The Material Basis of 18th‐Century Meissen Porcelain

ABSTRACT In the summer of 1708, the quest for making hard‐paste porcelain from Saxonian clay and other mineral resources succeeded. This was achieved by applying as its essential ingredient newly discovered pure kaolin from Heidelsberg near Aue, western Saxon Ore Mountains. With this white‐firing clay, the German polymath, early proponent of the Enlightenment, and gifted inventor Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651–1708) developed the successful paste composition of calcareous white porcelain. In this contribution, the various minerals involved in making calcareous and later feldspathic porcelain of Meissen fame are characterized, and their origins, compositions, and properties are explained. In addition, historical paste compositions and the chemical and thermodynamic underpinnings of the formation of porcelain will be discussed.