Another remarkable use for porcelain is the lithophane,
a sheet of porcelain so thin as to be translucent, with artwork etched
into it. The lithophane is thin enough that the art can only be seen
when backlit, but just thick enough that the image can have depth.
Lithophanes began to appear in several parts of Europe in the 1820s, but
they’re believed to have originated in China a millennia earlier during
the Tang Dynasty. Later Ming Dynasty scholars wrote of Tang bowls “as
thin as paper” that included secret images.
Monday, July 8, 2019
Porcelain — An Industrial Espionage Story
1712 A.D. ...a French Jesuit priest named François Xavier d’Entrecolles
pioneered industrial espionage by recording the secrets of porcelain
making while on a trip to China and sending them back to Europe...
Another remarkable use for porcelain is the lithophane,
a sheet of porcelain so thin as to be translucent, with artwork etched
into it. The lithophane is thin enough that the art can only be seen
when backlit, but just thick enough that the image can have depth.
Lithophanes began to appear in several parts of Europe in the 1820s, but
they’re believed to have originated in China a millennia earlier during
the Tang Dynasty. Later Ming Dynasty scholars wrote of Tang bowls “as
thin as paper” that included secret images.
Another remarkable use for porcelain is the lithophane,
a sheet of porcelain so thin as to be translucent, with artwork etched
into it. The lithophane is thin enough that the art can only be seen
when backlit, but just thick enough that the image can have depth.
Lithophanes began to appear in several parts of Europe in the 1820s, but
they’re believed to have originated in China a millennia earlier during
the Tang Dynasty. Later Ming Dynasty scholars wrote of Tang bowls “as
thin as paper” that included secret images.
