Chinese porcelain making, from quarrying Kaolin clay to the final delivery of the finished porcelain products
If you think that the production of porcelain was done in small localized enterprises, think again. The manual labor required to quarry and transport the Kaolin clay down to the final touches on the finished porcelain items required considerable numbers of people. To fill the huge orders often a whole kiln system (a main kiln and a number of local kilns in the vicinity) would be kept very busy.
In the 19th century a painter recorded all the essential steps of porcelain making in a series of paintings. If you are interested in knowing more about the process, or just are interested in the culture of China ... Get a cup of coffee and then click the link below. It may take some time, especially if you also want to view the rest of this MIT presentation!
This gallery is an excellent series of old paintings illustrating the whole manufacturing process of export porcelain, beginning with the mining of Kaolin in the mountains, making the slip, firing and painting of the porcelain decoration, down to the transport and final delivery of the finished products at the port of Canton (Guangzhou).
See the process of making a bowl in pictures, on the website of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. (Full description currently available in Chinese only.)
