For the English-speaking population of the Earth, porcelain and China are twin brothers; they are denoted by the same word “china”. The Chinese invented the composition of hard porcelain back around the 6th century, i.e. a thousand years before it was produced in Europe. For a long time, along with the production of silk, porcelain remained one of the most forbidden and desired mysteries of the East for Western rulers. Trying to solve it is akin to a real detective story, because whoever dared to do this in China faced only one sentence - death.
The secret of Chinese porcelain
Missionary, Father D. Entrecoll, who visited in the 17th century. China with the express purpose of finding out secrets of porcelain production, managed to obtain only the most basic information, which could not serve as a basis for setting up a new production.
Russia also did not lag behind in this espionage activity. For a large sum of money, they managed to bribe one Chinese master, who gave out porcelain secret Siberian industrialist Kursin. However, the cunning Chinese apparently still left something unsaid, because... Kursin was never able to obtain porcelain, although he carried out experiments on its production.
We can only guess how many such examples are hidden behind the layers of past years. The secret was apparently found out in the end, but the name of the hero remains unknown to this day.
Masters have found a way to make porcelain
Its history goes back more than three thousand years. But the very beginning of porcelain production on an industrial scale dates back to approximately the 6th-7th centuries, when technology was improved and, by selecting components, products began to be produced that were distinguished by the whiteness and thinness of the shard. According to legend, the ancient Chinese could not decide on the material for making dishes: jade was expensive and sacrilegious, clay was ugly and short-lived, wood was not aesthetically pleasing.
Then quite by accident Masters have found a way to make porcelain... And this method remained a big and carefully kept secret for the rest of the world. One of the components of this big secret is the raw materials from which porcelain is made. Jiangxi province turned out to be a treasure trove of porcelain stone - a rock consisting of quartz and mica. Porcelain mass made from briquetted powder porcelain stone and kaolin(special clay, gives whiteness to the product). The resulting semi-finished product was kept for decades to acquire plasticity. After this, the next step was a kiln, the high temperature in which, during firing, changes the physical composition of the mass, it becomes transparent and waterproof. Already at the beginning of our era, Chinese potters built kilns capable of creating the required temperature, there is archaeological evidence of this. And for a special matte shine, the glaze was made up of several layers of different transparency.
In the first century AD, a city in Jiangxi Province appeared porcelain workshops, this city later became known under the name Jingdezhen How capital of Chinese porcelain, because historically this area is the birthplace of porcelain and the place of its constant development and improvement. Porcelain products from Jingdezhen have always been of high quality. Ancient sources say that “they were as dazzling as snow, thin as a sheet of paper, strong as metal.”
Some of the earliest evidence that has survived to this day porcelain production, are finds of pottery shards during excavations in Mesopotamia of the city of Samarra, which arose and was destroyed in the 9th century. This gives us the right to confidently attribute invention of Chinese porcelain to the Tang period, and the historical situation suggests that the largest inventions were invented at this time.
The first half of the Tang dynasty from 618 to 907 AD is a period of great growth in the history of feudal China. Significant political development, accompanied by a huge expansion of territory, led China to rapprochement with other states. At this time there is brisk trade in southern China. The emergence of trading colonies of foreign merchants in Canton - Persians, Arabs, Jews, Greeks - testifies to the scope and well-established maritime trade. Trade with Japan was carried out through eastern ports, and with Western Asia and Europe trade was carried out along the “Great Silk Road”.
The first products made from Chinese porcelain
The first known Chinese porcelain products there were slender elongated vessels with a polished surface, blue and especially valuable pale green vases with relief ornaments, which in Europe were called celadon. These items date back to the Tang (7th-10th centuries) and Song (10th-13th centuries) eras. Then came the milky-white “bei-ding” vessels from Dingzhou, the blue “zhu-yao” vessels, and the glazed “jin-yao” vessels from Henan province.
Beginning in the 14th century during the Ming era (14th-17th centuries), leading porcelain manufacturing center becomes Jingdezhen, where the production of products decorated with lead glazes of three colors (sancai) or underglaze blue painting, which was often combined with overglaze painting (doucai), was established. It was the porcelain of this period (mostly blue and white), produced in large quantities, that came to Western Europe, where it immediately attracted Europeans with its technical and artistic perfection, extreme richness of forms and decoration.
The best examples of Chinese porcelain
In different historical periods Chinese porcelain had his best examples. For example, the famous Jiongqi porcelain Henan Province, characterized by reddish luster, iridescence of blue, violet and white colors and transparency is the best Song Dynasty porcelain. During this period (10th-12th centuries) great strides were made in the manufacture of porcelain products. An example is Yaobian brand porcelain, which is of very high quality. Such porcelain could compete with gold and jade in value and sophistication. The most famous at that time were the products of the Dehua and Longquan workshops.
Famous blue Qingqi porcelain, made in the Longqingyao porcelain kiln in Zhejiang province. It was said that its blueness was like jade, its purity was like a mirror, and the sound it made when touched was like the sound of Qing. This is an ancient percussion musical instrument in the form of a curved plate made of jade, stone or copper. Since the Song Dynasty, blue porcelain products have been widely purchased in East Asia, Europe, America and Arab countries. For example, today in Turkey, the Istanbul Museum houses more than a thousand pieces of Longquan blue porcelain from the Song, Yuan, Ming and other dynasties.
The dawn of Chinese porcelain production. Chinese porcelain appeared in Europe
In the XIII-XIV centuries porcelain production in China reached its peak, and porcelain began to spread widely throughout the world, thanks to Christian monks who brought Chinese porcelain to Europe. In the 16th century, only Chinese porcelain was sold in Europe, which was transported across the continent, calling it “chinaware” and valued at its weight in gold. Imported, rare porcelain became a treasure. Ladies wore porcelain shards like beads on a gold chain. Gradually, instead of the term “chinaware” (Chinese products), Europeans began to use the term “porcelain” from “porcellana” - the name of a mollusk that had a transparent, mother-of-pearl shell. These two names have survived to this day.
Porcelain production in China always had two directions - export, which was a major source of state income, and domestic, for the needs of the imperial court and the nobility. These directions differed significantly from each other both in form and decoration. For example, by order of the emperor, 31,000 dishes, 16,000 plates with dragons, and 18,000 cups were produced annually. And for Europe, luxurious vases, ceremonial dishes and sets were required, which were not so much used as they were displayed as outlandish jewelry that raised the status of their owner. Particularly famous, and many have survived to this day, are products made during the reign of the Kangxi Emperors (1662-1722) and his grandson, the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799), which were distinguished by particularly lush, polychrome decor and were called the green family, pink family, as well as the yellow family.
This porcelain began to be exported in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to Western Europe. These products, named after the predominance of the corresponding tone, were attracted by the refinement of their forms and the cleanliness of the surface. Products made from the so-called flaming porcelain with flambé glaze captivated people with the colorfulness of their surface. In connection with the export of porcelain to the West, the subject matter of painting began to expand - subjects borrowed from the West appeared on products.
