DEFINITION OF TERMS Bisque-firing - After being formed, the porcelain parts are generally bisque-fired, which entails heating

them at a relatively low temperature to vaporize volatile contaminants and minimize shrinkage during firing. Bone China - Stronger than hard-paste porcelain and easier to manufacture. Its ivory white appearance is created by adding bone ash to the ingredients for hard-paste porcelain. Calcined bone ash - is used in the production of bone china and makes up about 50% by weight of the final body recipe. It is produced from animal bone, which is first processed to remove any adhering meat which is generally sold as pet food. Clay - a stiff, sticky fine-grained impermeable earth that can be moulded when wet and baked to make bricks and pottery. Feldspar - an abundant rock-forming aluminosilicate mineral, typically colourless or palecoloured. Firing - is a further heating step that can be done in one of two types of oven, or kiln. A periodic kiln consists of a single, refractory-lined, sealed chamber with burner ports and flues (or electric heating elements). Fluxes - reduce the temperature at which liquid glass forms during firing to between 1,835 and 2,375 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 and 1,300 degrees Celsius). Glaze - is a layer of decorative glass applied to and fired onto a ceramic body. Hard Paste Porcelain - Hard-paste porcelain is made from a mixture of china clay(kaolin) and china stone (petuntse). The use of china stone dispenses with the need for the 'frit' used in soft-paste porcelain. The strength and whiteness of the porcelain was improved by ageing the paste in store. Kiln - The final manufacturing phase is firing, a heating step that takes place in a type of oven. Porcelain - is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 C (2,192 F) and 1,400 C (2,552 F).

The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain arise mainly from the formation ofglass and the mineral mullite within the fired body at these high temperatures. Pressing -This is used to compact and shape dry bodies in a rigid die or flexible mold. Silica - silicon dioxide, a hard, unreactive, colourless compound which occurs as quartz and as the principal constituent of sandstone and other rocks. Slip Casting - in which slurry is poured into a porous mold. The liquid is filtered out through the mold, leaving a layer of solid porcelain body. Soft Paste Porcelain - First produced in Europe in 1738.Soft-paste porcelain is produced by mixing white clay with 'frit' - a glassy substance that was a mixture of white sand, gypsum, soda, salt, alum and nitre. Lime and chalk were used to fuse the white clay and the frit, the mixture is then fired at a lower temperature than hard-paste porcelain. Soft Plastic Forming - , where the clay is shaped by manual molding, wheel throwing, jiggering, or ram is pressing. Stiff Plastic Forming - This is used to shape less plastic bodies.