Lichte is a village and a former municipality in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia , Germany , close to the Thuringian Rennsteig . Formerly in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt , it is part of the town Neuhaus am Rennweg since January 2019.
78-466: Lichte is located between the towns of Saalfeld (to the north), Oberhof / Ilmenau (northwest) and Sonneberg / Coburg (south) at an altitude of 600 m (NHN) , in the centre of the Thuringian Highlands / Thuringian Forest Nature Park . Distinctive sign of Lichte is the railway viaduct established in 1909 (see picture right). It is a typical Thuringian Forest village, reaching far into
156-508: A kiln to permanently set their shapes, vitrify the body and the glaze. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature than earthenware so that the body can vitrify and become non-porous. Many types of porcelain in the past have been fired twice or even three times, to allow decoration using less robust pigments in overglaze enamel . Porcelain was invented in China over a centuries-long development period beginning with "proto-porcelain" wares dating from
234-537: A patent on a porcelain containing bone ash. This was the first bone china , subsequently perfected by Josiah Spode . William Cookworthy discovered deposits of kaolin in Cornwall , and his factory at Plymouth , established in 1768, used kaolin and china stone to make hard-paste porcelain with a body composition similar to that of the Chinese porcelains of the early 18th century. But the great success of English ceramics in
312-453: A growing customer base beyond the then borders of the country. Thus as early as 1822, Johann Heinrich Leder established in Lichte another porcelain company, today’s Lichte porcelain (GmbH) . The new company competed with Wallendorf. However, it was able to rapidly find and keep markets of its own, although the two World Wars followed by East German trade restrictions caused setbacks. Until 1920,
390-403: A major European factories producing tableware, and later porcelain figurines. Eventually other factories opened: Gardner porcelain, Dulyovo (1832), Kuznetsovsky porcelain, Popovsky porcelain, and Gzhel . During the twentieth century, under Soviet governments, ceramics continued to be a popular artform, supported by the state, with an increasingly propagandist role. One artist, who worked at
468-509: A paste composed of kaolin and alabaster and fired at temperatures up to 1,400 °C (2,552 °F) in a wood-fired kiln, producing a porcelain of great hardness, translucency, and strength. Later, the composition of the Meissen hard paste was changed, and the alabaster was replaced by feldspar and quartz , allowing the pieces to be fired at lower temperatures. Kaolinite, feldspar, and quartz (or other forms of silica ) continue to constitute
546-552: A source of imperial pride. The Yongle emperor erected a white porcelain brick-faced pagoda at Nanjing , and an exceptionally smoothly glazed type of white porcelain is peculiar to his reign. Jingdezhen porcelain's fame came to a peak during the Qing dynasty. Although the Japanese elite were keen importers of Chinese porcelain from early on, they were not able to make their own until the arrival of Korean potters that were taken captive during
624-484: A wider range of colours. Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often biscuit -fired at around 1,000 °C (1,830 °F), coated with glaze and then sent for a second glaze -firing at a temperature of about 1,300 °C (2,370 °F) or greater. Another early method is "once-fired", where the glaze is applied to the unfired body and the two fired together in a single operation. In this process, "green" (unfired) ceramic wares are heated to high temperatures in
702-604: Is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials , generally including kaolinite , in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F). The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery , arise mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. End applications include tableware , decorative ware such as figurines , and products in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware. The manufacturing process used for porcelain
780-512: Is a very common shape in Korea. Korean celadon comes in a variety of colors, from turquoise to putty . Additionally, in the late 13th century, the Inlay technique of expressing pigmented patterns by filling the hollow parts of pottery with white and red clay was frequently used. The main difference from those in China is that many specimens have inlay decoration under the glaze. Most Korean ceramics from
858-416: Is determined by measuring the increase in content of water required to change a clay from a solid state bordering on the plastic, to a plastic state bordering on the liquid, though the term is also used less formally to describe the ease with which a clay may be worked. Clays used for porcelain are generally of lower plasticity than many other pottery clays. They wet very quickly, meaning that small changes in
