is located in Mettlach, Saarland. It did not start making porcelain until 1766; other forms of ceramics for this. There was a branch - closed in 2010 - in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, namely in Sept-Fontaines part of Rollingergrund in the capital Luxembourg. At the end of the 20th century also production of cutlery and crystal.
• 1751-present: Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin
• 1755: Frankenthal Palatinate
• 1758: Ludwigsburg Stuttgart
• 1764-present: Wallendorfer Porzellan Manufaktur, located in Lichte/Wallendorf.
• 1794-present: Tettau
• 1810-present: Ritzenhoff & Breker in Bad Driburg
• 1814-present: Hutschenreuther. Historically there were two family businesses, namely "Carl Magnus Hutschenreuther" in Hohenberg and "Lorenz Hutschenreuther" in Selb, which merged in 1969 to form "Hutschenreuther AG". The symbol is a lion with the year 1814. Hutschenreuther produces very high quality animal figures (Kunstabteilung), vases, decorative plates, cache pots and tableware. There is also crystal from the same brand.
• 1838 Founding of Tirschenreuther, a porcelain factory in the Bavarian municipality of the same name. The company was taken over in 1927 by competitor Lorenz Hutschenreuther AG, who kept the brand name.
• 1844-present: KAHLA/Thüringen Porzellan GmbH, manufacturer of household tableware and hotel porcelain
• 1871-present: Goebel porcelain
• 1879: Founding of the "Porzellanfabrik Kühnert & Tischler" in Bavaria. In 1895 name changed to Moschendorf
• 1879-present: Rosenthal in Selb in Bavaria. In 1934, manager Philipp Rosenthal had to withdraw from the company under pressure from the Nazi government in Germany because of his Jewish origins. He died in 1937. In 1950 his son Philip Rosenthal returned from exile and took over the management. Rosenthal was a pioneer in the field of contemporary design in the second half of the 20th century. The factory in Selb was designed by Walter Gropius, who also designed the TAC tableware. The industrial group Rosenthal Sambonet also includes the porcelain brand Thomas.
• 1880-1992: Porzellanfabrik Zeh & Scherzer, from Rehau (Upper Franconia) (Bavaria), made tableware and vases under the brand name Scherzer.
• 1881-present: Bauscher porcelain from Weiden
• 1886-present: Mitterteich porcelain from the city of Mitterteich (Bavaria), best known for hotel porcelain.
• 1887-2013: Arzberg. Arzberg (Upper Franconia) is also the name of a Bavarian municipality.
• 1903-2010: Porzellanfabrik Heinrich Winterling GmbH & Co. Manufacturer of tableware and gift items.
• 1909-present: Könitz, porcelain cups, coffee cups and plates. In January 2007, Könitz Porzellan GmbH purchased another German porcelain factory, namely Weimar Porzellan, located in the city of Weimar.
• 1910-present: Seltmann, family business from Weiden (Bavaria) manufacturer of white or decorated tableware, both for professional and domestic applications.
• 1951: Porzellanfabrik Sandizell, specialized in human figures, often in clothing with lace.
• Triptis Porzellan (with the Eschenbach, Winterling and Triptis brands)
• 1953-present: Friesland Porzellan, with real porcelain, earthenware and stoneware, in Varel
• Bareuther porcelain from Waldsassen
• Asa Selection (porcelain and ceramics) in Höhr-Grenzhausen

Czech and Polish porcelain

• 1794–present: Thun porcelain from the Czech Republic [9]
• 1831: Krister Porzellan-Manufaktur, founded by Karl Krister in 1831 in Silesia, which was then part of Germany, but is now in Poland. Krzysztof and W-Wawel are brand names of this company.
• Duxer Porzellanmanufactur was a Czech porcelain factory that was founded in the 19th century and made animal figures, among other things.
• 1874-present: Český porcelán akciová společnost Dubí from the Czech Republic, founded in 1864 by Anton Tschinkel as a factory that made majolica. Porcelain production from 1874.
• 1884-present: Gebrüder Benedikt porcelain in Dvory (Czech Republic)
• 1969–present: Lubiana porcelain (Poland), employs a total of more than 1,400 people and produces approximately 13,000 tons of porcelain annually

Porcelain from the United Kingdom and Ireland

• 1745: Chelsea London
• 1750-present: Royal Crown Derby, letter encumbrancers and luxury tableware
• 1751–present: The Royal Worcester Porcelain Factory (Stoke-on-Trent)
• 1763–present: Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Limited (Stoke-on-Trent). This company, known for its Cream Ware and Jasper Ware, did not begin making real porcelain until 1812.
• 1768: Plymouth and Bristol porcelain. 18th century company, founded by William Cookworthy, that used Cornish kaolin. Characteristic is the hardness and the "cold" glaze.
• 1775–present: Aynsley (Stoke-on-Trent), manufacturer of tableware and decorative items. The company was acquired in 1970 by Waterford Glass Company Ltd of Ireland (Waterford Crystal).
• 1795-1967: the Coalport Porcelain Manufactory in Coalbrookdale, was founded in 1795 by William Reynolds and John Rose at Caolport along the Coalport canal and completed in 1792. In 1967 it became part of the Wedgwood group.
• 1815–present: The Royal Doulton Company (London)
• 1889-1962 Stanley China Works in Longton (Stoke-on-Trent) manufactured bone china and porcelain.
• Royal Tara China, porcelain brand from Galway, Republic of Ireland

Other well-known brands include Belleek, which has been making porcelain since 1863 (Belleek Pottery, Northern Ireland), Royal Albert, Minton bone china, Spode and Paragon. Bone china was a British invention but is now also made in Scandinavia, Germany, India and China. The Swedish company Gustavsberg has also been producing bone porcelain since 1866.

