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With centuries of history, Jingdezhen has built up a rich tradition of techniques and materials, many of which are unique to Jingdezhen.
The following is just a brief overview of some of the materials and techniques you can find in Jingdezhen. For further information on traditional porcelain craft, see The Traditional Crafts of Porcelain Making in Jingdezhen, by Bai Ming.
Materials
Porcelain（陶瓷）
Jingdezhen isn’t known as the “Porcelain capital of the world” for no reason. You will find porcelain literally everywhere in Jingdezhen.
Throughout the centuries, porcelain bodies have evolved in tandem with ceramic making techniques. As a result, many porcelain types currently produced in Jingdezhen are custom-made for a particular type of use.
At the Pottery Workshop we carry a small selection of porcelain bodies:
Sculpture Factory Big Ware（雕塑大件泥）
Made at the Sculpture Factory, this inexpensive, relatively iron-rich porcelain body is perfect for making sculptures of any size. (Sculptures up to two meters tall are regularly produced here at the Sculpture Factory.) Usually originals are sculpted with thick or solid masses of Big Ware porcelain, after which plaster molds are made for producing press-molded copies (which can also be made from Big Ware). Big Ware isn’t as white as other porcelain bodies, but it’s more forgiving and less prone to cracking.
Some of our resident artists have successfully used Big Ware for creating pots as well as sculpture. Hand-building techniques like slab and coil seem to work well with this porcelain body.
Big Ware is also available as slip for casting.
Locally produced glazes may come out a little darker due to the iron in the body. You may want to brush or spray on a layer of super white porcelain slip while leather-hard to get lighter colours.
Big Ware porcelain can be fired at any of the high-fire kilns around the Sculpture Factory (reduction at 1310°-1330°).
Sculpture Factory Middle White（雕塑中白泥）
Also made at the Sculpture Factory, Sculpture Factory Middle White is primarily used for press-molding sculptures. It is also available as slip for casting. It is a little less workable than Big Ware, but lighter in colour and thus shows off the colours of glazes (in particular, white) better.
Sculpture Factory Middle White can also be used for throwing or small to medium hand-building projects.
Sculpture Factory Middle White can be fired at any of the high-fire kilns around the Sculpture Factory (reduction at 1310°-1330°).
Jing Diao Throwing Middle White （竞雕中白泥）
Jing Diao is our primary throwing porcelain. It is relatively plastic and has a bit of iron which fires to a middle-white similar to Sculpture Factory Middle White.
Jing Diao can be fired at any of the high-fire kilns around the Sculpture Factory (reduction at 1310°-1330°).
Tai Da 609 Super White （台达609高白泥）
Tai Da 609 is one of the whitest porcelain bodies found in Jingdezhen. It fires a translucent, cool white. 609 is primarily used in slip casting high-end production ware, but can also be used as a throwing or hand-building clay.
Workability and whiteness seem to be tradeoffs: 609 is notoriously difficult to work with. S-cracking in thrown pieces is very common, despite efforts to compress thoroughly. Hand-built pieces tend to crack when drying.
Stoneware （陶泥）
Historically, Jingdezhen is a porcelain town. Stoneware production can be found outside the city, in the countryside. Stoneware is primarilly used for making folk products like water jars and roof tiles. Only a few places remain which still produce stoneware pottery (namely the Tian Bao dragon kiln).
Jingdezhen kilns are all geared for high-fired porcelain, while local stoneware bodies mature at around cone 6. Adding 30-50% porcelain into a stoneware body will allow it to be fired at these higher temperatures.
Xiang Shifu, a Sichuan folk potter, uses combinations of stoneware, porcelain, and porcelain slips to create folk ware for the Pottery Workshop.
Tian Bao Stoneware (天宝)
Directly dug up from the rice fields around the TIan Bao Dragon Kiln, this stoneware body was originally used for the coil-built water jars and slab-built roof tiles made at the dragon kiln. It fires to a dark, rich, earthy colour, but will collapse at high temperatures unless mixed with porcelain.
Le Ping Stoneware (乐平)
Le Ping stoneware is dug from the hills outside Jingdezhen. Less groggy than Tian Bao, it’s fairly nice to throw and fires to a lovely dark brown. As with Tian Bao, Le Ping can be mixed with porcelain to allow for firing at higher temperatures.
Saggar Clay
Historically, this strong, groggy clay was used to make saggars for firing porcelain. Saggars protected the porcelain from impurities in the kiln like wood ash and coal.
We have two types of saggar clay- the original, fine-grained sagger clay and a mix of saggar and grog. Both types are very dark when when but fire to a light beige. Pure saggar clay can resist very high temperatures, but it is quite brittle after firing.
We use saggar clay for wadding and propping/supporting pieces during firings. When mixed with other clay bodies (notably Tian Bao and Le Ping stonewares), the saggar clay is great for sculpture and hand-built objects.
Glazes（釉）
In Jingdezhen, ceramics producers do not typically create their own glazes but buy them from specialized shops. There are dozens of glaze shops in Jingdezhen, each of which specializes in a range of historical glazes- celadons, copper reds, and matte whites, to name a few. Most glazes are meant for application on greenware for a single, high fire. (Typically the temperature ranges between 1300-1330°C. Be sure to verify the temperature with the glaze maker before firing.) Dipping and pouring is common for smaller wares and the insides of vases. Otherwise, glazes are applied by spraying.