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#1732855078360936-503: Is located in the mountainous forests of Thuringia, a province well known for its winter sports, supplying half of the gold medals for overall medal table winner Germany in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. Saalfeld is a popular base for hikers taking on the mountainous 168 km Rennsteig ridge, one of Germany's best known hiking trails. Saalfeld is twinned with: Porcelain Porcelain ( / ˈ p ɔːr s ( ə ) l ɪ n / )
1014-537: Is now made worldwide, including in China. The English had read the letters of Jesuit missionary François Xavier d'Entrecolles , which described Chinese porcelain manufacturing secrets in detail. One writer has speculated that a misunderstanding of the text could possibly have been responsible for the first attempts to use bone-ash as an ingredient in English porcelain, although this is not supported by modern researchers and historians. Traditionally, English bone china
1092-826: Is one of the oldest such companies in Europe. Saalfeld Saalfeld ( German : Saalfeld/Saale ) is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia . It is best known internationally as the ancestral seat of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the Saxon House of Wettin . The town is situated in the valley of the Saale River north of the Thuringian Highland , 48 km (30 mi) south of
1170-468: Is similar to that used for earthenware and stoneware , the two other main types of pottery, although it can be more challenging to produce. It has usually been regarded as the most prestigious type of pottery due to its delicacy, strength, and high degree of whiteness. It is frequently both glazed and decorated. Though definitions vary, porcelain can be divided into three main categories: hard-paste , soft-paste , and bone china . The categories differ in
1248-768: The Baranovsky Porcelain Factory and at the Experimental Ceramic and Artistic Plant in Kyiv, was Oksana Zhnikrup , whose porcelain figures of the ballet and the circus were widely known. The pastes produced by combining clay and powdered glass ( frit ) were called Frittenporzellan in Germany and frita in Spain. In France they were known as pâte tendre and in England as "soft-paste". They appear to have been given this name because they do not easily retain their shape in
1326-680: The Battle of Saalfeld , whereby Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia was killed. The opening of the Leipzig-Probstzella railway further boosted the town's development. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919 , Saalfeld became part of the newly established Free State of Thuringia. As a railway junction and garrison town of the Wehrmacht armed forces from 1936, it was strongly affected by strategic bombing during World War II . Upon
1404-521: The Islamic world , where they were highly prized. Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas of East Asia. During the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), artistry and production had reached new heights. The manufacture of porcelain became highly organised, and the dragon kilns excavated from this period could fire as many as 25,000 pieces at a time, and over 100,000 by
1482-516: The Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) . They brought an improved type of kiln, and one of them spotted a source of porcelain clay near Arita , and before long several kilns had started in the region. At first their wares were similar to the cheaper and cruder Chinese porcelains with underglaze blue decoration that were already widely sold in Japan; this style was to continue for cheaper everyday wares until
1560-632: The Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) are of excellent decorative quality. It usually has a melon shape and is asymmetrical. Imported Chinese porcelains were held in such great esteem in Europe that in English china became a commonly used synonym for the Italian-derived porcelain . The first mention of porcelain in Europe is in Il Milione by Marco Polo in the 13th century. Apart from copying Chinese porcelain in faience ( tin glazed earthenware ),
1638-520: The Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE). By the time of the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE) these early glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, which Chinese defined as high-fired ware. By the late Sui dynasty (581–618 CE) and early Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), the now-standard requirements of whiteness and translucency had been achieved, in types such as Ding ware . The wares were already exported to
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#17328550783601716-486: The 16th century. In 1012 the last Ottonian emperor Henry II ceded the former Carolingian Kaiserpfalz to Count Palatine Ezzo of Lotharingia , whose daughter Richeza bequested it to the Archbishops of Cologne . According to the local chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld , Archbishop Anno II of Cologne in 1071 established a Benedictine abbey here, which quickly became an ecclesiastical centre in eastern Thuringia but
1794-615: The 18th century was based on soft-paste porcelain, and refined earthenwares such as creamware , which could compete with porcelain, and had devastated the faience industries of France and other continental countries by the end of the century. Most English porcelain from the late 18th century to the present is bone china. In the twenty-five years after Briand's demonstration, a number of factories were founded in England to make soft-paste tableware and figures: Porcelain has been used for electrical insulators since at least 1878, with another source reporting earlier use of porcelain insulators on