What did Europe demand? First of all - palace sets, large wall dishes. All these ceremonial items were made specifically for Europe with national exotic motifs. Items that were used only in Europe were also made. In imitation of the silver coffee pot, unusual porcelain coffee pots and shaving basins were created, similar to the European copper razor basin. They made candlesticks, clocks, candelabra and sets for setting a European table: plates for cutting cheese, sugar bowls.
Decorative painting was valued higher than the vases, jugs and sets themselves. The main motifs of the painting were various flowers (peonies, chrysanthemums, traditional lotus), pine branches, birds and animals, dragons. The fascination with the East was so great that the “Chinese room” or “Chinese pavilion” (Palace of Catherine II in Oranienbaum) was in almost every palace in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. And having at least a couple of porcelain vases was considered a manifestation of good taste and was an indicator of the wealth of the owners of the house.
Medici porcelain
The first breakthrough in porcelain production occurred in Florence during the reign of Francesco di Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who reigned from 1575 to 1597, using a kiln designed by Bountalenti and Fontana. Production has started faux porcelain, known as "Medici porcelain".
In 1575, by the will of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco di Medici, a soft porcelain manufactory was established in the famous Florentine Boboli Gardens. So-called Medici porcelain, which in its properties occupied a middle position between hard and soft porcelain, although transparent thanks to white clay from Vicenza, was yellowish, and therefore the white glaze was used, already familiar from majolica production.
Approximately 50 authentic items have been preserved - plates, dishes, trays, field and pilgrimage flasks, vases, washbasins and jugs. They are decorated either with stylized flowers modeled on the decor on Persian ceramics, or with branches and grotesques with birds, four-eyed eyes and mascarons borrowed from modern Italian ceramics, while the decor is made of cobalt, sometimes combined with bluish-purple paint made from manganese oxide. The manufactory operated until the first quarter of the 17th century inclusive. Medici porcelain stamp- “F” and above it the dome of the Florence Cathedral is blue.
In the history of porcelain production Medici porcelain just an episode. It was followed by other attempts - in England (Dr. Dwight and Francis Place, both in the 2nd half of the 17th century) and in France (Rouen, Saint-Cloud). This ongoing search has been stimulated since the beginning of the 17th century by the significantly stronger import of Far Eastern porcelain. Until the beginning of the 18th century, all attempts, however, remained unsuccessful.
Composition of hard porcelain
Circa 1700 problem white and translucent porcelain technically still had not been resolved: they did not know the chemical composition of hard porcelain with its specific properties.
Towards the end of the 17th century, the physicist and mathematician Count Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus was conducting extensive geological research in Saxony. His goal was to find raw materials that could give this country a solid economic foundation. At the same time, he was developing a construction plan here and looking for appropriate refractory material for glass melting furnaces. Having become interested in the problems of the composition of hard porcelain, he continued his experiments with already known positive results.
In 1704, he was entrusted with control over the activities of the young Böttger, whom King Augustus then kept in custody in Meissen. The fruitful joint work of an old experienced scientist and a capable young man, who lacked only the right guidance, ultimately leads to a solution to the question of the necessary composition solid faffrore mass. Johann Friedrich Böttger began by devoting himself entirely to alchemical experiments during his studies in Berlin, achieving a certain recognition in this.
Having heard about Böttger, the Prussian king Frederick I decided to use him for his own purposes. He longed to continue his experiments and studies and, fearing for his freedom, fled in 1701 to Wittenberg, where this time he found himself under the authority of the Saxon Elector and Polish King Augustus the Strong, who ordered him to be taken to Dresden and placed under supervision there. Bötger's service required him to prepare gold. Working together with the serious Tschirnhaus was an advantage for him. In response to the threats of the dissatisfied Augustus, who was waiting for positive results, Bötger volunteered to set up a hard faience manufactory, and in 1707 he was actually provided with the necessary funds for this.
Founded in 1708, the manufactory was to produce ceramic goods modeled on the hard and smooth "stone casting" of Arie de Milde in Holland. This type of ceramics was made from clay from Plauen containing iron oxide. When fired, it became reddish-brown and acquired such hardness that the product could be further processed by grinding, cutting, etc. Both scientists working together continued to look for ways to obtain hard porcelain. Tschirnhaus no longer learned the successful results of experiments in this direction - he died in October 1708.
The first European hard porcelain manufactory
In March 1709, Bötger finally achieved his goal, using the same raw materials for the glaze as for the shard, thereby achieving an absolute fusion of the shard and the glaze. After an additional check with the participation of a commission that gave a positive conclusion on the discovery, the first European manufactory was launched in January 1710 in the Meissen fortress of Albrechtsburg hard porcelain. Bötger managed the manufactory until his death in 1719. Johann Gregor Herold, who marked the “picturesque period,” was appointed artistic director after him. Under him, the sculptor Johann Gottlieb Kirchner worked in Meissen from 1727, and a master fashion designer from 1730. In 1733, Kirchner's place was taken by Johann Joachim Kaendler, who, on the path of plastic design, brought European porcelain to its own form, independent from others.
In addition to expensive, exquisite tableware, craftsmen created charming small figurines and sculptural groups in the Rococo tradition. As a rule, the dishes were painted with images of animals and birds, portraits, and everyday sketches, which captivated viewers with the exquisite delicacy of the colors. But the Meissen masters were especially successful at the “gallant festivities” - siennas, which presented the refined entertainment of aristocrats. These are amazing compositions with witty plot solutions, danceable ease of character movements, and fast-paced action. They amaze with the fullness of life, harmony of feelings and refinement of form.
Since 1744, Camillo Marcolini became the head of the porcelain factory, under which production gradually declined. Products from the 19th century are artistically less significant.
Among other important factories, mention should be made of the third largest European factory, founded in Venice in 1720 by Giovanni Vezzi, which was closed some time later, in 1727, due to financial problems. In addition, mention should be made of the Vinovo porcelain factory near Turin, which was patronized by the royal Savvoi family, as well as the production in Doccia near Florence, founded by the Marquis Carlo Ginori in 1735, which is still in operation today.
Soon gains worldwide recognition french porcelain, produced by the Sèvres porcelain factory, porcelain factories are also developing in Venice. Porcelain from European manufactories was richly decorated - painted with birds, flowers, hunting scenes or fruits.
All that remained was to find the main raw material: kaolin
On August 15, 1769 (the day on which Napoleon was born), a certain madame, the wife of a pharmacist from the town of Limoges, went to the river to wash clothes. Apparently, things were not going well for the pharmacist, since the woman used sand when doing laundry. The lady's attention was attracted by a piece of clay, which gave the linen an "exceptional whitening effect."
Already there, on the river next to the Clos de Bar field, the idea of a small soap factory was born in the woman’s head. A couple of hours later, the pharmacist stood up from the table and said: “This is kaolin! We are millionaires, dear!” Or something like this...
Soon the first ceramic factory was built, then the second, and already in 1771 the once provincial town of Limoges (the center of the godforsaken Limousin region) was called the “European capital” for the first time. porcelain production. The city has become a center of attraction for the greatest masters and artists, a source of talent ceramic production.
The first deposits were discovered in 1755 near the city of Aleson, and only in 1768 were its deposits found in Saint-Yrieux near Limoges. Now incomparable French porcelain could be born, become the best and go to conquer the whole world. In 1769, the Manufacture of Sevres presented the first products made of hard porcelain to the court of King Louis XV. And already in 1772, the Royal Limoges Manufactory opened its doors.
