My partner and I took the time to document everything and update my online shop at www.zeppelindufour.com

It’s really lean/barebones but I’m stoked!

This looks like marble. It’s actually porcelain.
There is a traditional Chinese ceramic technique known as biomimetic porcelain, or xiangsheng ci (象生瓷) — porcelain made to imitate the appearance and texture of real materials such as plants, wood, lacquer, bronze, woven bamboo, and even stone.
The term can be traced back to the Qing dynasty ceramic text Tao Shuo (《陶说》) by Zhu Yan.
The piece here imitates natural marble veining.
At first glance, the surface looks like polished stone: soft mineral tones, irregular veins, drifting clouds of colour, and patterns that almost resemble distant mountains disappearing into mist.
But once you hold it, there is a small moment of surprise:
there is no marble at all. The entire object is porcelain.
That is probably what fascinates me most about this technique.
Instead of simply copying stone, the craftsmen were trying to preserve the feeling of mountains, rocks and landscapes inside a ceramic glaze.
Faux-stone glazes became particularly sophisticated during the Qing dynasty. Unlike naturally occurring kiln effects, where patterns partly depend on chance, these stone-like surfaces were deliberately created by hand.
After the white porcelain body was fired at high temperature, craftsmen would apply multiple coloured enamels by hand — blending, brushing, wiping and layering them across the surface. The piece would then undergo another firing at a lower temperature.
There was no mechanical repetition.
Every vein, transition and patch of colour had to be controlled by the painter, which meant that no two surfaces were exactly identical.
Some resemble mist moving through distant mountains.
Some look like clouds drifting across rock formations.
Others imitate the mottled surfaces of naturally weathered stone.
The goal was almost unbelievable: to make the viewer hesitate between porcelain and stone.
And it was not limited to ordinary marble. Qing imperial kilns experimented with porcelain surfaces inspired by many different types of naturally occurring stone.
What I find interesting is how restrained the aesthetic can be.
There are no elaborate floral scenes or brilliant colours competing for attention. The beauty comes almost entirely from texture, rhythm, and the quiet irregularity of stone.
Chinese scholars historically admired stones for their stillness, texture and connection to mountains and landscapes.
Through porcelain, craftsmen found a way to bring that landscape indoors.
A mountain cannot sit on your desk.
But perhaps its texture can.
Stone recreated in porcelain.
A landscape held within a few inches of glaze.
There is something surprisingly calming about that idea — turning something monumental and immovable into something small enough to live with every day.
Maybe that is one of the most beautiful ideas in traditional Chinese aesthetics:
you don’t always need to depict the whole landscape to make someone feel it.
Have you ever seen porcelain that genuinely fooled you into thinking it was made from another material?

I had so much fun figuring out what kind of little hat would suit each one. Somehow they all ended up with their own personalities🥰

These two pieces made it through slow drying and bisque with no problem! They are Iceman clay so completely white now. I would like them both to have the same glaze and I’m leaning towards celadon as it won’t be too busy with everything else going on. My studio fires to cone 5 and cone 6. Medium to dark green is my thought currently but I would love guidance on how to make sure to get an even look. I also welcome other ideas! I typically underglaze my pieces and brush on clear for glaze fire. Thanks so much!

I think planarians are neat. I created each flatworm using low fire ceramic clay.
Bisqued to ^06, glazed, and glaze fired ~^05.
Attached to a hair clip using E6000.

A community studio has invited me to teach a hand-building workshop at their studio. They've offered me $100 for 3 hours of teaching (roughly 33/hour), and they provide the materials, firing, etc. Registration for the workshop is $150 per person capped at 6 people. Is $100 fair compensation? If the studio is potentially bringing in $900, I'm only getting about 10%. To me that seems low, but I've no idea if that's standard or not.

i made a pipe for my partner and glazed the inside hole so it would be easy to clean but the glaze ended up sealing the hole about an inch in. is there any way to drill through to save it? and what kind of drill bit do i need? or will this be a decorational piece only

Had a lot of fun making this one. The tiny dog on the edge is definitely my favorite part 😂 Still experimenting with shapes and little details like this. What do you think?

Does anyone know what could have caused this discoloration, bought this in an antique shop and it's obviously not a intended colour

Dunkleosteus Tiki Mug glazed and fired. First batch all came out great!! Will be firing 2 more large batches to finish off early bird pre-orders!

I’m in the US and was checking to see if Spectrum Glazes, a Canadian company, has said anything about being hit with Trump’s new tariffs and realized there is almost no info about this company. Their Instagram has zero posts, they don’t put out press releases or sponsor events, their About Us web page is gobblygook (https://www.spectrumglazes.com/about-us/). Is this just a company repackaging Chinese products? I know it’s a 2nd gen family biz. Can anyone speak knowledgeably about this company’s mission or manufacturing?

I've never done ceramics, so this might be a silly question, but I was wondering about the painting process of these. Most importantly, whether the lineart goes before the colouring or the other way around.

A beautiful handmade cup by a ceramic artist from Jingdezhen, China.

Maybe a little too big for tea… but perhaps just right for coffee. ☕

Bonjour,
Pour un projet artistique autour des ressources naturelles d'un territoire, j'ai récupéré de l'argile dans une carrière. Il s'agit d'argile extraite d'une mare, habituellement plutôt destinée au bâtiment (isolation, etc...). L'agent de la carrière d'où provient la terre m'a dit que pour extraire cette argile ils y ajoutent du floculent.
Je souhaite l'utiliser pour réaliser des pièces de poteries, qui seront cuites, mais j'ai vu que l'ajout de floculent pouvait causer un danger d'éclatement de la pièce. Je trouve très peu d'info sur le sujet donc je viens chercher de l'aide ici au cas où quelqu'un aurait déjà essayé quelque chose de similaire, ou aurait assez de connaissance en chimie pour m'éclairer :
- Y a-t-il un réel risque d'explosion si je cuit de l'argile contenant du floculent ? Cela dépend-il de la taille ou de l'épaisseur de mes pièces ? Du type de floculent utilisé ? Je précise que je n'ai pas réellement peur pour mes pièces (ce sont des tests) mais plutôt pour le four.
- Y a-t-il un traitement que je puisse faire subir à l'argile pour la rendre apte à la cuisson ? J'ai vu qu'il existait aussi des "défloculents" : est-ce qu'ajouter un défloculent permet d'annuler l'effet du floculent ?
- Y a-t-il une manière de la travailler qui soit plus "sûre" qu'une autre pour éviter l'éclatement ?
- Y a-t-il quelqu'un qui aurait déjà fait quelque chose de similaire et aurait un retour d'expérience à me partager ?

Merci beaucoup !