El Portal Porcelana
"For People Passionate About Spanish Porcelain"
|
|
|
For those interested in glass figurines, Fenton Art Glass Beasts, Birds & Butterflies
is another of Peggy's books!
Also for those interested in glass, Fenton Art Glass Fairy Lamps & Lights
is Peggy's latest book! It focuses on small, candle-lit "lamps" that were first used in the
Victorian era to light dark hallways before the invention of gaslight or electricity.
The publisher for these Fenton books has gone out of business, but I am pursuing
other publishing options for revised and expanded editions. Stay tuned! In the
meantime, you may still find advance-ordered and used copies of these books at online booksellers.
|
Glossary of Terms in 20th Century Spanish Porcelain
- Backstamp
- A mark that appears as a colored stamp, usually
applied as a paint "chip" that then opens out as the mark during kiln firing.
- Bisque
- Sometimes used interchangeably with the term "matte"
but more properly reserved to an unglazed porcelain that is completely
white and unpainted
- Ceramic
- Sometimes used as a synonym for porcelain, but
porcelain is actually one type among many included in the broader term
"ceramic." Some ceramics are made of a soft and relatively brittle paste.
Not allc eramics, then, are made of porcelain.
- Glazed
- A shiny surface produced by the thin (usually spray-applied)
application of a clear glaze
- Goyesca
- A series of Lladró sculptures by Enrique San Isidro
and made of a porcelain formula that is claylike and malleable. It holds the
imprint of the artist's fingers as well as the pattern of whatever textile is
pressed into it as it is being worked.
- Gres
- A special porcelain formula characterized by matte, usually
earthen-toned colors and having portions colored with enamel paints
"Repose" (#22169) is done in the Gres formula.
First issued in 1987, it is being produced today at a retail price of
$225 USD. Note the earthen-toned colors and the matte skin surfaces,
which are typically also done in darker colors, making this formula especially
well suited to the depiction of ethnic themes. (A larger picture of this
item can be seen on the "Slide Show" page.)(Photo by the author from
her own collection.)
- Flowerwork
- Flowers applied to fine porcelain. Application is usually made with liquid porcelain or porcelain
glaze so that the adhesive is invisible.
- Hard-paste porcelain
- As distinguished from soft-paste or
semi-porcelain, "hard-paste" (so called for its durability both pre- and
post-manufacture) is also called "true porcelain," the formula for which
was discovered/invented in China centuries ago. The code for this formula
was eventually cracked
by 18th century Meissen chemists in Germany. Its key
ingredients are kaolin clay and petunse stone. Today, Lladró uses
basically the same ancient formula for true porcelain (with a few arcane additions
of its own to the formula) and the same
molding and assembly processes used by Meissen since the 18th century.
- Mark
- The attribution information on the base of fine porcelain,
typically consisting of manufacturer's name and place of manufacture and some
sort of manufacturer's logo. Marks may be inscribed (etched), embossed (raised),
painted, or stamped. (See "backstamp.")
- Matte
- Unglazed surface (see also "Bisque")
- Prototype
- A "one-of-a-kind" item that never went into actual
production.
- Second
- An item of second-quality merchandise, typically sold by
high-end porcelain manufacturers at the factory of origin and usually indicated
by an alteration of the mark. On Lladró, this would be
the scraping off of the logo flower above the name. A common way to indicate
a second at other porcelain manufactories (including Meissen and Royal
Copenhagen) is through a slash or hash scratched through the mark.
- Slip
- Porcelain in its liquid form
At Last - A New Lladró Book!
The Lladró Guide; A Collector's Reference to Retired Porcelain Figurines in Lladró Brands
My most recent Lladró book has revised and expanded content and
remains the only book in print on this topic that isn't just a catalog. Covers all Lladró and
Lladró-affiliated brands (regular collection, NAO, Zaphir, Golden Memories,
Hispania, Rosal, and Tang) and tells how to distinguish them from imitations and counterfeits.
Revised and expanded content includes
many new photos and a new chapter on future directions for collectors and the company now that it has
passed from family hands. The book is in hard cover, which eliminates
that annoying curl-up that happens with paperback books.You can order the book directly from the publisher, Schiffer Books,
on Amazon,
or from your favorite bookstore using the ISBN 13 number 978-0764358395.
Warning: If you're looking for a catalog
of every retired figurine Lladró ever made, this is not the book for you. If you're looking for beautiful, full-color photos of
representative models and more in-depth and well-researched
information about Lladró and its history and production than you can get in thumbnail photos with captions,
this book is what you're looking for.
Retail Price in Hardcover: $45
|
|
The logo background and side border graphic on this site are provided courtesy
of Absolute Background Textures Archive (www.grsites.com/textures). All other
content and graphics on this site are © Peggy Whiteneck. No reproduction
of any part of this content is permitted without the express permission of the
web site author.
|