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Hey guys, just recently I was assigned a project dealing with ceramics. In the the midst of my research I discovered that ceramics are no longer just any ideal material for pottery, dinnerware, or sculpture. I discovered ceramic have found their way into the world of jewelry and textile fashion. Which from a personal standpoint, is a very interesting subject. The thought of using a material that is stereotyped as “frail,†(due to glass and porcelain ability to shatter when being dropped) made me wonder why would a jeweler or a textile designer would use this material? Why would they choose a ceramic material as an alternative to it’s gold, silver, and cotton counterparts? I feel like the plethora of colors, textures, and shapes that can be made out of any ceramics, are the partly to blame for this new phenomenon. During my research I came a across one problem, this is such a new form of jewelry and textile design, that I have yet to find much about it. Sure, I believe that there is some remnants of prehistoric ceramic jewelry, but for the life of me, I can I find it. Everywhere I have gone, and searched has left me empty handed. Could I possibly be using the wrong keywords during my search? Is there an origin story, or a history that I do not know about? Is there a  person who I haven't I talked to?  Sure there is!


I Personally believe that for the amount of time and effort that I already put into this project, I have yet to discover what I really want to know. I believe I know nothing and I have everything to learn. I want to ask the internet to engage in conversation to grow this topic!

For the information that is seek I will list below. Some of the items that I will list, I have already found the information. But not everything is certain in life, so feel free to list your thoughts, comments, discovers, and concerns. I feel as though wearable ceramic is a poorly documented subject. But I want to change that, for not only myself but for future pioneers who also want to create great things in the future.  


  • History

    • The Origin of Wearable

    • The Origin of Ceramics

    • The discovery of “Kaolinite†(China Clay)

    • The discovery of  â€œYttriumâ€

  • Applying color

    • Applying graphics

    • Applying branding or icons (Example: stamps)


  • The Process of Making Ceramics

    • Mold Making

    • Kilm

    • Glazing

    • Applying color

      • Applying graphics

      • Applying branding or icons (Example: stamps)



  • Qualities of a ceramic product/ things to make note of

    • Weight

    • Smoothness

    • Transparency

    • The Shrinkage Rate of Ceramics

    • Durability

      • The Life Span of a Ceramic Item

      • Can It Withstand Impact




  • Fashion

    • Trends

    • Popular Designs

    • Jewelry

    • Clothing

  • Durability

    • The Life Span of a Ceramic Item

    • Can It Withstand Impact



  • Types of Slip

  • Stone wear  

  • Earth wear

  • Porcelain

  •  Polycarbonate

  • Glass

  •  Bone China  



  • Ceramic manufacturers

    • Ceramic manufactures phone numbers

    • Wearable Ceramic




 

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H Dexter:

It is good to see your excitement about new possibilities. There is a young man down south that shares my love for crystalline glaze. He does sculpted pieces, traditional wares: but the last year he had turned his attention to jewelry. Here is a link to his gallery- perhaps send him an email. At the bottom of his gallery page you will see his porcelain crystalline jewelry.    www.evancornishkeefe.com

Nerd

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Peter IIsley in his book "Macro Crystalline Glazes" goes into a rather in depth history of how porcelain made its way out of the Sung Dynasty (960-1279AD) of China into Europe. Marco Polo sent back pieces to Europe during his travels into the Orient. The Chinese were using a feldspathic rock which was a silicate of alumina and potassium up to the 9th century; then they added kaolin to it produce the first porcelain. Chinese term was "pei-tun-tzu." The first Western attempts to make porcelain clay was conducted by a French monk named Pere d' Entrrecolles at the beginning of the 18th century. The discovery of porcelain in Europe is usually assigned to  J.F Bottger and Ehrenfried von Tschirnhausen which were sponsored byAugustus II, Elector of Saxony in 1705, and the clay body finalized in 1708. Porcelain was not seriously incorporated into pottery production until 1768. A large deposit of Cornwall Stone was found outside of Limoge France in that same year: after which porcelain rapidly became the clay of choice.

The first serious attempts to reproduce crystalline glaze which was first noticed on the porcelain pieces from the Sung Dynasty were started in 1850 by Eblemen at the Serves Pottery. Charles Lauth and G. Dutailly , also from the Serves Pottery continued his work in 1885. The man most commonly known and associated with Crystalline glaze and porcelain development is Taxtile Doat: also from Serves. Doat came to America in 1905 to work at the University City Pottery in St. Louis. Funded by some of the well known businessmen in St. Louis at the time: the college had 300 women enrolled: but only 30 worked at the pottery. The profits generated by the University Pottery was used to fund the Womens Suffage Movement. Doat worked there until 1915(?) when he returned to Paris. The University Pottery is now called the University City Museum. Some of Doats work is on display there: and you can view his history at the pottery at this link:

http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm/search/collection/ucityimages/searchterm/University%20City%20Pottery%20%20University%20City,%20Mo.%20/field/mode/exact/conn/and/cosuppress/

 

Nerd

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I was thinking about Egyptian faience in relation to your question and I think this article may be worth reading for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_faienceThis quote is from the article: " the quest to imitate precious stones "explains why most all early glasses are opaque and brilliantly colored" and that the deepest blue color imitating lapis lazuli was likely the most sought-after". That might answer your question about "why would a jeweler or a textile designer use this material" when it's so fragile. Likely they were willing to accept the trade off of fragility because it was a less expensive alternative to rare stones. 

 

On a personal note, I have been making and wearing beads and pendants for years. I've used both low and mid fire clay and glazes, I've left the clay bare, and I've never had any break except a pair of porcelain pendant earrings that my friend made paper thin and left unglazed. In fact I've found that pendant earrings around 1/8" or even less feel the nicest. They have a good weight but not enough to drag on the earlobes. Here is a stamped pair of pendant earrings I made. I've had them for three years. I wear them all the time, I have even taken them off and put them in my pocket at the doctor's office and forgotten about them for hours ... and they're still with us. That seems quite durable to me!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

They have a good weight but not enough to drag on the earlobes. Here is a stamped pair of pendant earrings I made. I've had them for three years. I wear them all the time, I have even taken them off and put them in my pocket at the doctor's office and forgotten about them for hours ... and they're still with us. That seems quite durable to me!  This makes me think of egg shells, which are one natures strongest forms.  Form is very important to remember when thinking about its use and structural longevity.   

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  • 3 years later...

During drying, clay particles draw together and shrinkage occurs. During firing the matrix densifies and shrinkage continues (source: Digital fire). The clay body you are using will have a certain shrinkage rate, which you can look up from the supplier, usually.  The ranges can go from maybe 4% to 13% depending on the cone number and type of clay--for example, porcelain shrinks more than stoneware, generally.    11% is fairly common for cone 6 stoneware.   When I am going to use the nichrome/kanthal rods for beads, pendants etc., I either wax the inside of the hole before glazing or run a pipe cleaner through it to be sure no glaze is in there to fuse to the rod. For jewelry, when calculating the likely shrinkage, be sure to measure the wire width of the bail or attachment that will be used for the finished product so the hole will be big enough after shrinkage.  Best to test. 

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