The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-10-20
II NE of the forgotten geniuses
III of antiquity is the unknown


C of antiquity is the unknown
Chinese potter, who first
...elted powdered rock with clay to
form that wonderful hard white
translucent substance that we call
porcelain. To speak Of porcelain is
to speak of Gilman fact, the word
china" or "chinaware" is a syno-
nym for porcelain; for in that coun-
try the art of porcelain-making was
brought to such perfection that 1t Is
still the despair of modern crafts
men. At every turn romance clings
to the history of this daintiest Of the
potters creations. AS early as the
first half of the ninth century Of our
era the poet Tu Of China wrote:
THE porcelain of the Ta-yi kilns is
light and yet strong. 1t rings with
low jade note and is famed through
out the city. Your Excellency's white
bowls surpass hoar-frost and snow.
Be gracious to me and send some
to my poor mat-shed." And G~cen-
fury later, when the art Of coloring
this delicate ware had progressed,
the porcelain of the province OF
Honan is described as blue as the
sky after rain, when seen between
the clouds, as clear as a mirror. as
thin as paper, and as resonant as
jade"
The beautiful and deliberately dec
Grated ware of China first found It's
way to the West when the great
Saladin sent forty pieces to the
Sultan of Damascus in III. From
that day to this porcelain has been
the pride and delight of kings and
princes and men of wealth, and espe-
cially perfect and ancient speci-
mems have been sold at prodigious
prices. Wonderful legends long sur
vived OF it's origin and mystical pow
ers. For many centuries the credu-
lous folk Of the Middle Ages be-
lieved that a cup OF porcelain
changed color and flew to pieces
wher-a poisonous draft was poured
into It, To this day the Dyak OF
Borneo treasures with sacred re-
gard vessels OF ancient porcelain,
which his people believe to be made
of remnants Of the same clay from
which the sun and moon were made.
and to have miraculous powers OF
curing diseases and repelling evil
spirits. The finest specimens OF
the ancient art are today in royal
palaces and museums. and held in
such priceless estimation that no
offer would buy them. For one
Ill TsNr n ne
as high as 100000.
The composition and manufacturer
of porcelain were guarded as secrets
by the Chinese for many centuries.
Not until the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century did European potters
discover the art of making anything
resembling the fine Chinese porce-
lain, and Japanese potters, who nave
produced some remarkably beautltul
porcelain, did not experiment with
the new material until the sixteenth
century. The essence of the secret
lies in the materials used: Kaoh,
very fine clay; powdered feldspar'
called by the Chinese petuntse, and
by the English cornish stone,
and quartz or sand. Both kaonh
and petuntse are the natural
products of weathered granite. Kao-
lin consists chiefly Of alumina and
SILICA. and cannot be melted. Field
spar is a silicate of aluminium COM
bined with soda, potash and lime
or barium. II melts at high tenn
pkratures, and by holding the kaolin
in suspension as it cools gives por-
celain its beautiful translucent tex
ture. Early European limitations
called soft paste" or artificial por'
celaIn were made of clay suspended
in an artificial CLASSY medium. Beau
tiful wares were made of artificial
porcelain. but they lack the charac-
teristic hardness. depth, variety and
richness of true porcelain. They can
be scratched with file; while the
hard.paste wares cannot. Moreover,
they melt at lower temperatures and
are, much more difficult to fabricate;
hence the process Of manufacture
was much more costly and uncertain
and could be supported only by
princes and men OF wealth.
The making Of true or hard-paste
porcelain in Europe dates from 1903,
when a German named Boettger dis
covered kaolin and feldspar near
Dresden and started the famous
Miessen factory on it's long career.
Such importance was attached to
this discovery that Boettger and his
workmen We're imprisoned in "a