Turgot, being at that time the Intendant General of the Province of Limousin, considered that it would be logical to build a factory in Limoges for the production of porcelain products. In the surrounding area there were deposits of the best kaolin in Europe and rich forests - the problem of firewood - and firewood was the main type of fuel at that time - was solved by itself. The genius and talents of some individuals did the rest. The Limoges porcelain industry very quickly acquired noble characteristics thanks to the founder porcelain factories"Senel" to Etienne Banel. The plant was founded in 1825.
Production process Limoges porcelain unusually complex. An art of fire and stone, porcelain is made from a mixture of various mineral ingredients (their quantities are measured with extreme precision) and several successive firings at high temperatures.
Once upon a time, porcelain was revered as a craft miracle, and daredevils paid with their lives for the secret of this ceramic material. Then they began to reinvent it here and there - as a result of which the world was enriched with new varieties and varieties of porcelain. Over time, all the physical properties of porcelain were in demand, and in the last century, porcelain products were divided into industrial and household.
Where did it all begin?
History of porcelain
The birthplace of porcelain is China. While Europeans - even the most civilized, ancient Greeks - sculpted amphorae, hollowed out stone bowls and tried to cast glassware, the Chinese concentrated on creating porcelain. The first successful experiments of Chinese masters were documented in 220 BC.The Chinese themselves tend to increase the age of porcelain by at least a thousand years. European science believes that not all ancient Chinese ceramics are porcelain, but only those that ring “ching-n” when struck lightly... And such products began to appear in China only in the middle of the first millennium of the New Era.
You should not be lenient with the auditory evaluation criterion. There is an opinion that both the English name of China, the Slavic “xin”, and the Chinese name for porcelain come from the same source – the onomatopoeic “jin”.
In any case, the geographical area where Chinese porcelain appeared is still called Jiangxi; British China is an anglicized attempt to read the ancient Chinese tien-tse, which was later transformed into tseane and served as the name, among other things, for any piece of porcelain.
According to some linguists, the Russian “xin” is still the same tracing paper from the Chinese tseane. After all, the first products made from Chinese porcelain were decorated exclusively with blue mineral paint. Does this mean that the Slavs became acquainted with Chinese porcelain thousands of years ago? A curious, but unsupported by science hypothesis.
Why was porcelain born in China?
Strictly speaking, the pace of development of ceramic craft in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, India and other areas remote from China was approximately equal. And the Chinese did not introduce anything fundamentally new into the technology of firing molded clay. All the same dome stoves, all the same charcoal...The secret of the origin of porcelain lies in raw material preferences. Craftsmen all over the world preferred to use rich red clay to make ceramics. The Chinese were lucky enough to operate with a substance that, although refractory, was beautiful, especially after intensive firing, with the melting of the outer layer.
Achieving success in creating efficient porcelain technology was not easy. Therefore, the Chinese, who very willingly traded porcelain products, resisted in every possible way the disclosure of their know how.
Louder than jade, whiter than snow
The first examples of Chinese porcelain consist of ground and crushed kaolin. The best porcelain, according to the ancient poets, was “ringing like jade, shiny like frost, white like snow.”According to the precepts of the first masters, in order to achieve the proper quality of products, well-moistened porcelain dough was sent to mature for a hundred years in deep pits. The dissociative decomposition of minerals in an alkaline environment ensured both the plasticity and homogeneity of the resulting material.
Visual analysis of Chinese porcelain shards could not tell the Europeans of that time either the composition or the technological features of the product. A more or less successful imitation of porcelain was glass welded with a large addition of tin oxide, as well as several variants of a mixture of tin (called opal) glass with clay.
But the similarity was only external: the consumer qualities of products made from fake porcelain remained low. And the cost of milky-white glass with antimony and tin exceeded the price of Chinese porcelain...
Spies went to China.
Persians - keepers of the porcelain secret
Attempts at porcelain espionage made at the end of the first - beginning of the second millennium AD were unsuccessful. From which interested Europeans hastily deduced an opinion about the strictness of the old Chinese secrecy regime, and composed tales about the demonstrative executions of captured intelligence officers.In fact, the Chinese were very friendly towards foreigners, and they treated traders like family. It’s just that China’s porcelain exports of those times belonged entirely to immigrants from Persia and (to a lesser extent) India. Buying porcelain products cheaply, eastern merchants sold them at a multiple markup. It’s not for nothing that Li Shang-Yin, the famous poet of the 9th century, writes: “It’s strange to see a poor Persian...”
So it is not surprising that travelers on foot and on horseback, heading to China for porcelain, disappeared without a trace long before reaching their goal. The Arab-Persian trade mafia did not let them through! It was not in vain that sailors searched so hard for a waterway to the East that they even discovered America...
The Polo family are European ambassadors to China
The visit of the Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo to China occurred during a difficult period of the Mongol conquests, but was surprisingly successful. Niccolo Polo's son, Marco, lived in China for seventeen years, after which, showered with gifts from the khan, he returned to Venice.Western experts on the history of porcelain claim that truly high-quality Chinese porcelain was born simultaneously with the arrival of Marco Polo in Beijing. And all porcelain products of the previous period, that is, created before the middle of the 13th century, are of little value in technological and artistic terms.
Among the foreign gifts brought by Marco Polo from China, porcelain cups turned out to be especially interesting. One of them was covered on the outside with the finest porcelain mesh. Another attracted the attention of a colorful pattern that appeared after filling the vessel with hot water. The third was translucent with the most delicate shade of pink - for which the well-spoken Italians nicknamed the material “piggy” - porcellana.
The name stuck. In vain did the famous traveler tell the legend about adding the blood of Chinese virgins to porcelain dough. His fellow countrymen made excuses by the resemblance of pinkish porcelain to the shells of a mollusk, which is precisely what is called “pig”.
And by the way, the Venetians kept asking the traveler, what is included in Chinese porcelain besides virgin blood?
Lasting porcelain secret
We do not know what Marco Pola answered to the questions of his fellow citizens. And what could he answer? In China, thousands of artisans make porcelain: they take white clay in Kaoliang, grind the porcelain stone, mix it, condition it... then sculpt it and fire it. All!But what is this white clay of Gaoliang? What is porcelain stone? And most importantly, why does none of the local white clays give the desired effect?
There was no answer.
Centuries have passed. At the end of the 17th century, a French priest, Father Francois Xavier d'Entrecole, arrived in China. The monk arrived well prepared not only for missionary, but also for intelligence work. He spoke Chinese and had permission to visit Jin-te-zhen, a district that produced porcelain in abundance both for the imperial court and for sale.
They say that the nosy monk had to experience the miracles of espionage luck in order to obtain and send samples of porcelain raw materials to his homeland, France. True, René Reaumur, the famous physicist and final addressee of d'Entrecol's messages, did not find anything useful in the monastic correspondence. Neither Gaoliang clay nor the mysterious porcelain stone seemed to be found in France...
The decline of the Chinese porcelain monopoly
However, advanced science of the mid-18th century was already burning with the idea of French porcelain. Pierre Joseph Maceur conducted theoretical research on the formula for porcelain composition. Jean Darcet painstakingly studied samples of domestic clays until he found a material near Limoges that met all the requirements. The rich Limoges kaolinite was quite consistent with the white Gaoliang clay.The solution to the mystery of the so-called “porcelain stone” took place even earlier. At the beginning of the century, the Germans Ehrenfried Tschirnhaus and Johann Böttger established that to produce thin, fine-grained and low-porosity ceramics, equal amounts of and should be added to the clay.
True, the first of the materials created by German scientists does not fully correspond to the Chinese standard. However, by a happy coincidence, reserves of excellent porcelain clay were discovered in the vicinity of Meissen, and therefore Bötger and Tschirnhaus soon achieved real success.
In the second half of the 18th century, white porcelain of excellent quality began to be produced in France and many other places in Europe. Has it ever happened in human history that priority was not disputed?
English, Japanese, Russian porcelain
When d'Entrecole's work on porcelain was published in 1735, the book was read, including in England. Thomas Briand was appointed agent and sent to France, where he succeeded in mastering the porcelain craft. Soon after Briand returned to England, it turned out that the patents for porcelain were ready and production could begin.Technologies borrowed from France, and with them Florentine (late 16th century) methods for making porcelain mass, allowed the British to create real masterpieces. England's special merit is the invention of bone china.
Japanese porcelain saw the light of day before European porcelain, but came to Europe only occasionally. Japanese masters in their own way improved Chinese techniques for decorating products, and at the time of the production of the first French porcelain, craftsmen were tasked with high-quality copying of Japanese designs.
The history of Russian porcelain officially begins in the 18th century. However, according to some historians, Gzhel white clay began to be used for the production of porcelain back in pre-Mongol times.
According to unverified information, in the territory of the present Ramensky district of the Moscow region, shortly before the Mongol-Tatar invasion, craftsmen worked who completely copied Chinese technologies. Some art historians believe that the modern Gzhel tradition of painting porcelain in blue on white grows out of medieval Chinese antiquity...
But why exactly the 18th century became the time of rapid and widespread spread of porcelain?
The first European porcelain comes from Dresden!
Johann Friedrich Böttger felt like an alchemist from a young age. Having mastered the technique of gilding silver coins, Bötger showed up to the Elector of Saxony, Augustus, and assured the ruler of his alchemical power. It is not surprising that soon Boettger, appointed the main gold miner of the state, was sentenced to execution for embezzlement and failure to fulfill obligations.To the king’s credit, he did not insist on the beheading of Böttger’s violent head, and instructed the indefatigable experimenter to create at least something, for example, the porcelain beloved by the elector. Oddly enough, the secret of thin, ringing and translucent ceramics succumbed to the young alchemist.
In 1709, a novice researcher compiled the original recipe for Meissen porcelain. Augustus highly appreciated the find, pardoned Böttger and rewarded the creators of the porcelain miracle, and in addition, founded a production manufactory and took precautions against divulging the secret.
Emblem of Meissen porcelain pretty soon steel crossed swords- as a reminder of responsibility for violations of secrecy. Böttger, who was disdainful of the “pot” business, received the strictest instructions. In this connection, he made one of his assistants the keeper of the secret of the porcelain itself, and entrusted another student with keeping the secret of the glaze.
The Elector, however, did not particularly believe in Böttger’s silence and, according to rumors, poisoned the poor man. But it’s too late... Böttger’s friend Christoph Hunger, trained in gold appliqué on porcelain, escaped from Saxony and began traveling around Europe and selling the secrets of Meissen porcelain. The inns of Dresden were filled with adventurers eager to find out the great porcelain secret.
Queues of grooms lined up for the daughters of porcelain production masters - but the marriages lasted only until the sons-in-law entered the family business. Having learned the secrets and somehow mastered the porcelain know-how, the unscrupulous spies hastily left their German wives and ran away to fame and fortune.
Receiving information from several sources, porcelain manufactories grew throughout Europe like mushrooms after rain. As a result, by the beginning of the 19th century, any self-respecting ruler could boast of his own porcelain!
Porcelain from a scientific point of view
It is customary to distinguish between two types of porcelain: soft and hard. The difference between the types is determined by the composition. Soft porcelain contains a larger amount of so-called fluxes - components that have a relatively low melting point. Hard porcelain is fired in kilns heated 300 degrees hotter. Technical porcelains, as a rule, are classified as hard.Porcelain dishes are made mainly from soft porcelain: it transmits light better, although it is more fragile. Hard porcelain is very durable, fireproof, and chemically resistant - and therefore is in demand in the production of equipment, insulators, laboratory glassware, and metallurgical refractories.
The composition of hard porcelain includes kaolin (50% by weight), quartz and feldspar (in equal or approximately equal shares, together up to 50% by weight). In soft porcelain, the percentage of feldspar and other flux additives is much higher than in hard porcelain, and the amount of quartz is reduced.
Composition of noble ceramics, developed in 1738 in France and largely repeating the old Chinese recipe, makes it possible to produce soft porcelain. The French proposed preparing porcelain dough from 30-50% kaolin, 25-35% silicates, 25-35% so-called frit - a raw material composition that includes several components that gives porcelain shine, ringing and light transmission.
Among others, modern frits include carbonates, calcites, fossil and...!
Porcelain technology
Grinding and mixing raw materials is the most important preparatory operation. The homogeneity of porcelain dough particles guarantees uniform heating and the same sintering rates throughout the entire body of the product.Porcelain is fired in two or three stages. The first firing - experts call this stage “for scrap” or “for linen” (“linen” refers to unpainted rough porcelain) - is carried out with the aim of obtaining high-quality molded products with an untreated surface. The second firing (“glazing”) melts the glaze applied to the primary product over the artistic paintings.
After the second firing, finishing decoration is carried out: overglaze painting, gilding and other finishing operations. Fixing the overglaze painting usually requires a third, more gentle firing. If firing “for disposal” and “for watering” is carried out at temperatures in the range from 1200 to 1500°C, then the “decorative” third firing does not require heating above 850°C.
Porcelain products are colored with dyes consisting of ground metal oxides. And if the underglaze painting never comes into contact with the environment, metals from the overglaze painting can in some cases migrate from the surface layer of the ware into the food.
Conscientious porcelain manufacturers prevent this problem by mixing dyes with glass-like fluxes. Unfortunately, in an effort to reduce the cost of their products, some modern tableware manufacturers paint porcelain with unstable paints.
Avoid purchasing suspiciously cheap food porcelain!
Instead of a conclusion
In ancient China, porcelain was called tien-tse, which means “son of heaven.” Meanwhile, the emperor has always been called the “son of heaven” in China. The Persians only copied the title: baarura in ancient Persian, like farfura in Turkish, means “Chinese emperor.”Thus, by purchasing porcelain, our contemporary becomes familiar with the greatness of the Chinese Empire and touches a material that even emperors, the “sons of heaven,” deserve. The pretentiousness and aristocracy of history do not make porcelain inaccessible to the people. Today anyone can assemble a worthy and representative porcelain collection.
Is it worth starting? Of course it's worth it!
