Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;moreotherstuff, post: 12110, member: 56&quot;]<font size="4">There&#039;s a book titled <u>The Arcanum: Extraordinary True Story of the Invention of European Porcelain</u></font> by <i>Janet Gleeson</i> That tells about Bottger and his discovery of hard paste porcelain in Saxony and its subsequent dissemination.&nbsp; He was an alchemist (as mentioned) on the run from one court when he sought refuge in another.&nbsp; For his trouble, he spent the rest of his life under house arrest in Saxony (to protect his secrets and August&#039;s monopoly).&nbsp; Porcelain was a sideline to his real research on turning base metals into gold.</p><p><br /></p><p>His first ceramic development, Bottger ware, is an extremely hard (and quite beautiful) chocolate-colored stoneware.</p><p><br /></p><p>As an alchemist he had need of high temperature ceramics for use as crucibles.&nbsp; I&#039;ve wondered if other alchemists with the same needs hadn&#039;t developed hard paste porcelain without recognizing what it was.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of the earliest soft paste porcelain was developed a good hundred years before anyone else by one of the Medici archdukes (I forget which one).&nbsp; He was one of the more eccentric members of that clan, an alchemist in his own right and something of a recluse.&nbsp; There&#039;s only about 20 pieces of his stuff surviving.</p><p><br /></p><p>The clay for hard paste is called kaolin and has a very high silica content.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in