Editing Porcelain (section)

== Production ==
{{Main|Pottery#Production}}

=== Forming ===
Porcelain can be made using all the shaping techniques for pottery.

=== Glazing ===
[[Biscuit porcelain]] is unglazed porcelain treated as a finished product, mostly for figures and sculpture. Unlike their lower-fired counterparts, porcelain wares do not need [[ceramic glaze|glazing]] to render them impermeable to liquids and for the most part are glazed for decorative purposes and to make them resistant to dirt and staining. Many types of glaze, such as the iron-containing glaze used on the celadon wares of [[Longquan celadon|Longquan]], were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain.

=== Decoration ===
[[File:Verseuse phénix Musée Guimet 2418.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Song dynasty]] [[celadon]] porcelain with a ''[[fenghuang]]'' spout, 10th century, China]]
Porcelain often receives [[underglaze]] decoration using pigments that include [[cobalt oxide]] and copper,  or [[overglaze enamel]]s, allowing a wider range of colours. Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often [[biscuit (pottery)|biscuit]]-fired at around {{convert|1,000|°C|°F}}, coated with glaze and then sent for a second [[Ceramic glaze|glaze]]-firing at a temperature of about {{convert|1,300|°C|°F}} or greater. Another early method is "once-fired", where the glaze is applied to the unfired body and the two fired together in a single operation.

=== Firing ===
In this process, "green" (unfired) ceramic wares are heated to high temperatures in a [[kiln]] to permanently set their shapes, vitrify the body and the glaze. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature than earthenware so that the body can vitrify and become non-porous. Many types of porcelain in the past have been fired twice or even three times, to allow decoration using less robust pigments in [[overglaze enamel]].