Biscuit porcelain, bisque porcelain or bisque is unglazed, white porcelain treated as a final product, with a matte appearance and texture to the touch. It has been widely used in European pottery, mainly for sculptural and decorative objects that are not tableware and so do not need a glaze for protection.
Bisque bust of 1883, representing the young John the Baptist
Vienna porcelain figure of Joseph II of Austria, c. 1790
Madame du Barry, the bust in biscuit, the pedestal glazed, enamelled and gilt. Sèvres porcelain, 1772.
Attendee at a symposium, all in biscuit porcelain including the Jasperware blue, Real Fábrica del Buen Retiro, Madrid, 1784-1803
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C. The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arise mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. End applications include tableware, decorative ware such as figurines, toilets and washbasins, and products in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware.
Chinese Jingdezhen porcelain moonflask with underglaze blue and red. Qianlong period, 1736 to 1796
A lithophane exploits the translucency of porcelain
Nymphenburg porcelain group modelled by Franz Anton Bustelli, 1756
Soft-paste porcelain swan tureen, 1752–1756, Chelsea porcelain