Andrew and Patricia Clarke established Louis Potts and Company in 1969, moving to Lewes, Sussex in 1976 and continuing their successful policy of specializing only in the sale of British tableware. Thirty years on, whilst Louis Potts and Company has become one of the South of England's best-known tableware retailers, it remains a family business, employing only family members. Whilst e-tailing has transformed their turnover, Louis Potts and Company remains a traditional specialist china shop with firm roots in one of England's most historic towns. Callers or visitors can always be sure of speaking to a member of the family. Kaolin (Chinese kauling, high ridge, or china clay, a pure, soft, white clay of variable but usually low plasticity that retains its white colour when fired. The name derives from the hill in Jiangxi Province, south-eastern China from which the clay was first obtained. It was the Chinese who, in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, first developed the techniques for using kaolin to make porcelain. Europeans began importing Chinese porcelain in the 14th century, but it was not until the early 18th century that they were able to reproduce its much-prized hardness, whiteness, and translucency for themselves. Pure kaolin is necessary for the manufacture of porcelain and other fine china; impure varieties are used in making pottery, stoneware, and bricks; as filler for pigments; and in the manufacture of paper. The chief constituent of kaolin is the clay mineral kaolinite, a hydrous aluminium silicate, Al4Si4O10(OH)8, formed by the decomposition of aluminium silicates, particularly feldspar. Kaolin is now mined primarily in Malaysia and in Cornwall, England. The term "kaolin" is often extended to include other porcelain clays not discoloured by firing. Pottery, vessels and other articles made of clay that is permanently hardened by firing in a kiln. The nature and type of pottery is determined by the composition of the clay and the way it is prepared; the temperature at which it is fired; and the glazes used. It is distinct from porcelain in being porous and opaque; fired at a temperature lower than that required for porcelain, it does not undergo vitrification. Types, Procedures, and Techniques Earthenware is porous pottery, usually fired at the lowest kiln temperatures (900°-1200° C/1652°-2192° F). Depending on the clay used, it turns buff, red, brown, or black when fired. To be made waterproof, it must be glazed. Nearly all ancient, medieval, Middle Eastern, and European painted ceramics are earthenware, as is much contemporary household dinnerware. Stoneware, water-resistant and much more durable, is fired at temperatures of 1200°-1280° C (2191°-2336° F). The clay turns white, buff, grey, or red and is glazed for aesthetic reasons. (Pottery fired at about 1200° C/2192° F is sometimes called middle-fire ware; its earthenware or stoneware traits vary from clay to clay.) Stoneware was made by the Chinese in antiquity and became known in northern Europe after the Renaissance. Preparing and Shaping the Clay The potter can remove some of the coarse foreign matter natural to secondary clays, or it can be used in various quantities for different effects. A certain amount of coarse grain in the clay helps the vessel retain its shape during firing, and potters using fine-grained clays often temper the clay by adding coarser materials such as sand, fine stones, ground shells, or grog (fired and pulverized clay) before kneading the clay into workable condition. The plasticity of clay allows pottery to be shaped in several traditional ways. The clay can be flattened and then shaped by being pressed against the inside or outside of a moulda stone or basket, or a clay or plaster form. Liquid clay can be poured into plaster moulds. A pot can be coil built: clay is rolled between the palms of the hands and extended into long coils, a coil is formed into a ring, and the pot is built up by superimposed rings. Also, a ball of clay can be pinched into a desired shape. The most sophisticated pottery-making technique is wheel throwing.
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