Application

Décors can be applied onto the porcelain by manual painting or spraying and printing techniques. Nowadays, manual painting is mainly used in manufactories. In industrial production, mainly gold, platin and silver ornaments are applied manually. With the spraying technique, larger coloured areas are sprayed onto the porcelain manually or with a machine. The decorating method which is most used involves decals, which are applied onto the surface of the porcelain prior to firing. They allow for nearly unlimited freedom of design and detail.

Decoration types

There are three kinds of décors: underglaze, inglaze and onglaze. For underglaze decoration, the colour is applied to the porcelain prior to glazing. After firing, the colour is completely covered by the glaze. Inglaze and onglaze decoration are applied after firing and glazing, onto the glazed white porcelain. Due to the consecutive firing, the inglaze décor sinks into the soft glaze and is completely surrounded by it, whilst onglaze only superficially connect to the glaze.