|
As an intern of the Sac State Department of Anthropology Archaeology lab, I have a project to catalog part of the East Walnut Grove archaeological collection into a digital catalog data base. This includes taking photographs of these artifacts and creating an informational web page about them. The East Walnut Grove collection was originally excavated and cataloged in 1984. This collection consists mainly of Japanese and Chinese porcelain. Most of this pottery was in the form of bowls, cups and plates. The first thing I wanted to research was general information that would help me understand more about our East Walnut Grove collection. |
|
When was pottery invented? |
| Pottery was invented during the Neolithic period (5000-2200 B.C.). The ancient Chinese succeeded in producing painted pottery, black pottery and carved pottery. The long years of experience in kiln firing led China into a new ceramic age in the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Although archaeological finds have revealed that glazed pottery was produced as early as the Western Zhou dynasty (1100-771 B.C.), the production of glazed wares was not common until the Han Dynasty. |
|
The Spread of Porcelain
|
| The Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Russia was founded by Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great's daughter, in 1744. Here the gifted Russian scientist Dmitry Vinogradov independently discovered the secret of making porcelain and developed the technology for its manufacture. |
Three hundred years ago no one in Europe had any idea of the materials and techniques used in making porcelain. The Chinese kept the process of porcelain production secret. Only in the early 18th century in Saxony, did the alchemist, Johan F. Blotter, discover a way to produce "European" hard paste porcelain. These developments did not escape the notice of Peter I of Russia. During his frequent visits to European countries, Peter I pursued his interest in the secrets of porcelain manufacture and he attempted to introduce it to Russia with the help of foreigners, but was unsuccessful. Peter I's idea to establish his own porcelain production was brought to life two decades later by his daughter, who was then Empress Elizabeth (1741-1761).
|
| The "work of porcelain" was entrusted to Dmitry Vinogradov. Among the best graduates from the Academy of Sciences, he and Mikhail Lomonosov were sent for training abroad. He studied at the oldest European University of Marburg. His subjects were "chemical science, mining, natural history, physics, geometry, mechanics, hydraulics and hydrotechnics." After that, he continued his training in the mining center of Freiberg. The young mining engineer had undertaken independent analyses of raw materials and sought the composition of the porcelain paste. |
| Between 1746 and 1748 all experiments were aimed at achieving pieces that, after firing, would be reasonably white, thin shelled and lustrous. At the same time, he set out to prepare porcelain paint for decoration. Vinogradov's heritage was the study called "Detailed description of pure porcelain and how the same is made at St. Petersburg." The Monograph, as preserved, is incomplete but many of the principles contained in it are still valid for porcelain production today. |
| Russian porcelain, created by Vinogradov, was in no way inferior to that of Saxony, and the paste made of native raw material came close to that of China. The porcelain items produced included snuff boxes, tea, coffee and chocolate cups with saucers, as well as boxes, sweetmeat dishes, liqueur "glasses," salt cellars, walking stick tops, handless for knives and forks, punch spoons, buttons for caftans and camisoles, pipes, Easter eggs, and many other small items, since the kilns built by Vinogradov were not suitable for anything large. |
| From 1756 onwards, plates, dishes, trays, candelabra, wine and glass coders were produced, when Vinogradov managed to build a large kiln. This is also the period of the first table service, which belonged to Empress Elizabeth personally - "Sobstvennyi" ("Own"). The service is of simple elegance, and only in Russia was china decorated in this manner. During the early 1750s, we also find the first reports about the production of "porcelain dolls" consisting of figures of people and animals. |
| Society's tastes in porcelain during the middle of the 18th century tended towards the affected and elaborate Rococo. Examples of these are visible in its most extreme form in the pieces produced by Meissen's manufactory; although, the Vinogradov porcelain of that time developed in the direction of greater naturalness and simplicity. Only a few pieces of the Vinogradov period have survived and are today of enormous historical value. |
|
|
