The difference between ceramic and porcelain
It is common to refer to pottery and porcelain collectively as ‘ceramics’, not because they are the same object, but because both pottery and porcelain are works of art produced by the intertwining of earth and fire.
There are many ways to determine whether an object is pottery or porcelain, and in fact, subconsciously, we always judge an object to be pottery or porcelain based on whether it has a glaze on its surface. However, this thinking is wrong, as some pottery is also glazed, such as the Tang Sancai. Some porcelain is not glazed, such as white porcelain. So it is not advisable to judge ceramics based on glaze, and ceramics generally have such differences as.
1.Firing temperature is different
Generally speaking, porcelain than pottery firing temperature is high. When firing a piece of porcelain, the temperature is generally controlled at around 1200 to 1400 degrees. And in the process of firing a piece of pottery, the firing temperature can reach a minimum of eight hundred degrees below, the highest in about eleven hundred degrees. Although there is only a difference of a few hundred degrees, what is fired out is completely different.
2.Different degrees of hardness
The hardness of pottery is generally not as hard as porcelain, because the temperature of firing pottery is lower, the billet of pottery is not completely sintered, it is easy to be scratched by hard objects, and the sound made when knocking is dull. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature and the body is basically sintered, even with a steel knife it cannot be easily scratched on the surface and the sound when struck is clear and loud.
3.The raw materials used are different
The raw materials used in pottery are generally clay, first made of clay and then fired directly into the billet. Porcelain can use a relatively large selection of raw materials, including kaolin, clay, talc, feldspar, quartz and so on. The clay is generally used for firing pottery, and will become glassy when the temperature reaches over 1200 degrees, making it impossible to become porcelain.
4.Different transparency
Pottery is generally opaque, even very thin pottery, there is no translucent characteristics. Porcelain generally speaking has a translucent appearance, and the surface is reflective, in a place where there is enough light to have a feeling of luminosity.
5.Different glazes
Pottery is divided into two kinds of hanging glaze and not hanging glaze, hanging glaze is in the low temperature when melting glaze, so that the body of the blank directly glazed. Porcelain also has two forms of hanging glaze and not hanging glaze, generally hanging glaze. And there are two types of hanging glaze for porcelain; the first is to fire the glaze directly in the high temperature along with the body; the second is to hang another glaze, this time a low-temperature glaze, on a body that has already been glazed in the high temperature and fired in the low temperature.
6.Different concepts
Earthenware, is the first raw materials after hand kneading, wheel system regulation, and then mold, after it dries in the kiln firing into the finished goods. Porcelain, is the raw materials will be rectified into shape and then calcined, and finally the appearance of the painted more gorgeous items.
After so many differences and comparisons, do you have a certain understanding of pottery and porcelain? Although the surface of pottery is not as smooth and the appearance is not as bright as porcelain, it was created earlier. Ancestors used pottery for cooking utensils, for serving utensils, for drinking utensils, for antiques and for decoration, and the birth of pottery contributed to the progress of mankind. Porcelain, on the other hand, is an improved and more sophisticated object than pottery. There is much more of value to be found in ceramics, waiting to be explored.