Important Note: It is possible that some of the glazes sold in Jingdezhen contain hazardous ingredients like lead and cadmium. If you are creating functional ware, it is your personal responsibility to ensure that the glazes you use are tested.
Celadon （Ying-Qing）
A number of wonderful celadons are produced by Jingdezhen glaze makers. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celadon
Qing Bai
It is identified by its distinctive blue-tinted glaze over a white porcelain body. Early production imitated northern white wares in shape and decoration such as Ding wares produced in Hebei province; however, firing in reduction produces the blue tint, as opposed to the more opaque white of the Ding wares. Decoration usually features incised lines in which the glaze pools, or a limited amount of moulding.
White/Transparent (Bai)
When first arriving in Jingdezhen, it can be quite confusing as to the difference between “clear” and “white” glazes. Basically, a “white” glaze can either be truly white in colour, or transparent. Matte and shiny whites are available, as well as a variety of “clear whites”, each of which is suited for a specific purpose (e.g. underglaze blue & white, underglaze coppers, etc.) Note that each white/clear glaze is meant for a specific temperature. For instance, in the kilns around the Sculpture Factory you may have difficulties firing gao bai (literally, “high white glaze”) to the correct temperature (approximately 1330°).
Tianmu Black (天目, aka Tenmoku)
Named for the Chinese mountain from which its ingredients are mined, Tianmu black became famous in China and Japan for its beauty. Various types of Tianmu, including hare’s fur and oil spot, can be found for sale in Jingdezhen. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenmoku
Copper Red
Quite difficult to fire, but with striking results. Specialized kilns exist that can fire copper red correctly.
Mixing your own
At the Pottery Workshop we have a nice range of materials if you feel like making your own glazes or slips from scratch.
Underglazes
Many of the same shops that sell glazes also sell underglaze stains. These come in a wide range of bright colours, and can be combined like watercolours to form new colours.
Stains are typically mixed with water and applied directly to greenware. (Some artists add a drop or two of clear glaze to a stain mix to aid during firing.) When fired on a raw body in reduction, most stains will look much like they do in their unfired state. However, applying a clear/white glaze over a brightly coloured stain usually results in slightly muted colours (with the exception of qinghua blues and some blacks).
Stains can also be applied over a thin coat of glaze, after which another layer of glaze is sprayed on. This technique is known as in-glaze application and results in more vivid colours.
It’s also possible to apply stains directly on top of glazes or on already-fired glazed ware in order to get bright colours.
Blue & White (Qinghua)
Arguably Jingdezhen’s most famous and widespread decoration technique. Styles of Qinghua painting and application are much too varied to be discussed here. To be brief, Qinghua is a mixture of cobalt blue sometimes blended with “impurities” like iron and manganese to give various shades of blue. It can be purchased in ready-made paste form, after which it is mixed with either water or black tea (hong cha) to the desired consistency. Specially made brushes of various widths are used to paint the qinghua directly onto greenware porcelain bodies, after which it is spray glazed and once-fired.
Underglaze Copper Red
Also available in paste-form is a lovely copper red used for underglaze decoration. Usually this is applied on- or in-glaze.
Underglaze Transfers
Jingdezhen has a few factories which specialize in making underglaze stain transfers. These are thin sheets of paper on which have been printed stained designs. Typical colours are red, blue, green, and black. You can create your own engraved steel print plate at a cost of around 500RMB, or you can purchase pre-made designs for use on your work. Our artists have had success using underglaze transfers on both glazed and unglazed surfaces.
On-glaze enamels
Xin-cai
“New colours”- these most common type of enamels are mixed with oil for application. They come in a wide range of colours, some of which are very expensive. Fire from 760-780 degrees celsius.
Fen-cai
Fen-cai come in powdered form and are mixed with water to form gentle hues. Fire around 780 degrees celsius.
PVD (gold and silver)
Just underneath the Pottery Workshop is a workshop that specializes in gold and silver PVD enameling. You can simply drop your piece off and pick it up the next day. Regular porcelain slip can be used as a resist. PVD is matte on unglazed porcelain and a shiny on glazed surfaces, a fact which can be taken advantage of. PVD from this workshop has been noticed to tarnish after long exposure to the sun.
Gold and silver enamels
Special mixtures of gold and silver enamels can be purchased in Jingdezhen. These are priced by gold or silver content, which are actually not very high.
Methods
Firing
High-temperature Reduction firing
99.9% of work in Jingdezhen is once-fired in gas kilns at temperatures ranging from 1300-1350 degrees celsius. Different kilns specialize in firing different types of work. For instance, some kilns only fire white-glazed sculpture, while others only fire copper red vases.
Throughout Jingdezhen there are many public gas kilns to choose from. Most kilns fire every day. Work can simply be dropped off and picked up a couple days later, much like processing film at a lab. Firing fees are charged by cubic centimeter and vary from kiln to kiln.
Low-temperature Oxidation Firing
Similar to the public gas kilns, many public electric kilns can be found in Jingdezhen. These kilns usually fire around 800 degrees celsius, perfect for either on-glaze decals or on-glaze enamels.
Bisque Firing
Bisque firing is rarely done in Jingdezhen. However, the Pottery Workshop has three electric kilns ranging in size from small to large in which you may bisque your work, or do any other firing up to cone 6. This includes on- and in-glaze decal firings and on-glaze enamels.
