made after 200 years
Porcelain that was once declared the finest of its type has been recreated after more than 200 years.
Nantgarw porcelain, invented by William Billingsley in 1813, was revered as being the whitest, finest-grained and most translucent porcelain ever made; however difficulties in firing this delicate porcelain body in the bottle kilns resulted in up to 90% of the work being destroyed and the closure of the factory after only four years of production.
Through a combination of methodical historic research, forensic analysis of shards and experimentation, the team based at Nantgarw China Works Museum has managed to recreate the original recipe and successfully fire new work from Nantgarw porcelain.
The project has taken place over the last six months and has been funded through a Research and Development Grant from the Arts Council of Wales as well as through a crowdfunding internet campaign. The first items made from the porcelain are being made as one of the rewards for donors to the crowdfunding.
According to project manager Charles Fountain the task has not been easy and the team has had to draw upon expertise from several universities, industrial chemists, current manufacturers of porcelains as well as specialist sculptors, mould-makers and slip casters.
He said: “No one has made a porcelain like this for the best part of 200 years so we have had to adapt and develop new techniques both to create it but also to successfully mould, slip cast and fire the new work. The new porcelain is visually identical to the original and shows the same exceptional translucency. Quite frankly it is beautiful, totally unique and unlike any other ceramic body available today.”
Sally Stubbings, resident ceramicist at Nantgarw China Works, led the development of the porcelain.
She said: “We have learned a great deal more about the porcelain and now understand the difficulties they had in firing this ceramic body in the early 19th century. Many of their problems centred around not being able to have precise control of the heat and temperature in the early bottle kilns.
“Using modern electric kilns we have discovered that even a few degrees difference in temperature can have a huge effect on the way the porcelain behaves. This level of control was totally impossible in a coal-fired bottle kiln.”
Examples of the new porcelain can be seen in a small exhibition at Nantgarw China Works Museum. The exhibition will run until the end of January.