Porcelain Porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between . The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. Though definitions vary, porcelain can be divided into three main categories: hard-paste, soft-paste and bone china. The category that an object belongs to depends on the composition of the paste used to make the body of the porcelain object and the firing conditions. Porcelain slowly evolved in China
Dresden Porcelain Collection One strength is the collection of traditional Chinese and Japanese porcelain acquired by Augustus the Strong. Above all this includes blue-and-white porcelain from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, in particular the "Dragoon Vases" acquired by Augustus from King Frederick William I in exchange for a regiment of dragoons. There are also colourful famille-verte and famille-rose items, white Dehua ceramics, Japanese Arita porcelain, and ceramics made especially for export. The other strongpoint is the collection of Saxon porcelain, in particular Meissen porcelain. This crockery is decorated partly with Chinese patterns, but also with various European motifs such as scenes from mythology