1872-590: The 20th century. Exports to Europe began around 1660, through the Chinese and the Dutch East India Company , the only Europeans allowed a trading presence. Chinese exports had been seriously disrupted by civil wars as the Ming dynasty fell apart, and the Japanese exports increased rapidly to fill the gap. At first the wares used European shapes and mostly Chinese decoration, as the Chinese had done, but gradually original Japanese styles developed. Nabeshima ware
1950-605: The French Jesuit father Francois Xavier d'Entrecolles and soon published in the Lettres édifiantes et curieuses de Chine par des missionnaires jésuites . The secrets, which d'Entrecolles read about and witnessed in China, were now known and began seeing use in Europe. Von Tschirnhaus along with Johann Friedrich Böttger were employed by Augustus II , King of Poland and Elector of Saxony , who sponsored their work in Dresden and in
2028-495: The German cultural centre Weimar . Saalfeld station is currently served by Intercity-Express trains running from Berlin to Munich . Saalfeld has 28,000 inhabitants. Together with neighbouring Rudolstadt and Bad Blankenburg , Saalfeld forms a tri-city area with a population of about 70,000. The local mountain is the Kulm , which is 481.9 metres above sea level. Saalfeld is one of
2106-542: The German state of Saxony , the search concluded in 1708 when Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus produced a hard, white, translucent type of porcelain specimen with a combination of ingredients, including kaolin and alabaster , mined from a Saxon mine in Colditz . It was a closely guarded trade secret of the Saxon enterprise. In 1712, many of the elaborate Chinese porcelain manufacturing secrets were revealed throughout Europe by
2184-573: The Hewelke factory, which only lasted from 1758 to 1763. The soft-paste Cozzi factory fared better, lasting from 1764 to 1812. The Le Nove factory produced from about 1752 to 1773, then was revived from 1781 to 1802. The first soft-paste in England was demonstrated by Thomas Briand to the Royal Society in 1742 and is believed to have been based on the Saint-Cloud formula. In 1749, Thomas Frye took out
2262-603: The Lichte River was the dividing line between the district of Saalfeld in Saxe-Meiningen in the east and the rural district of Königsee in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in the west. In 1952 the municipality was formed by combining several mountain villages: from south to north, Lichte, Wallendorf, Geiersthal and Bock and Teich. From 1922 to 1952, the municipality belonged to the rural district of Saalfeld, from 1952 to 1994 to
2340-493: The Ming dynasty, and in 1598, Dutch merchants followed. Some porcelains were more highly valued than others in imperial China. The most valued types can be identified by their association with the court, either as tribute offerings, or as products of kilns under imperial supervision. Since the Yuan dynasty , the largest and best centre of production has made Jingdezhen porcelain . During the Ming dynasty, Jingdezhen porcelain had become
2418-511: The basic ingredients for most continental European hard-paste porcelains. Soft-paste porcelains date back to early attempts by European potters to replicate Chinese porcelain by using mixtures of clay and frit . Soapstone and lime are known to have been included in these compositions. These wares were not yet actual porcelain wares, as they were neither hard nor vitrified by firing kaolin clay at high temperatures. As these early formulations suffered from high pyroplastic deformation, or slumping in
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2496-436: The ceramic body approaches whiteness and translucency. In 2021, the global market for porcelain tableware was estimated to be worth US$ 22.1 billion. Hard-paste porcelain was invented in China, and it was also used in Japanese porcelain . Most of the finest quality porcelain wares are made of this material. The earliest European porcelains were produced at the Meissen factory in the early 18th century; they were formed from
2574-429: The composition of the body and the firing conditions. Porcelain slowly evolved in China and was finally achieved (depending on the definition used) at some point about 2,000 to 1,200 years ago. It slowly spread to other East Asian countries, then to Europe, and eventually to the rest of the world. The European name, porcelain in English, comes from the old Italian porcellana ( cowrie shell ) because of its resemblance to
2652-498: The content of water can produce large changes in workability. Thus, the range of water content within which these clays can be worked is very narrow and consequently must be carefully controlled. Porcelain can be made using all the shaping techniques for pottery. Biscuit porcelain is unglazed porcelain treated as a finished product, mostly for figures and sculpture. Unlike their lower-fired counterparts, porcelain wares do not need glazing to render them impermeable to liquids and for
