The Art of Lakeshore - "How Fine Bisque Porcelain is Created"
 

The process of hand-crafting your lovely new fine bisque porcelain horse from The Lakeshore Collection, Ltd., requires a level of craftsmanship, attention to detail, precision and artistry beyond many other fine collectible mediums.  But it is this hand craftsmanship and the properties of fine bisque porcelain itself, with its unique strength & longevity, that makes pieces from the Collection truly heirloom-quality and gives them their uncommon realism, elegance & beauty.
The molding process is not at all like creating, for instance, a plastic model of a horse, where molten plastic is injected into a steel mold and a formed model is created.  With plastic or resins, the model can then be “cold painted”, and after drying, any little “goofs” or mistakes can be easily touched up.  With fine bisque porcelain, you truly only have one chance to get everything correct---and many chances for failure. No horse from The Lakeshore Collection, Ltd. can ever come out of the mold in one single piece---the cast but unfired fine bisque porcelain is simply too brittle as legs, heads, ears & tails would break off.  Plastics, resins, & even earthenware “chinas” all have a little “give” which allows the craftsperson to gently move legs, for instance, back into proper position after unmolding.  So the process begins by taking the sculpture and cutting it apart at strategic locations---typically around twelve individual pieces or sections per horse!  A clay mold (the negative) is then made for each individual piece, body, leg, tail, etc. section.  These negative molds are then used to create blocks, or master molds, which contain several various individual parts or sections of the entire piece.     Fine bisque porcelain starts as a “slip” of “fine serial” ground clay, kaolin, cobalt, etc. particles mixed with water to about the consistency of cream which captures even the tiniest details such as lip wrinkles or vein detail.  The actual production, or “waste” molds are made of porous clay, which is very soft, loses detail easily & can only be used a few times & subsequently must be discarded.  Therefore, the blocks, which don’t lose detail, are used over & over to make MANY production mold sections, assuring that each casting retains all of the original detail of the sculpture. The molding process is not at all like creating, for instance, a plastic model of a horse, where molten plastic is injected into a steel mold and a formed model is created.  With plastic or resins, the model can then be “cold painted”, and after drying, any little “goofs” or mistakes can be easily touched up.  With fine bisque porcelain, you truly only have one chance to get everything correct---and many chances for failure. No horse from The Lakeshore Collection, Ltd. can ever come out of the mold in one single piece---the cast but unfired fine bisque porcelain is simply too brittle as legs, heads, ears & tails would break off.  Plastics, resins, & even earthenware “chinas” all have a little “give” which allows the craftsperson to gently move legs, for instance, back into proper position after unmolding.  So the process begins by taking the sculpture and cutting it apart at strategic locations---typically around twelve individual pieces or sections per horse!  A clay mold (the negative) is then made for each individual piece, body, leg, tail, etc. section.  These negative molds are then used to create blocks, or master molds, which contain several various individual parts or sections of the entire piece.     Fine bisque porcelain starts as a “slip” of “fine serial” ground clay, kaolin, cobalt, etc. particles mixed with water to about the consistency of cream which captures even the tiniest details such as lip wrinkles or vein detail.  The actual production, or “waste” molds are made of porous clay, which is very soft, loses detail easily & can only be used a few times & subsequently must be discarded.  Therefore, the blocks, which don’t lose detail, are used over & over to make MANY production mold sections, assuring that each casting retains all of the original detail of the sculpture	The Lakeshore Process (Click on each Image to ENLARGE) Primed for Molding Bisque Porcelain Paint Test on Bisque Finished Lakeshore "Marshall"
The slip is poured into porous clay production molds which are placed in room-sized “dryers” on racks & shelves to allow enough water to evaporate out of the castings so each section or piece can be individually removed and handled without breaking, bending, running or falling apart.  Skilled craftspeople must then hand-assemble each horse from the dozen or so individual pieces.  Then mold lines where the sections meet must all be laboriously & individually hand-smoothed prior to the initial firing at heat so high earthenware would only be a pile of dust in the bottom on the kiln! Prior to firing, the umolded & assembled bisque porcelain is only about as hard as stiff leather.  It is during the high-heat firing that fine bisque porcelain gains its unique great strength, “melting” and bonding together at a molecular level, which allows the finish pieces to survive little bumps and falls that would send many “china” pieces to the trash can!  During the “melting” phase of firing, fine bisque porcelain actually gets SOFTER than stiff leather, more like stiff Jell-O, BEFORE it hardens!  Have you ever wondered why you may see many fine bisque porcelain human, dog or cat (many times sitting or lying down or on a base) figurines but very few horses?  Because of the high disproportionate weight of the body on those long, skinny legs, during firing they cannot not bear all that weight or keep it standing upright & they can collapse!  Therefore specially created “stilts” of the same bisque porcelain (to allow for expansion & contraction during firing at the same rate) must be used on every horse to prevent them from collapsing! Even with this precaution, variations can still occur which are outside of the stringent inspection criteria and 15-20% of the fired pieces are scrapped and thrown away at this point! The next phase for each piece is the hand-painting process. Although they are fine for use with resins & plastics typical “paint” generally sits on a surface which can chip or rub off. These paints will not durably or permanently bond to the surface of fine bisque porcelain,.  Paints may dry a tiny bit lighter or darker, with little variation.  Painters can touch up any missed spots or “goofs” on a plastic or resin with a little paint from the same batch & there’s usually no noticeable difference.  To give Lakeshores so much durability that you’d have to chip, break, or abrade the surface to remove color, specialized “china paints” & glazes are used, then heat-fired, typically in layers.  These paints & glazes are not at all consistent like house paint or food coloring because they are usually made of finely ground, pulverized rocks, clays, silica, mica, natural materials, minerals & pigments and the like.  These ground particles are mixed with an emulsifier, usually oil-based, so they can be hand-applied like paint. Due to their natural composition and the required heat, it is not nearly as simple as letting paint dry.  It is not at all unusual that a color will change---turn more yellow, brown, red or pinkish—upon heat-firing.  The same glaze can turn out a different color entirely, get darker or lighter, or even change texture just by firing it a second time or at a different temperature.  This makes “touch ups” virtually impossible, as you’d end up with two noticeably different shades. China paints may also become more or less opaque upon firing.  When a piece is fired, ridges left by a brush stroke will result in lighter/darker striations.  A tiny dark or light particle mixed & hidden in the paint may “bloom” to make a tiny pin-prick of white or black commonly seen on “china” pieces.  Though variations occur due to the materials & process, any out-of specification pieces are, of course, destroyed. No machine can match the artistry and care of skilled artisans to produce such beautifully-shaded, quality, realistic work; therefore, each and every Lakeshore piece is entirely hand-painted. As an additional safeguard against oil absorption or other stains leeching into the surface & ensuring your heirloom-quality Lakeshore piece retains its beauty for centuries, they are sprayed with a water & oil-proof sealant that acts like a clear-coat on an automobile as a “sacrifice layer” and further protection. All this care, hand-crafting & painting, and uncommon attention to detail ensures that your fine bisque porcelain pieces from The Lakeshore Collection, Ltd., will provide you with a lifetime of beauty and enjoyment and become heirlooms treasured for years to come. GiftHorse Gallery is honored to offer The Lakeshore Collection to help you build your own fine collection of Bisque Porcelain. Click Here to purchase these Limited Edition pieces. Written by Cindy Neuhaus