Handmade: Inside a Jingdezhen Porcelain Studio

From throwing on the pottery wheel to the final firing of a piece, fine handmade porcelain manufacturing is difficult, labour-intensive work requiring many skilled artists, each one a specialist in their stage of the process. 

The following photos and video show the process in the studio where many of our porcelain pieces are made, including many of our qinghua and doucai teaware.

Shaping the clay

The teaware is initially shaped by hand on a pottery wheel, and then after drying, trimmed to the desired shape.

 

Painting, Glazing, Firing, Painting, Firing

After drying and trimming, the pieces are bisque fired in an electric kiln at 800°C and then handed over to the painters for the cobalt blue (qinghua) design to be painted on the pieces. A thin layer of glaze is applied and then the pieces are again fired in a kiln.

 The artist paints the qinghua (cobalt blue) onto the porcelain before a layer of glaze is applied and the cups are fired.

This studio uses either a gas or wood kiln for this stage of firing. The porcelain is fired at 1300°C for 18-20 hours. Wood firing gives porcelain a special texture/appearance often described as being more "oily." However, the process requires skill as temperature control is much more difficult. The scrap rate for porcelain fired in a wood kiln is higher than for those fired in a gas or electric kiln. 

   

An example of failure in the kiln, the two teacups above warped during firing. This was most likely the result of slightly uneven wheeling revealing itself as uneven shrinking and warping during firing. The chance of failure is compounded by the less stable conditions of the wood kiln. Minor flaws that can pass without consequence for pieces fired in an electric kiln can be devastating to a pieces fired in a wood kiln.

   

For qinghua porcelain teacups like the two above, this is the end of the story, but for doucai porcelain, the teacups will have colours painted on the surface of the glaze (this technique by itself is known as fencai - more on that here). The photos below show the artist applying the surface colours (red, green, yellow, etc.) over the glaze.

The pieces will then undergo a final firing in an electric kiln at 850°C for 3-4 hours. 

Here is the same qinghua teacup before and after the fencai colours have been applied and the cup undergoes its final firing (creating doucai):

For more information on doucai and other porcelain painting and glazing methods, check out our earlier article on the topic here.

Some more Doucai pieces by the studio: