Porcelain

por'se-lin, a sort of pottery. It is the most delicate and expensive ware produced by the potter. When held up toward a window it allows more light to pass through than ordinary chinaware. It is less transparent than glass. The word is borrowed from the Italian name for the polished glassy Venus shell, so-called from its similarity in shape to the back of a little pig. Carried back to its origin, porcelain means little pig and has reference to shape rather than to the kind of ware. So far as known, this kind of ware originated in China. The body is formed of kaolin or fine pottery clay, combined with feldspar, white sand, chalk, ground flint, or some other glassy material. It is, in composition, therefore, somewhat between ordinary chinaware and glass. Articles are formed on the potter's wheel. They are burned at a low temperature to make them hard enough to handle. They are then dipped in a liquid glaze and are subjected to prolonged and hard firing. During this process they are inclosed in earthenware crucibles and protected carefully from smoke. When fired sufficiently they are allowed to cool very gradually. The porcelains of China and Japan are celebrated. The most noted European porcelains are those of Sevres, France, and of Meissen or Dresden, Saxony. The latter ware, or something very similar to it, is produced also at Berlin and in Grandenburg, whither the secret was carried by workers from Meissen. Factories of less note are found in England, the Netherlands, Italy, etc. A cheap porcelain is made near Brooklyn, Long Island. See Pottery; Sevres