Gypsy Camp Blog

Although China seems to be playing “catch-up” these days, in fact many great things came from China all throughout history. One of China’s best contributions has to be exquisite china tea sets. The Chinese were making beautiful porcelain items well before the Europeans even got started.

But after these great tea sets were introduced to Europe, Westerners couldn’t get enough and local artisans tried to master this art. Chinese porcelain was so fine and elegant, even princes and kings wanted some, and even just having one such item in your home became a huge status symbol.

For many years, Western kilns produced almost nothing in the same league as China’s tea sets. They had no idea how the Chinese did it. What’s more, there didnt seem to be any of the pure white clay anywhere.

But then, a very young Chemist started trying to learn how to produce porcelain. Not even 20 years old, Johann Bottger was trying to turn lead into gold for a famous king. When he was unsuccessful, he was locked up. But while in prison, he started to study how to make porcelain.

It was with the support of a local leader who was simple obsessed with porcelain that Johann was able to get a hold of the clay he needed to produce truly great items. Now he had the materials, the only question was the technique.

It wasn’t long before the young alchemist got the formula just right. He jumped with joy and showed his creations to the Duke who had helped him. They then built a massive kiln that was almost exactly like those found in China.

In the beginning, they only made tiles and other small items. It was a start, but they still had a long way to go before they could match the beauty of the Chinese tea sets.

The rest of the mystery was solved by a Jesuit missionary in China. At about the same time of Johann Bottger’s experiments, Pere d’Entrecolles, a Jesuit priest, made his way into Chinas Jingdezhen, where the worlds best porcelain was made. Seven years later he published two voluminous letters that detailed the process of making Jingdezhen porcelain. And before long, factories making porcelain were established across Europe.

Was this the earliest industrial espionage?

D. Cheng has studied Chinese history and handicrafts such as porcelain china tea sets for years. From time to time, he endorses skilled Chinese craftsmen. See samples of quality China tea sets.

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