2730-470: The craft into the native population in the Philippines , although oral literature from Cebu in the central Philippines have noted that porcelain were already being produced by the natives locally during the time of Cebu's early rulers, prior to the arrival of colonizers in the 16th century. Olive green glaze was introduced in the late Silla Dynasty . Most ceramics from Silla are generally leaf-shaped, which
2808-417: The death of Duke Frederick William I of Saxe-Weimar in 1602, Saalfeld passed to the newly established Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg , from 1673 Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg . After several blazes in the early 16th century, Saalfeld had been rebuilt in a lavish Renaissance style. In 1675 Duke Albert V of Saxe-Coburg upon his accession chose the town as his residence and from 1677 onwards had Saalfeld Castle erected on
2886-552: The district of Neuhaus, and since then has been in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt. During World War II, Polish forced labourers worked in Wallendorf; four graves in the cemetery there recall this time. A memorial tablet at the Lichte cemetery commemorates two victims of the death march of inmates from the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945 who were found in the depths below
2964-546: The duchy, together with Coburg , its Franconian sister town to the south. The 4th Duke Ernest Frederick (1724–1800) was the last to be born in Saalfeld; in 1764, he moved the capital from Saalfeld to Coburg, where in 1805 his son and heir Duke Francis (1750–1806) would buy Rosenau Castle as his residence. Francis' children were linked to many of Europe's royal families: His daughter Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786–1861) by her marriage with Prince Edward became
3042-630: The end of steam working in West Germany , the area became a mecca for railway enthusiasts for some years. However, despite being very close to the Inner German border to the south, it was only accessible by a very roundabout route. In July 2018 the former municipalities of Saalfelder Höhe and Wittgendorf were merged into Saalfeld. The former municipalities Reichmannsdorf and Schmiedefeld were merged into Saalfeld in January 2019. Traditionally, Saalfeld
3120-542: The end of the period. While Xing ware is regarded as among the greatest of the Tang dynasty porcelain, Ding ware became the premier porcelain of the Song dynasty. By the Ming dynasty , production of the finest wares for the court was concentrated in a single city, and Jingdezhen porcelain , originally owned by the imperial government, remains the centre of Chinese porcelain production. By
3198-462: The four sections of the municipality using a tree that is typical of the area. They and the green field also symbolize Lichte's location in the forested Thuringian Highland , while the shape at the base of the shield represents its location in valleys. The local government of Lichte and of the former municipal association of Lichtetal am Rennsteig (Lichte Valley on the Rennsteig), which consisted of
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3276-622: The hands of the Counts of Schwarzburg as their feudal lords. In 1389 the town finally was acquired by Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia , a member of the House of Wettin . Saalfeld's economy prospered from surrounding mines , transport on the Saale River as well as from fishing (expressed by the barbels in the town's coat of arms). The Wettin rulers had the Gothic Saint John hall church erected at
3354-576: The historic towns of Thuringia, possibly founded by the 7th century around a Thuringii ( Gothic ) fortress today called Hoher Schwarm or Sorbenburg ( Sorbs ' Castle). The area was first mentioned in an 899 deed. Kitzerstein Castle standing on an eminence above the Saale River, was said to have been originally erected by the German King Henry the Fowler , although the present-day building was not built before
3432-526: The kiln at high temperatures, they were uneconomic to produce and of low quality. Formulations were later developed based on kaolin with quartz, feldspars, nepheline syenite , or other feldspathic rocks. These are technically superior and continue to be produced. Soft-paste porcelains are fired at lower temperatures than hard-paste porcelains; therefore, these wares are generally less hard than hard-paste porcelains. Although originally developed in England in 1748 to compete with imported porcelain, bone china
3510-401: The most part are glazed for decorative purposes and to make them resistant to dirt and staining. Many types of glaze, such as the iron-containing glaze used on the celadon wares of Longquan , were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain. Porcelain often receives underglaze decoration using pigments that include cobalt oxide and copper, or overglaze enamels , allowing
3588-400: The most significant sources of gold in Germany. Around the steep-sided valleys of the Lichte and Piesau, the height difference between hilltops and valley bottoms is often as much as 200 m, which is large for hills of this size. Already in 1764 there was porcelain manufacturing in Lichte (Wallendorf). The Wallendorf porcelain manufacture is one of the oldest in Europe. It quickly achieved
