mel jacobson on mon 13 feb 06
one of the old time `stories` (not hard evidence) about
clay and porcelain is based on shippers/sailors
filling their hulls with kaolin/china clay as ballast
and selling it to the new world.
it seems that the captains of sailing ships
needed a great deal of dead weight in the bottoms
of their ships. they often used boulders/rock, and of course
no profit in rocks.
from china they switched to `china` clay and
brought it to england etc(tea and silk was not very heavy).
then of course it was
discovered that cornwall was almost all china clay.
it seemed the same thing happened in the colonies,
ships with white china clay for ballast sent to america, then
kaolin was discovered in georgia.
we are still buying expensive white kaolin from england.
(grolleg).
the quest for pure white dishes has been a long and
wonderful journey. it is filled with stories and legend.
as we all know, white porcelain was the most sought after
treasure for generations in the world. it far out stripped diamonds
and gold.
even potters have a great deal of trouble grasping how
important porcelain is/was. ask any wealthy bride to be.
it has importance. and the more inflated the price, the
more it is wanted. and name value is really important.
ask any antique dealer.
mel
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://my.pclink.com/~melpots3
skiasonaranthropos@FSMAIL.NET on mon 13 feb 06
Hello Mel,
Could you give further details of =93... from china they switched to `china`=
clay and brought it to england=94 as this is the first Ive heard of it being=
imported from China to England
Thanx,
Antony
Rick Hamelin on mon 13 feb 06
I am curious as to this conjecture about china clay export as well. Chinese protection of this knowledge alone was great. When comparing porcelain trade protection under the glass of the silk worm and trade, it wouldn't make sense that any kaolin (I learned from Kao Ling) or the feldspar Petuntse (similar to Cornwall Stone) would have been exported commercially; but it isn't beyond imagination that our good hearted Jesuit retrieved samples for export like the way the silk worm was smuggled out. Perhaps it were these samples that the term China Clay emerged.
Rick
--
"Many a wiser men than I hath
gone to pot." 1649
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