The Chinese invented the composition of hard porcelain around the 6th century, i.e. a thousand years before it was produced in Europe. For a long time, along with the production of silk, it remained one of the most forbidden and desired mysteries of the East for Western rulers. Trying to solve it is akin to a real detective story, because whoever dared to do this in China faced only one sentence - death.
Missionary, Father D., who visited in the 17th century. China, with the special purpose of finding out, managed to obtain only the most basic information, which could not serve as the basis for setting up a new production.
Russia also did not lag behind in this espionage activity. For a large sum of money, they managed to bribe one Chinese master, who revealed the secret of porcelain to the Siberian industrialist Kursin. However, the cunning Chinese apparently still left something unsaid, because... Kursin was never able to obtain porcelain, although he carried out experiments on its production.
We can only guess how many such examples are hidden behind the layers of past years. The secret was apparently found out in the end, but the name of the hero remains unknown to this day.
Its history goes back more than three thousand years. But the very beginning of porcelain production on an industrial scale dates back to approximately the 6th-7th centuries, when, by improving technology and selecting initial components, products began to be produced that were distinguished by the whiteness and thinness of the shard. According to legend, the ancient Chinese could not decide on the material for making dishes: jade was expensive and sacrilegious, clay was ugly and short-lived, wood was unaesthetic. Then, quite by accident, the craftsmen found a way to make porcelain... And this method remained a big and carefully kept secret for the rest of the world. One of the components of this big secret is the raw materials from which porcelain is made. Jiangxi province turned out to be a treasure trove of porcelain stone - a rock consisting of quartz and mica. The porcelain mass was made from briquetted porcelain stone powder and kaolin (a special clay that gives whiteness to the product). The resulting semi-finished product was kept for decades to acquire plasticity. After this, the next step was a kiln, the high temperature in which, during firing, changes the physical composition of the mass, it becomes transparent and waterproof. Already at the beginning of our era, Chinese potters built kilns capable of creating the required temperature, there is archaeological evidence of this. And for a special matte shine, the glaze was made up of several layers of different transparency.
In the first centuries of our era, porcelain production workshops appeared in one of the cities of Jiangxi province, which later became known as Jingdezhen - the capital of Chinese porcelain, because historically this area is the birthplace of porcelain and the place of its constant development and improvement. Since ancient times, porcelain products from Jingdezhen have been distinguished by their high quality. Rumor has it that “they were as dazzling as snow, thin as a sheet of paper, strong as metal.”
Some of the earliest evidence of porcelain production that has survived to this day are the finds of pottery shards during excavations of the city of Samarra in Mesopotamia, which arose and was destroyed in the 9th century. This gives us the right to confidently attribute the invention of Chinese porcelain no later than to the Tang period, and the historical situation makes it possible for us to attribute the largest invention to this time.
The first half of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) is a period of great growth in the history of feudal China. Significant political effort, accompanied by extraordinary territorial expansion, brought China into contact with many states. At this time, the busiest trade takes place in southern China. The trading colonies of foreign merchants - Arabs, Persians, Jews, and Greeks that arose in Canton - testify to the scope and organization of maritime trade. Trade with Japan was conducted through the eastern ports. The Great Silk Road provided trade links between China and Western Asia and Europe.
The first known products made from Chinese porcelain were slender elongated vessels with a polished surface, blue and especially valuable pale green vases with relief patterns, which in Europe were called celadon. These items date back to the Tang (7th-10th centuries) and Song (10th-13th centuries) eras. Then came the milky-white “bei-ding” vessels from Dingzhou, the blue “zhu-yao” vessels, and the glazed “jin-yao” vessels from Henan province.
Starting from the 14th century during the Ming era (14-17 centuries), Jingdezhen became the leading center for porcelain production, where the production of products decorated with lead glazes of three colors (sancai) or underglaze blue painting, which was often combined with overglaze painting (doucai), was established. It was the porcelain of this period (mostly blue and white), produced in large quantities, that came to Western Europe, where it immediately attracted Europeans with its technical and artistic perfection, extreme richness of forms and decoration.
In different historical periods it had its best examples. For example, the famous Jiongqi porcelain of Henan Province, characterized by its reddish luster, iridescent blue, violet and white colors and transparency, is the best porcelain of the Song Dynasty. During this period (10th-12th centuries) great strides were made in the manufacture of porcelain products. An example is Yaobian brand porcelain, which is of very high quality. Such porcelain could compete with gold and jade in value and sophistication. The most famous at that time were the products of the Dehua and Longquan workshops.
Famous blue Qingqi porcelain, made in the Longqingyao porcelain kiln in Zhejiang province. It was said that its blueness was like jade, its purity was like a mirror, and the sound it made when touched was like the sound of Qing. This is an ancient percussion musical instrument in the form of a curved plate made of jade, stone or copper. Since the Song Dynasty, blue porcelain products have been widely purchased in East Asia, Europe, America and Arab countries. For example, today in Turkey, the Istanbul Museum houses more than a thousand pieces of Longquan blue porcelain from the Song, Yuan, Ming and other dynasties.
In the XIII-XIV centuries it reached its peak, and porcelain began to spread widely throughout the world, thanks to Christian monks who brought Chinese porcelain to Europe. In the 16th century, only Chinese porcelain was sold in Europe, which was transported across the continent, calling it “chinaware” and valued at its weight in gold. Imported, rare porcelain became a treasure. Ladies wore porcelain shards like beads on a gold chain. Gradually, instead of the term “chinaware” (Chinese products), Europeans began to use the term “porcelain” from “porcellana” - the name of a mollusk that had a transparent, mother-of-pearl shell. These two names have survived to this day.
The production of porcelain in China has always had two directions - export, which was a large source of state income, and domestic, for the needs of the imperial court and the nobility. These directions differed significantly from each other both in form and decoration. For example, by order of the emperor, 31,000 dishes, 16,000 plates with dragons, and 18,000 cups were produced annually. And for Europe, luxurious vases, ceremonial dishes and sets were required, which were not so much used as they were displayed as outlandish jewelry that raised the status of their owner. Particularly famous, and many have survived to this day, are products made during the reign of the Kangxi emperors (1662 -1722) and his grandson, Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), were distinguished by particularly lush, polychrome decoration and were named the green family, pink family, and yellow family.
This porcelain began to be exported in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to Western Europe. These products, named after the predominance of the corresponding tone, were attracted by the refinement of their forms and the cleanliness of the surface. Products made from the so-called flaming porcelain with flambé glaze captivated people with the colorfulness of their surface. In connection with the export of porcelain to the West, the subject matter of painting began to expand - subjects borrowed from the West appeared on products. What did Europe demand? First of all - palace sets, large wall dishes. All these ceremonial items were made specifically for Europe with national exotic motifs. Items that were used only in Europe were also made. In imitation of the silver coffee pot, unusual porcelain coffee pots and shaving basins were created, similar to the European copper razor basin. They made candlesticks, clocks, candelabra and sets for setting a European table: plates for cutting cheese, sugar bowls. Decorative painting was valued higher than the vases, jugs and sets themselves. The main motifs of the painting were various flowers (peonies, chrysanthemums, traditional lotus), pine branches, birds and animals, dragons. The fascination with the East was so great that the “Chinese room” or “Chinese pavilion” (Palace of Catherine II in Oranienbaum) was in almost every palace in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. And having at least a couple of porcelain vases was considered a manifestation of good taste and was an indicator of the wealth of the owners of the house.