3666-939: The mother of Queen Victoria . Her brother Duke Ernest III of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1784–1844) was the father of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Consort Albert . This line continues unbroken from Queen Victoria through to King Charles III today. At about the same period, their brother Duke Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1790–1865) became the ancestor of the royal House of Belgium in 1831, while their sister Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1781–1860) married Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia . Other descendants of Duke Francis include Wilhelm II, German Emperor , Alexandra, Empress consort of Russia , Victoria, Queen consort of Spain , Ferdinand II, King consort of Portugal , Carlota, Empress consort of Mexico , Ferdinand I, King of Bulgaria , Sofía, Queen consort of Spain, Princess of Greece and Denmark , Maud, Queen consort of Norway , and Marie, Queen consort of Romania . During
3744-571: The municipalities of Lichte, Piesau , Reichmannsdorf , and Schmiedefeld (Lichtetal) , were located in the Wallendorf section. The municipal council of Lichte consisted of 12 councillors including the mayor , who served in an honorary capacity. The local economy, typically for the Thuringian Highland, is based on tourism, glass and porcelain manufacturing, and woodworking. There has been porcelain manufacturing in Lichte since at least 1764; Wallendorfer Porzellan (Wallendorf Porcelain)
3822-476: The porcelain to a maximum of 1200 °C in an oxidising atmosphere, whereas reduction firing is standard practice at Chinese manufacturers. In 2018, a porcelain bushing insulator manufactured by NGK in Handa , Aichi Prefecture , Japan was certified as the world's largest ceramic structure by Guinness World Records . It is 11.3 m in height and 1.5 m in diameter. The global market for high-voltage insulators
3900-523: The post-World War II division of Germany, Saalfeld was an Inner-German border station on the Saal Railway—one of two routes that could be taken by trains between Leipzig/Halle and Nuremberg. As a border station its steam locomotive shed assumed extra importance as Saalfeld essentially became the southern terminus of GDR train services. Due to the continued use of steam locomotives in East Germany after
3978-442: The properties of the porcelain, such as ASTM C515. A porcelain tile has been defined as 'a ceramic mosaic tile or paver that is generally made by the dust-pressed method of a composition resulting in a tile that is dense, fine-grained, and smooth with sharply formed face, usually impervious and having colors of the porcelain type which are usually of a clear, luminous type or granular blend thereof.' Manufacturers are found across
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#17328550783604056-432: The rail viaduct. The coat of arms of Lichte, a silver candlestick with gold flame and beams of light between 4 silver maple leaves on a field of green, was approved on July 15, 1995. The candlestick is taken from an ancient seal. It thus perpetuates a traditional symbol of the locality and also represents the centuries-long heritage of porcelain manufacturing that typifies Lichte and the region. The maple leaves symbolize
4134-713: The research was still being supervised by Tschirnhaus; however, he died in October of that year. It was left to Böttger to report to Augustus in March 1709 that he could make porcelain. For this reason, credit for the European discovery of porcelain is traditionally ascribed to him rather than Tschirnhaus. The Meissen factory was established in 1710 after the development of a kiln and a glaze suitable for use with Böttger's porcelain, which required firing at temperatures of up to 1,400 °C (2,552 °F) to achieve translucence. Meissen porcelain
4212-589: The site of a Romanesque predecessor building until 1514. The Gothic town hall was completed in 1537. The ruling dynasty reached its height of importance, when in 1423 all Wettin lands including the Thuringian estates were incorporated into the Electorate of Saxony ( Upper Saxony ). However, already in 1485 Elector Ernest of Saxony agreed on the Leipzig partition with his younger brother Duke Albert III . Ernest retained
4290-493: The site of the destroyed Benedictine abbey, which in 1680 fell to his younger brother John Ernest IV . After Albert's death in 1699, John Ernest also claimed Saxe-Coburg and called himself a duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . The Castle, which has been renovated and is today the town administrative building, was home to four generations of the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld branch. Until 1825, Saalfeld remained one of two capitals of
4368-510: The soft-paste Medici porcelain in 16th-century Florence was the first real European attempt to reproduce it, with little success. Early in the 16th century, Portuguese traders returned home with samples of kaolin, which they discovered in China to be essential in the production of porcelain wares. However, the Chinese techniques and composition used to manufacture porcelain were not yet fully understood. Countless experiments to produce porcelain had unpredictable results and met with failure. In
