White, hard, nonporous, translucent pottery. First made by the Chinese during
the T'ang period (618-906) to withstand the great heat of their kilns,
traditional porcelain was hard paste (a combination of kaolin, a white clay that melts
at high Temperature; and petuntse, a feldspar mineral that forms a Glassy cement to bind the vessel permanently). It was exported to the Islamic world
and highly prized. During the Yüan period (1280-1368) blue-and-white ware was
produced with cobalt blue from the Middle East, and from the 14th to 17th
century other Colors were used as well. Most European porcelain is soft paste (clay combined with
an artificial compound, e.g., ground glass) and is not as strong as Chinese
porcelain. In Europe, porcelain was first commercially produced (1710) in
Meissen, Germany. The English have strengthened porcelain with bone ash since 1750.