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Crackled Mustard Yellow Porcelain / Stoneware

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Author Topic: Crackled Mustard Yellow Porcelain / Stoneware  (Read 1543 times)
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George
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« on: July 01, 2012, 05:08:25 pm »

Still have my eye on the small crackled vase, but did end up buying this crackled mustard yellow porcelain snuff bottle today..

Question is.... Did I really buy a porcelain piece, or stoneware !

I have been piecing together some snippets online, and now can not recall who to credit this following statement:

From the Song dynasty and onwards crackles seems to have been intentionally produced as decoration.
The appearance could be enhanced by tea (red) or ink (black) being rubbed into the cracks. Crackle
decoration is to be found on such Sung dynasty wares as Ru, Guan, and Ge , or on archaizing wares
made later, up until today.
 
Traditionally the Chinese connoisseurs have been distinguishing between a large, bold, crackle, termed
"crab's claw", and a much closer and smaller network termed "fish roe" crackle. The former developed first,
and was accentuated with black pigment: the latter, developing at a later stage, was coloured red. On Ge ware sometimes a combination of both are found.

The following about Hard Paste Porcelain from Marks4antiques.com :
Hard paste porcelain..

Ceramics usually refers to items made of fired clay. Ceramics are further divided in several categories,
the primary ones being Earthenware, Stoneware and Porcelain.

TRUE PORCELAIN (a.k.a. HARD-PASTE PORCELAIN): A high-fired Ceramic ware that exhibits translucent
properties and is composed of White Clay (Kaolin) and a type of Feldspathic rock (Petunse). Kaolin is
refractory and binds a piece together while in the Kiln and Petunse fuses into a natural kind of glass
that gives it its smoothness and brilliance.

------

There is very little online about crackled mustard yellow porcelain.

This was available via Cera Wiki.. 

A greenish yellow glaze with fine crackling, made in the Ch'ien-lung ( 1711-1799 ) and later periods.
Known also as "Fish-Roe Yellow", on account of the crackle.

----

Even fewer are examples of crackled mustard yellow pieces..

What got me to thinking about if this would be considered a porcelain bottle, or stoneware is this ( one and only ) small bowl example for close comparison..

They call this particular piece a K'ang Hsi Fish Roe Crackled "Stoneware"

K'ang Hsi or Kangxi ( 1662-1772 )

So, at this moment, not entirely sure if the bottle would be considered porcelain or stoneware..

Here is the link to the Stoneware bowl..






Then my bottle..
 







« Last Edit: July 01, 2012, 09:48:44 pm by Bottle Guy » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2012, 12:24:42 am »

Hi George,

As one of your extracts says, ceramics can be categorized into three types: earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The difference lies in the composition and firing temperature. True porcelain always exhibits a distinctive translucency and 'brilliance', which it gets from the kaolin clay.

Your bottle (judging from the neck) does not appear to have that characteristic translucency. I have no idea what the technical difference is between earthenware and stoneware, but I guess stoneware is denser and harder than earthenware, and so more suitable for delicacy and precision in manufacture. The miniature teapots and snuff bottles made of Yixing pottery are always referred to as 'stoneware'. So, my hunch is that you have a stoneware piece.

Tom  
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« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2012, 07:14:41 am »

Thank you Tom !
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« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2012, 03:41:38 am »

One thing that is real noticable, is the light weight of this bottle at 32 grams.. In comparison to a similar sized monochrome stoneware bottle that Charll just shared.

A bit conusing.. I wonder now if the very light weight of my bottle may be a clue that means this could be considered earthenware instead of stoneware ?

It is a similar thick wall as is the 2 3/4" 62 gram bottle of Charll's ..

In an effort to make sure this was not created from a material for the purpose of imitating crackled mustard yellow.. Took a close look inside the neck.. Although of course the inside would not have been rubbed with tea and glazed to enhance the red crackling like the outside of the bottle.. It does at least appear to be consistently crackled, and a mustard yellow in color through out..

The noticable extra light weight is sort of bothering me a bit..  I can't say that have ever held a bottle this size before that was so light in weight.. 



 



« Last Edit: July 14, 2012, 05:10:18 am by Bottle Guy » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2012, 10:46:12 am »

George,

I just posted a response about this on the 'tea-dust glaze' thread. But to expand a little, the main differences between porcelain, stoneware and earthenware are (1) the mix of ingredients, (2) the glaze, if any, and (3) the firing temperature. Hence the weight and strength of a finished item depends on all three. Generally, the denser the raw mix the better its strength.

As you surmise, earthenware is probably going to be lighter than stoneware, and is inherently weaker. But the glaze, especially a thick one, helps bind the finished item together, improving its overall resistance to knocks. The crackle does not extend through the entire thickness of glaze, so shouldn't weaken the binding effect.

In view of your comment about the lightness of your bottle compared to Charll's stoneware one, I may have to revise my earlier opinion, and say that it is probably a variety of earthenware.

Tom
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« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2012, 11:15:56 am »

Thank you Tom   Smiley
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« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2013, 09:13:57 am »

Stumbled onto a similar crackled Mustard Yellow snuff bottle..

Curious if there is a clue to be had within the script on the base ?  Can someone make that out ?







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« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2013, 09:48:42 am »

That is a' Old Moon Pavilion' Gu yue xuan mark.

I think the bottle is more lined with those ones..

http://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,784.0.html

It looks good to me..
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« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2013, 12:16:40 pm »

Earthenware is fired at 1045  C (1915 F)
Stoneware   is fired at 1196  C (2185  F)
Porcelain     is fired at 1260+C (2300+ F)

Shabbat Shalom,
    Joey
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Joey Silver (Si Zhouyi 義周司), collecting snuff bottles since Feb.1970

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« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2013, 12:56:03 pm »

Excellent ..  I should have recognized that as Guyuexuan mark..

Thank you Steven, and thanks Joey for that firing info..
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« Reply #10 on: August 18, 2014, 12:33:44 am »

Just for the record, adding a link that Charll shares a lot of great information about these Guyue Xuan wares.
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« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2014, 12:37:05 am »

Thanks George!
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