French porcelain

Castor and Pollux

• 1740: Vincennes (Manufacture de Vincennes). In 1740, Chantilly artisans established a porcelain factory at the Chateau de Vincennes. In 1752, King Louis XV acquired a stake in the company, which was then named Manufacture Royale de Vincennes.
• 1756–present: Sèvres (Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres)
• 1770: L'Ancienne Manufacture Royale de Limoges (Limoges)
• Between 1780 and 1790: porcelain factory in Lille (Lille), founded by François Lepierre, produced vases
• 1784 Creation of the Faïencerie de Sarreguemines (pottery production). This resulted in a new factory in Digoin in 1876 with the production of hotel porcelain. Porcelaine Pyroblan is a brand name of Sarreguemines.
• 1789-present: Revol Porcelaine, family business, producer of culinary porcelain
• 1826-present: Deshoulières, tableware and gift items
• 1842–present: Haviland (Limoges)
• 1849–present: Raynaud (porcelain) (Limoges)
• 1850-present: Porcelaine de Sologne, tableware and gift items. Part of the Groupe Deshoulières.
• 1863–present: Bernardaud (Limoges)
• 1934: Georges Boyer , (Limoges). Georges' father, Jean Boyer, a porcelain painter, bought a porcelain factory in Limoges in 1919.
• Porcelaines Chastagner, (Limoges), founded in 1958 by Alexandre Chastagner
• 1993-present: Manufacture de Porcelaines Jacques Pergay, a manufacturer of tableware in Limoges.
• Le Tallec was a studio of porcelain painters or decorators (Paris), who decorated small gift items in a classical style with lots of gold leaf. The undecorated white porcelain was therefore purchased elsewhere. Every item in the studio was completely hand-painted.
• Jean Louis Coquet (Limoges), tableware and gift items
• Medard de Noblat (Limoges), tableware
• Lafarge (Limoges) produced tableware with typical French decors. Lafarge was taken over by the porcelain company Philippe Deshoulières in 1999 and closed in 2004 because it was no longer profitable.

Italian porcelain

• 1743-1759: Capodimonte, founded by Charles of Bourbon, the later King Charles III of Spain.
• In 1735, the "Manifattura di porcellane di Doccia" was founded in Tuscany. The oldest datable porcelain products date from 1740. This manufacturer would later give rise to the Richard Ginori porcelain brand.
• Porcellane Tognana from Treviso
• Alessi is an Italian company that designs and produces products in a contemporary design. In addition to objects in metal, wood, crystal and plastic, Alessi also has tableware and small objects in porcelain. The design is done by Alessi; Production takes place in Germany since Alessi does not own a porcelain factory.
• Mangani SRL, Porcellane d'Arte from Florence, luxurious decorative products, sometimes with cobalt blue and gilded decorations.

Spanish porcelain

• 1727-1895: Porcelana de Alcora in L'Alcora, Valencia region.

The Buen Retiro porcelain manufacturer was founded in 1760, using magnesium silicate from the Vallacas quarry near Madrid as raw material. The initiative came from King Charles III and his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony. Buen Retiro ceased to exist as a result of a war in 1808.

Currently, the Valencia company Lladro produces porcelain figures such as girls, boys, clowns, representations of a profession, figures for a nativity scene or animals.

Portuguese porcelain

• 1824-present: Vista Alegre, in the municipality of Ilhavo, Portugal
• 1970-present: Spal Porcelanas, in the municipality of Alcobaça
• 1987-present: Porcel - Indústria Portuguesa de Porcelanas, producer of porcelain tableware and gift items
• 1992-present: Costa Verde

Finnish porcelain

• Arabia is a Finnish company founded in 1873 that produces porcelain tableware and earthenware.
• Iittala, founded in 1881, is known for its contemporary, beautiful shapes in porcelain. It makes tableware. The vases designed by Aalvar Aalto are also well known. these vases are made in glass.

Hungarian porcelain

• 1826: Herend makes tableware, vases, cache pots and figures that are always hand-painted. In the mid-19th century, Herend was purveyor to the Habsburg dynasty of Austria-Hungary, to the Rothschild family and to an aristocratic clientele throughout Europe. The company trains its own porcelain painters. Although Herend is strong in preserving artistic traditions and traditional decors, modern contemporary vases have also been made since 1990.
• 1853 Zsolnay: luxury porcelain, but also construction ceramics (tiles).

Austrian and Swiss porcelain

In 1718, Claudius Innocentius du Paquier, with privilege from the emperor, started a porcelain factory in Vienna. He had help from two employees from Meissen. Du Paquier sold the company to the Austrian state in 1744. The Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur, which provided the Austrian court and nobility with tableware and decorative pieces of very high quality, existed until 1864. In 1923 the Augarten porcelain factory was founded, which is still active and has partly taken over the decors of the earlier Viennese manufacturer [10 ] . Augarten produces tableware, lamp bases, figures and vases. Augarten porcelain is painted by hand.

• Rössler Porzellan, porcelain production in Switzerland since 1957

Russian porcelain

Russian porcelain

• 1744: Lomonosov. A modern selection is on display in the Geelvinck Hinlopen House Museum.
• 1835: Kornilov, porcelain factory in Saint Petersburg.

South African porcelain

• 1949-present: Continental China, Cape Town

Porcelain from the United States of America

Pickard China of Illinois and Lenox of New York are both suppliers of tableware for the White House. Their products are also sold worldwide.

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