Thin-ceramic products have long become our standard items of everyday use. Much more affordable for mass use of earthenware. Snow-white cups and plates with contrasting and original patterns on the glazed surface are affordable and are used daily as cutlery. But the elite and high-quality porcelain sets that are produced by more sophisticated technology, differ markedly in price and serve as decoration of the festive table or play the role of decoration in the interior.
The homeland of porcelain is China (in English, China, which also means porcelain). Proceeding from this, porcelain can be considered the pinnacle of traditional applied art in China. Chinese porcelain products are considered the best, so if you decide to buy a real porcelain product, you need to know how to distinguish Chinese porcelain from cheap faience.
Auxiliary means
We distinguish Chinese porcelain with the help of earthenware for comparison, direct and saturated light and usual strong, but necessarily hot tea.
How to tell porcelain
In order to distinguish qualitatively the porcelain produced in China from forgery, it is enough to bring the ceramic object to a source of bright color and carefully inspect the product. Due to the greater number of impurities (kaolin, quartz and others), porcelain is of a semi-transparent nature. You should see how a thin ceramic layer is visible. Faience fakes, as a rule, do not pass through themselves rays of light.
Then we take and turn the product, and after that we hold the hand on its surface from below. Remember that usually the base of genuine porcelain dishes has a rough surface. The edges of the cup or porcelain plates, as a rule, should not be covered with glaze. Substandard porcelain may not be covered and have a characteristic smoothness on all sides. By the way, high-end Chinese porcelain can completely not have any coating in the form of glaze. This, in the first place, is due to the fact that real porcelain is a solid and very durable material.
We check with sound
Also, you can check the quality of porcelain by tapping a ceramic object with your fingers. As a result of this, the dishes made of high-quality Chinese material should publish a "game" of high notes. Porcelain porcelain does not publish any "melodies". By the way, it's not without reason that connoisseurs of real porcelain have their own term "Singing Porcelain". And one more thing - each piece of high-quality ceramics can "sing" to its own individual harmony.
We check by weight
A good way to tell porcelain is to check it by weight. We take and raise the dishes on our palm. In the other hand, we take that object from porcelain, which causes us suspicion of its authenticity. Tableware made of Chinese quality porcelain, as a rule, has a light volume. This is due to its sophistication and composition, which is part of the Chinese porcelain.
We check by heating
Take the ceramic cup and pour it into the freshly brewed tea (of course, this can be done only if you have already purchased a set or a cup). To see a fake it will be possible at once, as poor-quality porcelain has a property, because of which tea becomes scorching, and the handle can be said does not heat up at all. "Correct" porcelain from China is characterized by low thermal conductivity due to its fineness. And one more thing, in the process of long-term use of a tea service, you can notice on the inner walls a dark color build-up from tea brewing. This indicates that before you is not real china. The surface of porcelain, which is well baked in the oven, will not darken.
Helpful Tips
Chinese porcelain products are often distinguished by whiteness. By the way, pay special attention to the fact that some defects on the dishes are easily masked using different patterns. Of course, this does not mean that elite colorful Chinese antiques items of porcelain utensils should not have voluminous drawings, most of which are done in gold.