4446-486: The southern Thuringian estates with Saalfeld; his grandson John Frederick I lost the electoral dignity in the 1547 Capitulation of Wittenberg ending the Schmalkaldic War , along with all his possessions outside of Thuringia. Confirmed by Emperor Maximilian II at the 1570 Diet of Speyer , John Frederick's Ernestine descendants only retained the duchies of Saxe-Weimar and (from 1572) Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach . Upon
4524-412: The start of the 19th century, and as Japan opened to trade in the second half, exports expanded hugely and quality generally declined. Much traditional porcelain continues to replicate older methods of production and styles, and there are several modern industrial manufacturers. By the early 1900s, Filipino porcelain artisans working in Japanese porcelain centres for much of their lives, later on introduced
4602-635: The surface of the shell. Porcelain is also referred to as china or fine china in some English-speaking countries, as it was first seen in imports from China during the 17th century. Properties associated with porcelain include low permeability and elasticity ; considerable strength , hardness , whiteness, translucency , and resonance ; and a high resistance to corrosive chemicals and thermal shock . Porcelain has been described as being "completely vitrified, hard, impermeable (even before glazing), white or artificially coloured, translucent (except when of considerable thickness), and resonant". However,
4680-509: The telegraph line between Frankfurt and Berlin. It is widely used for insulators in electrical power transmission system due to its high stability of electrical, mechanical and thermal properties even in harsh environments. A body for electrical porcelain typically contains varying proportions of ball clay, kaolin, feldspar, quartz, calcined alumina and calcined bauxite. A variety of secondary materials can also be used, such as binders which burn off during firing. UK manufacturers typically fired
4758-540: The term "porcelain" lacks a universal definition and has "been applied in an unsystematic fashion to substances of diverse kinds that have only certain surface-qualities in common". Traditionally, East Asia only classifies pottery into low-fired wares (earthenware) and high-fired wares (often translated as porcelain), the latter also including what Europeans call "stoneware", which is high-fired but not generally white or translucent. Terms such as "proto-porcelain", "porcellaneous", or "near-porcelain" may be used in cases where
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#17328550783604836-525: The time of Duke Ernest III in 1826, the neighbouring ducal line of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg became extinct. Ernest received the former Saxe-Gotha but in exchange had to give up Saalfeld in favour of his Ernestine cousin Duke Bernhard II of Saxe-Meiningen . On 10 October 1806 a united Prussian and Saxon contingent met with a corps of the French Grande Armée under Marshall Jean Lannes at
4914-481: The time of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 CE), porcelain wares were being exported to Asia and Europe. Some of the most well-known Chinese porcelain art styles arrived in Europe during this era, such as the coveted " blue-and-white " wares. The Ming dynasty controlled much of the porcelain trade, which was expanded to Asia, Africa and Europe via the Silk Road . In 1517, Portuguese merchants began direct trade by sea with
4992-483: The town of Meissen . Tschirnhaus had a wide knowledge of science and had been involved in the European quest to perfect porcelain manufacture when, in 1705, Böttger was appointed to assist him in this task. Böttger had originally been trained as a pharmacist; after he turned to alchemical research, he claimed to have known the secret of transmuting dross into gold, which attracted the attention of Augustus. Imprisoned by Augustus as an incentive to hasten his research, Böttger
5070-605: The unfired material is "body"; for example, when buying materials a potter might order an amount of porcelain body from a vendor. The composition of porcelain is highly variable, but the clay mineral kaolinite is often a raw material. Other raw materials can include feldspar, ball clay , glass, bone ash , steatite , quartz, petuntse and alabaster . The clays used are often described as being long or short, depending on their plasticity . Long clays are cohesive (sticky) and have high plasticity; short clays are less cohesive and have lower plasticity. In soil mechanics , plasticity
5148-731: The valleys of the Lichte River and of its tributary the Piesau . Both of these feed one of the biggest Thuringian drinking water reservoirs, Leibis-Lichte , with the Deesbach Forebay close to the northern end of the village (in Geiersthal). The Lichte River is also one of the sources of the Schwarza River . The mountain rivers and streams in the area of the Lichte valley have been known for centuries for deposits of placer gold and are considered