The first breakthrough in porcelain production occurred in Florence during the reign of Francesco di Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who reigned from 1575 to 1597, using a kiln developed by Bountalenti and Fontana. The production of artificial porcelain, known as Medici porcelain, began.
In 1575, by the will of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco I di Medici, a soft porcelain manufactory was established in the famous Florentine Boboli Gardens. The so-called Medici porcelain, which in its properties occupied a middle position between hard and soft porcelain, was, although transparent thanks to white clay from Vicenza, yellowish, and therefore the white glaze was used, already familiar from majolica production.
Approximately 50 authentic items have been preserved - plates, dishes, trays, field and pilgrim flasks, vases, washbasins and jugs. They are decorated either with stylized flowers modeled on the decor on Persian ceramics, or with branches and grotesques with birds, four-eyed eyes and mascarons borrowed from modern Italian ceramics, while the decor is made of cobalt, sometimes combined with bluish-purple paint made from manganese oxide. The manufactory operated until the first quarter of the 17th century inclusive. The mark on the Medici porcelain is “F” and above it the dome of the Florence Cathedral is blue.
In the history of porcelain production, Medici porcelain is only an episode. It was followed by other attempts - in England (Dr. Dwight and Francis Place, both in the 2nd half of the 17th century) and in France (Rouen, Saint-Cloud). This ongoing search has been stimulated since the beginning of the 17th century by the significantly stronger import of Far Eastern porcelain. Until the beginning of the 18th century, all attempts, however, remained unsuccessful.
Around 1700, the problem of white and translucent porcelain was still not technically solved: the chemical composition of hard porcelain with its specific properties was not known.
Towards the end of the 17th century, the physicist and mathematician Count Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus was conducting extensive geological research in Saxony. His goal was to find raw materials that could give this country a solid economic foundation. At the same time, he was developing a construction plan here and looking for appropriate refractory material for glass melting furnaces. Having become interested in the problems of the composition of hard porcelain, he continued his experiments with already known positive results.
In 1704, he was entrusted with control over the activities of the young Böttger, whom King Augustus then kept in custody in Meissen. The fruitful joint work of an old, experienced scientist and a capable young man, who lacked only the right guidance, ultimately leads to a solution to the question of the required composition of the solid faffor mass. Johann Friedrich Böttger began by devoting himself entirely to alchemical experiments during his studies in Berlin, achieving a certain recognition in this.
Having heard about Böttger, the Prussian king Frederick I decided to use him for his own purposes. He longed to continue his experiments and studies and, fearing for his freedom, fled in 1701 to Wittenberg, where this time he found himself under the authority of the Saxon Elector and Polish King Augustus the Strong, who ordered him to be taken to Dresden and placed under supervision there. Bötger's service required him to prepare gold. Working together with the serious Tschirnhaus was an advantage for him. In response to the threats of the dissatisfied Augustus, who was waiting for positive results, Bötger volunteered to set up a hard faience manufactory, and in 1707 he was actually provided with the necessary funds for this.
Founded in 1708, the manufactory was to produce ceramic goods modeled on the hard and smooth "stone casting" of Arie de Milde in Holland. This type of ceramics was made from clay from Plauen containing iron oxide. When fired, it became reddish-brown and acquired such hardness that the product could be further processed by grinding, cutting, etc. Both scientists working together continued to look for ways to obtain hard porcelain. Tschirnhaus no longer learned the successful results of experiments in this direction - he died in October 1708.
In March 1709, Bötger finally achieved his goal, using the same raw materials for the glaze as for the shard, thereby achieving an absolute fusion of the shard and the glaze. After an additional check with the participation of a commission that gave a positive conclusion on the discovery, the first European hard porcelain manufactory was launched in January 1710 in the Meissen fortress of Albrechtsburg. Bötger managed the manufactory until his death in 1719. Johann Gregor Herold, who marked the “picturesque period,” was appointed artistic director after him. Under him, the sculptor Johann Gottlieb Kirchner worked in Meissen from 1727, and a master fashion designer from 1730. In 1733, Kirchner's place was taken by Johann Joachim Kaendler, who, on the path of plastic design, brought European porcelain to its own form, independent from others.
In addition to expensive, exquisite tableware, craftsmen created charming small figurines and sculptural groups in the Rococo tradition. As a rule, the dishes were painted with images of animals and birds, portraits, and everyday sketches, which captivated viewers with the exquisite delicacy of the colors. But the Meissen masters were especially successful at the “gallant festivities” - siennas, which presented the refined entertainment of aristocrats. These are amazing compositions with witty plot solutions, danceable ease of character movements, and fast-paced action. They amaze with the fullness of life, harmony of feelings and refinement of form.
Since 1744, Camillo Marcolini became the head of the porcelain factory, under which production gradually declined. Products from the 19th century are artistically less significant.
Among other important factories, mention should be made of the third largest European factory, founded in Venice in 1720 by Giovanni Vezzi, which was closed some time later, in 1727, due to financial problems. In addition, mention should be made of the Vinovo porcelain factory near Turin, which was patronized by the royal Savvoi family, as well as the production in Doccia near Florence, founded by the Marquis Carlo Ginori in 1735, which is still in operation today.
Soon, French porcelain produced by the Sèvres Porcelain Factory gained worldwide recognition, and porcelain factories developed in Venice. Porcelain from European manufactories was richly decorated - painted with birds, flowers, hunting scenes or fruits.
All that remained was to find the main raw material: kaolin.
On August 15, 1769 (the day on which Napoleon was born), a certain madame, the wife of a pharmacist from the town of Limoges, went to the river to wash clothes. Apparently, things were not going well for the pharmacist, since the woman used sand when doing laundry. The lady's attention was attracted by a piece of clay, which gave the linen an “exceptional whitening effect.”
Already there, on the river next to the Clos de Bar field, the idea of a small soap factory was born in the woman’s head. A couple of hours later, the pharmacist stood up from the table and said: “This is kaolin! We're millionaires, honey! Well, or something like this...
Soon the first ceramic factory was built, then the second, and already in 1771 the once provincial town of Limoges (the center of the God-forsaken region of Limousin) was first called the “European capital” of porcelain production. The city became a center of attraction for the greatest craftsmen and artists, a source of talent for ceramic production.
The first deposits were discovered in 1755 near the city of Aleson, and only in 1768 were its deposits found in Saint-Yrieux near Limoges. Now incomparable French porcelain could be born, become the best and go to conquer the whole world. In 1769, the Manufacture of Sevres presented the first products made of hard porcelain to the court of King Louis XV. And already in 1772, the Royal Limoges Manufactory opened its doors.
Turgot, being at that time the Intendant General of the Province of Limousin, considered that it would be logical to build a factory for the production of porcelain products in Limoges. In the surrounding area there were deposits of the best kaolin in Europe and rich forests - the problem of firewood - and firewood was the main type of fuel at that time - was solved by itself. The genius and talents of some individuals did the rest. The Limoges porcelain industry very quickly acquired noble features thanks to the founder of the Senel porcelain factories, Etienne Banel. The plant was founded in 1825.
