Porcelain was first made in the eighth century by the Chinese, who kept the method of its manufacture a closely guarded secret. European potters, seeing pieces brought back from the Orient, tried unsuccessfully for several centuries to copy this beautiful ware with its translucent quality. It was to be the Meissen factory in Germany which first manufactured porcelain in 1709 and, despite attempts to keep the secret, it was not long before potters all over Europe were producing it. Some of the best early examples come from France, England, as well as Germany.
Bone china was to come a little later, in the eighteenth century. It is a softer type of porcelain to which is added calcified animal bone, hence the name. At this time everything was hand-painted but with the introduction of transfers in the late eighteenth century, gradually less was done by hand. Today only a tiny proportion of factory pieces are decorated by hand; almost all the china sold in the shops are decorated with transfers, even the limited edition pieces. One exception is figurines, which tend to be decorated by hand, at least in part.
The pigments used for china painting are manufactured from mineral oxides and precious metals and are called on-glaze or over-glaze enamels. These are made to fuse with the glaze on the china by firing at a temperature of approximately 1436 degrees (780 C). The glaze melts and absorbs the colors which, after cooling, are firmly sealed.
Usually pieces have to be painted and fired several times to build up a depth of color. If colors are applied too thickly they can blister during the firing process. The glaze should be applied in washes, for lightest to darkest, like in watercolor. Some techniques, such as Dresden or the Meissan style, only requires one firing.