Artist & Historian
Jingdezhen - The Porcelain Capital
In 2011, I spent several weeks in China, learning the basics of Mandarin Chinese in Shanghai and then travelling to Jingdezhen and Beijing to visit porcelain workshops, artists' studios, galleries, retail shops, and museums.
Jingdezhen, Kaolin, & Porcelain Making
One of the most important places I visited was the studio of my friend, located in an ancient pottery site. At the time, it was undergoing extensive renovation and awaiting the completion of a new building with studio and gallery space. We also visited a number of studios and workshops at all levels of the market.
Jingdezhen benefitted from the unusually accessible deposits of pure white kaolin and naturally occurring mineral feldspars that provided natrually accurate proportions of glass formers (Silica), glass melters (i.e. fluxes such as calcium carbonate), and refractories (Alumina) for a balanced porcelain clay body. They produced high temperature stoneware and porcelain objects from as early as the 9th C CE.
This page is still under construction, with a section describing the natural landscape of Jingdezhen and its geological importance to the production of porcelain still to come!