The production process of Limoges porcelain is extremely complex. An art of fire and stone, porcelain is made from a mixture of various mineral ingredients (their quantities are measured with extreme precision) and several successive firings at high temperatures.
Attempts to organize the production of porcelain or earthenware in Russia began under Peter I, a great connoisseur of it. On the instructions of Peter I, Russian foreign agent Yuri Kologrivy tried to find out the secret of porcelain production in Meissen and failed. Despite this, in 1724 the Russian merchant Grebenshchikov founded a faience factory in Moscow at his own expense; Experiments on the production of porcelain were also carried out on it, but they were not properly developed.
The first manufactory was founded in 1744 by Empress Elizabeth. She invited I.-Kr. to St. Petersburg from Sweden. Gunger, who had previously contributed to institutions in Vienna and Venice. However, he could not resist here and was released in 1748.
The Russian word "porcelain" comes from the Persian "fakhfur". It was adopted from Persian merchants who brought Chinese dishes to Europe. “Porcella”, as porcelain is referred to in many countries, comes from the Italian “porcella” - pig. This is how the Italians of the time of Marco Polo called the shells from which, as they believed, the Chinese made porcelain.
After all the previously mentioned failures, there was only one way left, the most difficult and long, but the only reliable one: to organize search systematic scientific and technological work, which as a result should have led to the development of porcelain production technology. This required a person with significant training, sufficient technical initiative and ingenuity. This turned out to be Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov, a native of the city of Suzdal.
DI. Vinogradov studied at the University of Marburg and also worked in the mines and mines of Freiberg in Saxony. In 1744, having received the title of bergmeister, he returned to Russia. He was supposed to work for the mining department, but fate turned out differently. After the young specialist’s speech at a meeting of the Berg Collegium of the Academy of Sciences, the president of the Berg Collegium uttered a significant phrase: “Out of all the foreign masters who have been appointed so far, I don’t know a single one who has surpassed him, Vinogradov, in all parts of mining science...”
Dmitry Ivanovich was assigned to the “porceline” manufactory in St. Petersburg, the affairs of which were managed by Baron Cherkasov, the secretary of the cabinet of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, and the director was I.K. Gunger, whose experiments in the production of porcelain mass proceeded without any success. Vinogradov faced several difficult tasks: to independently resolve all issues related to the creation of a new production; based on physical and chemical ideas about porcelain, develop the composition of the mass and technological methods for manufacturing porcelain; develop a glaze recipe. If Gunger was paid more than seven thousand rubles for his three years of stay, then Vinogradov was offered to create, with a salary of one hundred and eighty rubles a year. The search was immediately put on a solid scientific basis. “The making of porcelain, in my opinion, has chemistry as its basis and as its main leader,” wrote Dmitry Ivanovich.
In 1746-1750, a search was conducted for a recipe for porcelain mass. Vinogradov searched for the optimal composition of the mixture, improved the recipe, conducting technological research on the use of clays from various deposits, changing the firing regime, etc. Special white clay was brought from near Chelyabinsk.
In 1752, the first stage of Vinogradov’s work on the creation of Russian porcelain and the organization of its production ended. The results of all searches were recorded. True, when compiling the recipe, Vinogradov tried to encrypt it, using Italian, Latin, Hebrew and German words, using abbreviations. This is explained by the fact that he was given instructions to keep his work as secret as possible.
In addition to developing the formulation of porcelain mass and studying clays from various deposits, Vinogradov developed glaze compositions, technological methods and instructions for washing clays at deposits, tested various types of fuel for firing porcelain, drafted and built furnaces and furnaces, invented a formulation of paints for porcelain and decided many related problems. On many issues he consulted with his former classmate, the prominent Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov, who then lived in St. Petersburg. Mikhail Vasilyevich provided all possible assistance, but by the standards of those years he was quite far away, ten miles away, so it was not always possible to call or ask him. It is all the more offensive that the porcelain production was subsequently given the name of Lomonosov, who was already favored and honored many times over.
Russian porcelain was created by Vinogradov almost independently, through scientific work and enormous effort, because the master was forbidden to leave the kilns even while sleeping, which led to his early death at the age of thirty-eight. In the absence of a developed own system of forms and decoration, it was initially natural to imitate Chinese models. Therefore, laconic, simple forms of bottles, vases, bowls, often without handles, like oriental ones, have become widespread in Russian porcelain. Ceramic masters sought not only to recreate certain principles of modeling forms, but also to follow oriental themes in paintings, so among the motifs of paintings, bamboo, chrysanthemum, peony, pine, fantastic birds and dragons predominated. This bright colorful painting perfectly emphasized the whiteness of the porcelain. Sometimes the paintings were complemented by plastic decoration in the Rococo style. Following the fashion for “chinoiserie” (“Chinese”), the masters developed scenes with Chinese figures with musical instruments, openwork fantastic buildings, funny Chinese children against the backdrop of conventional landscapes. Their source could be cobalt paintings on Chinese porcelain of the 18th century. depicting boys playing in the garden. If in China these images symbolized the wish for family prosperity, then in Russian porcelain they were transformed into comic grotesques.
Soon the Imperial Factory achieved great success both in the quality of porcelain and in the variety of products made from it, and Russian porcelain already under Vinogradov took its rightful place, successfully competing with Meissen. Porcelain snuff boxes were made in large quantities - “octagonal, oval, quadrangular smooth and carved, packet, round...”. Following the Far Eastern tradition, porcelain snuff boxes were often given natural shapes: pomegranate, melon, apple, pumpkin, grape, shell. As for the painting, Vinogradov managed to get ten colors of paint.
Later, Vinogradov was replaced by the director of the Russian Mint, I. Schlatter, and later by I.-G. Müller from Saxony. The production of the first period until about 1760 was limited to small items, usually of the Meissen type. During the reign of Catherine II, from 1762, foreign fashion designers were invited to Russia, which led to an increase in production and the development of the artistic level of porcelain products. During this period, the influence of French culture affected the shapes and decoration of porcelain.
Simultaneously with the imperial plant, commercial private production arose in the second half of the 18th - early 19th centuries. In the village of Verbilki near Moscow in 1766, the English timber merchant Francis Gardner founded a porcelain production facility that produced expensive sets distinguished by the high quality of porcelain paste and painting. The Gardner plant also produced small plastics, available to a wide range of buyers. It is believed that Gardner's leading master was one of the descendants of Afanasy Grebenshchikov. Characteristic of Gardner's dishes was a bright, rich floral painting, close to Russian folk ceramics, in a gray-green or light green tone in combination with red or light yellow. Since 1829, the plant began to produce earthenware decorated with printing. Gardner was so confident in the quality of the porcelain he produced that he counterfeited the Meissen manufactory brand on his items.
The fame of the best private enterprise was established for the Gardner factory after its successful execution in 1778-1784. Catherine II's order for four special Order services with corresponding decor - images of St. George the Victorious, St. Andrew the First-Called, Alexander Nevsky and St. Vladimir. And yet, until the end of the 18th century, metal utensils were used in Russia.
