Eggshell Porcelain

A gem of chinese ceramics, eggshell china is remarkable first of alol for its extraordinary thinness. Yet it is appreciated also because it is spotlessly white, translucent, and sonorous when tapped. It is made mainly into bowls, vases, cups, lampshades and articles for use in the study. Whatever form it assumes, one may appreciate through its paper-thin wall the coloured painting on the other side, like watching the moon through a thin mist with the beauty enhanced by a veiled effect. The eggshell has as its forerunner yingqingci, which was produced as early as in the Northern Song Dynasty. Present-day production excels the past in both quantity and quality. Recent successes at Jingdezhen include a 75-cm-tall vase and a large bowl 25. 7 cm across, sizes thought impossible to mould in eggshell china in the past. To take such insubstantial utensils, an exacting craftsmanship is called for. It requires the best and carefully selected kaolin, mixing of ingredients according to strict prescriptions and repeated tempering of the clay, before the potter moulds the paste into bodies. Then a master craftsman will wield various cutting tools to shape them finely tnto eggshell thinness and have them fired in the kiln at a high temperature of over 1, 300 degrees centigrade. Of these proceses, the most difficult part is fine-moulding, which finalizes the form of the utensil. A vereran master, relying solely on his sense of hearing and touch, decides on the thickness of the wall, holding his breath when he applies his knife, as a slight slip would result in a ruined body. Eggshell porcelain is not for use but for interior decoration and it is deluxe ornament, too.