Porcelain
Porcelain is the material produced when the clay mineral kaolin is molded, thrown or potted into a form, then heated to incredibly high temperatures of between 2,200 and 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. When it first appeared on the western market during the early modern period, the substance’s glassy resemblance to the surface of the cowrie shell, in Italian ‘porcellana’, is responsible for the term we used today.
Porcelain is an ancient Chinese ceramic art form and may fall categorically intro three principal groups depending on its material composition; hard-paste porcelain denotes the combination of kaolin and petuntse, the earliest known examples of the process having been those of proto-celadon made in the Shang and Western Han period. The formula for hard-paste porcelain was famously imported to Saxony in 1707, when Johann Friedrich Böttger produced the first European examples of hard-paste porcelain at the Meissen factory. Secondly, soft-paste porcelain refers to a range of recipes using clay along with frit, glass pieces and other minerals in an attempt to reproduce the mysterious Chine material. One of the earliest examples of soft-paste porcelain made in Europe was produced at San Marco in Florence, referred commonly to as Medici porcelain. The third type of porcelain, bone china, is of British origins and is combines kaolin, bone ash and tectosilicate minerals.
On account of its beauty, fineness, fragility and luster, Porcelain has been a material treasured by collectors from ancient times until the present day. Auctions can be a great way to both research and add to your porcelain collection. Our Collector's Guide is designed to help you research porcelain values and bid on porcelain in live auctions. Each collection includes images, upcoming lots and price results for lots previously sold at auction. Navigate among the collections below featuring Meissen, Dresden, Herend, Mottahedeh, Chelsea, Derby and much, much more!
- Augarten
- Bing & Grøndahl
- Bow
- Capodimonte
- Chelsea
- Coalport
- Derby
- Dresden
- Du Paquier
- Fairyland Lustre
- Herend
- Hutschenreuther
- KPM
- Limoges
- Meissen
- Mottahedeh
- Nymphenburg
- Old Paris
- Parian
- Royal Crown Derby
- Royal Vienna
- Sèvres
- Shipwreck Porcelain
- Tucker
- Volkstedt
- Weimar
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