5226-602: The wet state, or because they tend to slump in the kiln under high temperature, or because the body and the glaze can be easily scratched. Experiments at Rouen produced the earliest soft-paste in France, but the first important French soft-paste porcelain was made at the Saint-Cloud factory before 1702. Soft-paste factories were established with the Chantilly manufactory in 1730 and at Mennecy in 1750. The Vincennes porcelain factory
5304-608: The world with Italy being the global leader, producing over 380 million square metres in 2006. Historic examples of rooms decorated entirely in porcelain tiles can be found in several palaces including ones at Galleria Sabauda in Turin , Museo di Doccia in Sesto Fiorentino , Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, the Royal Palace of Madrid and the nearby Royal Palace of Aranjuez . and
5382-490: Was once-fired , or green-fired . It was noted for its great resistance to thermal shock ; a visitor to the factory in Böttger's time reported having seen a white-hot teapot being removed from the kiln and dropped into cold water without damage. Although widely disbelieved this has been replicated in modern times. In 1744, Elizabeth of Russia signed an agreement to establish the first porcelain manufactory; previously it had to be imported. The technology of making "white gold"
5460-530: Was carefully hidden by its creators. Peter the Great had tried to reveal the "big porcelain secret", and sent an agent to the Meissen factory, and finally hired a porcelain master from abroad. This relied on the research of the Russian scientist Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov . His development of porcelain manufacturing technology was not based on secrets learned through third parties, but was the result of painstaking work and careful analysis. Thanks to this, by 1760, Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg became
5538-406: Was destroyed during the German Peasants' War in 1526. A Franciscan monastery was established about 1250, which also was dissolved during the Protestant Reformation . The Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa had ordered the layout of an Imperial city, parts of its medieval walls and bastions are preserved up to today. Nevertheless, the citizens in 1208 had to receive town privileges from
5616-428: Was established in 1740, moving to larger premises at Sèvres in 1756. Vincennes soft-paste was whiter and freer of imperfections than any of its French rivals, which put Vincennes/Sèvres porcelain in the leading position in France and throughout the whole of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. Doccia porcelain of Florence was founded in 1735 and remains in production, unlike Capodimonte porcelain which
5694-506: Was estimated to be worth US$ 4.95 billion in 2015, of which porcelain accounts for just over 48%. A type of porcelain characterised by low thermal expansion, high mechanical strength and high chemical resistance. Used for laboratory ware, such as reaction vessels, combustion boats, evaporating dishes and Büchner funnels . Raw materials for the body include kaolin, quartz, feldspar, calcined alumina, and possibly also low percentages of other materials. A number of International standards specify
5772-424: Was known for its silver mines . Today, Saalfeld has a number of prosperous industries , including the manufacture of machinery , bricks , paint , malt , cigars , hosiery , chocolate and vinegar . Other industries are brewing , printing and iron-founding, and there are ochre and iron mines in the area. Tourism and recreation-related activities make up a significant part of the local economy. Saalfeld
5850-409: Was made from two parts of bone ash , one part of kaolin , and one part of china stone , although the latter has been replaced by feldspars from non-UK sources. Kaolin is the primary material from which porcelain is made, even though clay minerals might account for only a small proportion of the whole. The word paste is an old term for both unfired and fired materials. A more common terminology for
5928-493: Was moved from Naples to Madrid by its royal owner , after producing from 1743 to 1759. After a gap of 15 years Naples porcelain was produced from 1771 to 1806, specializing in Neoclassical styles. All these were very successful, with large outputs of high-quality wares. In and around Venice , Francesco Vezzi was producing hard-paste from around 1720 to 1735; survivals of Vezzi porcelain are very rare, but less so than from
6006-399: Was obliged to work with other alchemists in the futile search for transmutation and was eventually assigned to assist Tschirnhaus. One of the first results of the collaboration between the two was the development of a red stoneware that resembled that of Yixing . A workshop note records that the first specimen of hard, white and vitrified European porcelain was produced in 1708. At the time,
6084-462: Was produced in kilns owned by the families of feudal lords, and were decorated in the Japanese tradition, much of it related to textile design. This was not initially exported, but used for gifts to other aristocratic families. Imari ware and Kakiemon are broad terms for styles of export porcelain with overglaze "enamelled" decoration begun in the early period, both with many sub-types. A great range of styles and manufacturing centres were in use by
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