Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating clay-type materials to high temperatures. It includes clay in the form of kaolinite.

Porcelain can be of different types: hard-paste porcelain, soft-paste porcelain and bone china. There is a distinction between hard-paste porcelain, fired at 1400 degrees Celsius, and soft-paste porcelain, fired at 1200 ^oC. Bone china is soft-paste porcelain made from bone ash and kaolinite.

The raw materials for porcelain are mixed with water and form a plastic paste. The paste is worked to a required shape before firing in a kiln.