In general, almost every household has numerous variants of dishes. There is the one that is used every day and other things that are reserved for festive occasions. However, cups, cups and bottles are currently more and more trendy, which are individualized by personal photos or special inscriptions. But one of the most traditional types of dishes is probably the porcelain, which can be found in almost every household. One reason for his triumphal march in the Middle Ages is the long service life. Today porcelain dishes have become affordable for everyone, but this was not always the case. It used to be called "white gold" and in fact it was as valuable as gold in the 17th century.
The name porcelain goes back to a snail in the sea, the Kaurischnecke, which is called "Porcellana" (German "pig") in Italian. For a long time, the rumor in Europe kept that Chinese porcelain was made from the bowl of this snail.
Even if the exclusivity was lost, his image kept it. Even today, the best porcelain on the table is often arranged on festive occasions, such as Christmas.
China as a starting point
The history of the porcelain begins in the Chinese Empire, someday in the 7th century AD. The inventors brought large quantities of a white rock on the idea of manufacturing. However, it took seven centuries for porcelain dishes to be known on European soil. The Venetian explorer Marco Polo broke around 1300 AD on extended trips to China. He brought it home from one of his research trip, among other things, dishes and table jewelry. The delicate and shiny filigree material particularly delighted the princesses, kings and queens at Hof. As a result, the endeavor was extremely large to find out how it was made. However, the Chinese did not want to share their secret.
In the 14th century, under the Ming's dynasty, according to theHE DOESA new boost of quality, because glaze, decor and painting were refined again. Imprinting motifs such as dragons, fish and plants now adorned the dishes in China. The cobalt blue (imported from today's Iraq) had become the new color of the porcelain painting and shapes the pieces of this time. Ming porcelain pieces, especially the vases, still have a high collector's value today.
Meissen as the first manufactory in Europe
Many European inventors, who were commissioned by the various royal houses to find out how the valuable material was made, first had to give up, until 1709 a certain Friedrich Böttger achieved the breakthrough and managed to make the first porcelain dishes outside of China . Friedrich Böttger was employed at the court of the Saxon King August of the strong and originally had the order to produce gold. An order that he could not fulfill. In cooperation with the German naturalist Walther von Tschirnhaus, he was supposed to explore the production of Porzellan and the two successfully mastered this order. According to recent investigations, Tschirnhaus should be the actual inventor of the European porcelain, because he had already committed himself to researching research many years earlier and brought an enormously great previous knowledge in the field. However, Tschirnhaus died in 1708, one year before the first full porcelain in Europe.
Even today, plates, vases, figures and cups are manufactured in the Meissen manufactory in Meissen.
The company from Saxony was also the first manufactory to produce the material in Europe.
The nominal inventor of the porcelain, Böttger, was appointed sole head of research and the manufactory in Meissen. He started production on a large scale in 1710.
Made in Europe
The European nobility feverishly searched for the occurrence of Kaolin, which was called "Gaoling" in Chinese language use. After all, Kaolin was the main component of porcelain. When occurrence was found in Europe, professional production began. In 1718, porcelain manufacturers were founded in Vienna, in 1745 in the Chelsea district of London and in 1746 there was its own manufactory at the Fürstenberger on the Weser manor house. In the same year, the Nymphenburg production facility in Munich joined this. Both the manufacturers and the recipe for porcelain came to Prussia in the course of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). In 1763 the “Royal Prussian Porcelain Manufactory” was founded in Berlin.
A traditional, stylish gift on special occasions
The valuable material was initially used as a tableware. At the noble courtyard in particular, it replaced the use of gold and silver dishes for coffee and cocoa. In Prussia, the nobility uses porcelain for desserts, because the fruit sweetness of desserts had always attacked the gold and silver ceiling. Porcelain changed the courtly eating culture and also became a highly valued gift of diplomats. The Prussian king had entire tableware sets made for foreign courtyards.
In Germany - porcelain center northern Bavaria
In the 19th century, a center for porcelain developed in and around the city of Selb in northern Bavaria with the foundation of numerous manufacturers, which is mainly due to the great occurrence of Kaolin in the northern Bavarian field. These companies in the Fichtelgebirge also developed the first machines for manufacturing. One of the most famous porcelain factories in the region became the company of Magnus Hutschenreuther. In the area between Selb and Weiden, 90 percent of the German porcelain occurred. Hutschenreuther, Rosenthal and Villeroy and Boch still stand for German porcelain quality.
It consists of only three components
In principle, porcelain consists only of three essential ingredients: Kaolin, quartz and feldspar must be brought together with water in the right mixture in order to create it. Quartz and feldspar are minerals, Kaolin is a rock with white colors. The three components are grinded and mixed into a fine powder. The mixing shares of the individual ingredients decide on the final degree of hardness of the porcelain. It can be shaped with the addition of water. To complete it is to be completed in two rounds.
Made nowadays at very high temperatures
The burning process is actually complicated to the porcelain production and it took quite a long time for Böttger and Tschirnhaus developed the right procedure. The first burning process takes up to 20 hours, whereby a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius must be achieved. The water contains evaporates through the heat. After the first burning, the glazing takes place, the objects are dipped into a milky and white liquid, which also consists of Kaolin, quartz and feldspar. Only the water content is much higher, which makes the glaze more fluid. The objects soak the water of the glaze and thus get the characteristic shine later. With a second burning phase of up to 30 hours at 1400 degrees Celsius, the final production and curing takes place. The porcelain shrinks strongly.
