Craftsmanship as a Gift: An Introduction to the Production Process of Dehua CeramicCrafts and Gifts
Dehua porcelain sculpture is famous the world over. In the Ming dynasty, He Chaozong's "He School" porcelainsculpture carried "China White" to its golden age, with figurines of Guanyin, Bodhidharma and others crossing theoceans to become treasures coveted and gifted by European royalty and aristocrats. Today, Dehua's ceramic crafts andgifts - Buddhist figurines, Zodiac ornaments, tea and incense ware, scholarly desk pieces, and corporate custom gifts-carry on the thousand-year tradition of kiln fire and sculpture, and have been codified in the local standardTraditional Sculptural Porcelain Craftsmanship (DB35/T 2210-2024), whose process covers raw material preparation,forming, surface decoration, glazing and firing.
From a lump of clay to a finished piece, a craft gift travels through six major stages and dozens of processes.
I. Conception and Modeling: The Spirit Comes First
Creation begins with an idea. First the theme is chosenGuanyin, Guan Gong, Maitreya, the twelve zodiac animals,
landscape ornaments, tea pets -then sketches are drawn and a clay model is built: a small prototype is shaped fromporcelain cay, with proportions, posture and expression adjusted again and again. As the saying among masters goes"building the clay model is the truest test of craftsmanship - a figurine's expression and the flow of its robe folds are
all settled at this stage. Once the design is finalized, it is divided into sections and blocks, ready for mold making.
II. Sculptural Forming: Figurines Shaped by Hand
Forming is the soul of a craft gift, and there are three main approaches:
Hand-shaping directly from clay: suited to small pieces under 10 cm, the fingers themselves perform the traditionalrepertoire of "pinching, molding, carving, rubbing, shaving, scraping, joining, wiping and incising" to work the highlyplastic clay into a vivid form;
· Sculptural forming: plastic clay is built up at key points, pushed and pressed with sculpting tools to make thestructure more accurate and the volume more pronounced;
The traditional "coiling" and "hollowing" methods: techniques handed down from He Chaozong's school -coiling builds the torso by piling coils of clay from base to top, while hollowing shapes the body from solid clay andthen excavates the interior with a bamboo knife, before the head, hands, feet and robe folds are finished with
techniques of pinching, joining, carving, stacking, pressing and incising.
III. Mold Making and Slip Casting: From One Figurine to a Thousand
Gifts often need to be produced in quantity, so molds are made. The finished sculpture is disassembled into head, body
and base, each part split into front and back sections, from which plaster molds are cast (traditionally fired clay moldswere also used) and dried for use; when assembling, the mating surfaces are wetted and joined with clay slip to unitethe parts into a whole. Mass production uses slip casting: white porcelain slurry is poured into the mold, the plasterabsorbs water to form the walls, the excess slip is poured out, and the green body is demolded. Most premium gifts
combine "master mold + slip casting + hand finishing."
IV. Trimming and Opening the Face: The Touch That Brings It to Life
After demolding, the body must be seam-scraped and trimmed. The most demanding step is opening the face andcarving the robe folds -metal or bamboo tools are used to incise the facial features, hair strands and garment creasesso that the proportions are harmonious and the expression comes alive; the surface is then polished smooth with a tooltraditionally called a "lizi" (smoothing blade). The body is then air-dried naturally; even, uniform drying is the key to
preventing cracks.
V. Bisque Firing: A First Trial by Fire
Some products are first bisque-fired at low temperature (about 700-900°C) to burn off organic matter and strengthenthe body, making glazing and painting more secure; sculptural porcelain may also follow a route of high-temperature
bisque firing (above 1250°C) before glazing.
VI. Glazing: Donning "China White"
Glazing is applied by dipping, pouring or spraying. Dehua white porcelain traditionally uses a glaze made from natural
plant ash, giving an even, lustrous, jade-like coating. Gift porcelain commonly uses classic tones such as ivory white, lard
white and mutton-fat jade, and may also take blue-and-white or colored glazes.
VII. High-Temperature Glaze Firing: The Kiln Fire Decides All
As the ceramic trade saying goes, "success is three parts making and seven parts firing". The ware is packed into the kiln
(traditionally in saggers) and follows a curve of heating, soaking and cooling; sculptural porcelain is glaze-fired mostlybetween 1250 and 1400°C, with Dehua white porcelain often exceeding 1330°C. The kiln atmosphere determines the
tone: an oxidizing flame yields ivory white, a reducing flame yields scallion-root white; a slip in the firing can destroy a
fine piece in an instant.
VIII. Secondary Decoration: Gold Tracing and Overglaze Painting
After the glaze firing, pieces move to secondary decoration: gold tracing (painting patterns with gold liquid), overglazepainting, decals, gilding, cloisonne-style enamels and more, followed by a low-temperature decorating (muffle) firingat about 700-800°C to fix the colors. The gilding on zodiac ornaments, the gold-traced robe edges on Guanyinfigurines, and the custom engraved inscriptions on gifts are all completed at this stage.
IX. Kiln Unloading, Quality Inspection and Grading
The ware is color-checked, hand-selected and graded: each piece is inspected for warping, cracking, pinholes, glazebubbles and color deviation. Masterpieces are individually numbered, and defective pieces are rejected outright-theynever enter the gift boxes.
X. Bases and Gift Box Packaging: The Gift Is Complete
Craft gifts observe the rule "a fine horse deserves a fine saddle": they are mounted on rosewood bases, packed in
brocade or wooden gift boxes with shock-absorbing foam lining, and accompanied by collection certificates and theartist's signature; corporate custom gifts also carry brand marks and blessing messages before being labeled, boxed
and shipped.
From a lump of clay to a piece of "China White," producing a craft gift is a long dialogue between skill and kiln fire. Itcarries on Dehua's thousand-year sculptural tradition while baking the warmth of gift- giving - blessing, respect andheartfelt intention - into vessels that are warm and jade-like to the touch.