This tradition was so influential that the white color of porcelain was not perceived as an independent value, and it was gilded, imitating the richness of the gold tableware that was in use among aristocrats. Ordinary people used tin utensils, and it was also difficult for them to change their minds.
Only in the first quarter of the 19th century. porcelain has spread everywhere. This especially affected the emergence of the tea ritual, associated with hospitality, communication, and the enjoyment of conversation. In addition, it has become a means of decorating the home space. The custom of giving gifts made of porcelain as keepsakes also spread. Most often these were cups and saucers, decorated with landscape paintings or flowers.
The end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries was the heyday of Russian porcelain. The art of porcelain developed along with architecture and adopted its main stylistic features. At this time, several porcelain enterprises were founded in Russia, among them the Gardner factories in Verbilki, near Moscow, and the Popov and Batenin factories in St. Petersburg. Products of Popov's private plant in the village of Gorbunovo, Dmitrov district, Moscow province, founded in 1804 by K. Melli and acquired by A.G. Popov in 1811, were distinguished by excellent technical and artistic qualities. The assortment was very diverse and satisfied all segments of the population: tableware and tea sets, so-called tavern dishes and popular in the 19th century. figurines representing plot compositions on mythological themes (the sculpture “Venus with Bacchus” and “Asia”), individual figures of hunters and peasant women, animalistic sculptures. After the successful end of the Patriotic War, around 1817, the porcelain industry developed particularly rapidly. The number of factories at that time reached forty-five. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the largest manufacturer was M.S. Kuznetsov, to whom some of the factories (Gardner, Auerbach, etc.) were transferred. Before the 1914 war, the total productivity of porcelain and earthenware at all Kuznetsov factories reached two-thirds of the productivity of the entire country in these branches of production.
Not a single tavern or restaurant, as well as a home feast, could do without Kuznetsov porcelain. This is explained by its special democracy. According to legend, the founder of the family business was Yakov Vasilyevich, an Old Believer, owner of a forge and an inn with a trading establishment on the road between the villages of Rechitsa and Novokharitonovo. In 1810, together with his sons Terenty and Anisim, he built a small manufacturing enterprise near the village of Gzhel and, with the help of local craftsmen, set up his own business producing cups and saucers typical of that time and place, plates with beads on the edge, rinsers, small genre sculptures. Even then, the owner was focused on mass production of inexpensive mass products. This feature determined the future increase in production scale and expansion of the sales market. In 1812, the enterprise passed to Terenty Kuznetsov. In 1832, he founded his factory in Dulevo, Vladimir province; in 1843, another porcelain and earthenware factory was opened in Riga, which produced tableware and teaware, telegraph and telephone insulators, and semi-faience products. In 1851-1853 A.G. plant was acquired Safronov in the village of Korotkaya, Bogorodsky district, later it came into the possession of Terenty’s son, Sidor. But the family received truly national recognition with the advent of Matvey Sidorovich, who annexed the Auerbach plant in the Tver province in 1870, the Nikitin plant in the Velkovsky district in 1871, and the Budyansky plant in the Kharkov province in 1887. In the same 1887, on the basis of these enterprises, the M.S. Partnership for the Production of Porcelain and Earthenware Products was formed. Kuznetsov", later replenished by the Gardner factories in Verbilki (1891), Rybinsky in the Yaroslavl province (1894), Slavyansky in the Chernigov province (1895), Pesochensky in the Kaluga province (1911). Matvey Sidorovich's cousin, Ivan Emelyanovich, founded it in the 1880s. three more factories: Volkhovsky, Bronnitsky and Gruzinsky. Thus, in total, the Kuznetsovs owned eighteen enterprises, of which fourteen were located in Russia.
During the Civil War, when the country did not have enough paper even for newspapers and posters, the revolutionary government resorted to the most unusual forms of propaganda. A unique phenomenon in art of 1918-1921. became propaganda porcelain.
The State (formerly Imperial) Porcelain Factory in Petrograd had large reserves of unpainted items, which it was decided to use not just as tableware, but primarily as a means of revolutionary agitation. Instead of the usual flowers and shepherdesses, appealing texts of revolutionary slogans appeared: “Workers of all countries, unite!”, “Land for the working people!”, “He who is not with us is against us” and others, which under the skillful brush of artists were formed into a bright decorative ornament.
A group of factory artists led by Sergei Vasilyevich Chekhonin (1878-1936) worked on the creation of works of propaganda porcelain. Before the revolution, he was a member of the World of Art association and was known as a master of book illustration, a subtle connoisseur of various styles, a connoisseur and collector of works of folk art. Chekhonin successfully applied his brilliant mastery of the art of type and the complex language of ornament in porcelain.
Famous artists - P. V. Kuznetsov, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, N. I. Altman - were involved in the development of sketches for painting propaganda porcelain. Their works are distinguished by high graphic skill. Already in the first works, new symbols of the young Soviet Republic appeared: the hammer and sickle, the gear.
The subjects of the paintings by artist Alexandra Vasilyevna Shekatikhina-Pototskaya (1892-1967) were scenes of traditional folk life and characters from Russian fairy tales. In 1921 the Civil War ended. With joyful, bright colors and a wide, energetic brush, the artist painted the heroes of a new, now peaceful life - a sailor and his girlfriend on the May Day holiday, a commissar who exchanged a rifle for a folder with documents, a guy singing “The Internationale”. Artists responded to the famine that broke out in the Volga region in 1921 by creating a whole series of works: “To help the starving population of the Volga region!”, “Hunger”, “Hungry”.
Soviet propaganda porcelain was exhibited at foreign exhibitions and was an export item. These works occupy a worthy place in the collections of major museums in Russia and other countries and are desirable for collectors.
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The third country in the world to send a manned spacecraft into space
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In which country does the Disney film Mulan take place?
Which country has the longest wall?
Country, birthplace of the Pekingese
Country, supplier of every fifth inhabitant of the Earth
The country is the main supplier of the world's population
Which Asian country has Beijing as its capital?
Which country did the Silk Road lead to?
Which country produces the most fish?
Which country has the longest border in the world?
Largest country in Asia
Which country has the most people?
Which country has the most borders with other countries?
Which country has the longest wall in the world?
In which country did the first guns appear?
In which country did badminton originate?
In what country did the compass originate?
Country, birthplace of porcelain
The country where fireworks first appeared
Country, birthplace of gunpowder
Country, birthplace of paper
In which country did they first use decimals?
Home of inexpensive goods
The birthplace of silk and gunpowder
Celestial Empire
Celestial country
The country that gave the world silk and umbrellas
Area around Beijing
Shy country
The birthplace of silk and paper
A country led by the city of Beijing
Asian power
Country hidden behind the wall
Close to Laos and Vietnam
The birthplace of tea
The country that gave the world gunpowder
Between Russia and India
Country with capital Beijing
Country in eastern Asia
Mao's birthplace
Country with main city Beijing
A country full of rice lovers
This country is called the Celestial Empire
A country with its own wall
The country that gave silk to the world
Birthplace of Mao Zedong
Country of the Great Wall
The homeland and patrimony of ruler Mao
The largest country in Asia by population
State in Southeast Asia
State in Asia
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