Goerg & Schneider Porcelain Clay 1101 Audrey Blackman, 12.5 kg

Porcelain clay 1101 Audrey Blackman – white, translucent, for throwing and handbuilding

Porcelain clay 1101 Audrey Blackman from Goerg & Schneider is an English porcelain body that fires white and translucent, for the potter's wheel as well as for handbuilding and modelling. The clay contains no grog and has a very smooth texture. This lets you work out fine details, sharp edges and thin walls cleanly. According to Valentine Clays, it is very plastic and suitable for functional and decorative ceramics.

It is supplied as prepared, plastic clay, so you can work with it straight away. It is not suitable for slip casting, as its plasticity is too high. The translucency shows mainly in thin areas, such as lighting pieces or delicate bowls: when held against the light, light shines through there, while thicker areas remain largely opaque.

Working with white porcelain

Porcelain is less forgiving than many stoneware clays when it comes to uneven wall thickness, drying too quickly and contamination. For your first porcelain pieces, smaller, evenly built items are therefore a good choice.

• Keep your work surface, tools and hands clean: traces of dark or red clay can show up in unfired porcelain and remain visible after firing.
• Allow thin-walled pieces to dry slowly and evenly, for example loosely covered with plastic sheeting in the first stage.
• Test glazes and the translucency you want on a test piece first.

Firing and shrinkage

The firing range is 1200–1280 °C, with 1220–1280 °C recommended. Up to 110 °C the clay shrinks by approx. 6 % during drying, and in the kiln a further approx. 12 % is added, which stays the same at 1200, 1240 and 1280 °C. Allow for this shrinkage when planning the size of your pieces. Water absorption within the firing range is only approx. 0.1 %, so the clay body is very dense.

Porcelain clay 1101 Audrey Blackman product details

• Manufacturer: Goerg & Schneider, no. 1101 (Audrey Blackman)
• Origin of the porcelain body: England
• Fired colour: white to translucent
• Grog content: 0 %, very fine, smooth particle size
• Use: throwing, handbuilding, modelling
• Firing range: 1200–1280 °C, recommended 1220–1280 °C
• Drying shrinkage at 110 °C: approx. 6 %
• Firing shrinkage at 1200, 1240 and 1280 °C: approx. 12 % in each case
• Water absorption at 1200–1280 °C: approx. 0.1 %
• Thermal expansion (CTE): 67 × 10⁻⁷ °C⁻¹ (20–500 °C, 1240 °C)
• Supplied as: prepared, plastic clay, not for casting
• Contents: 12.5 kg