Porcelain

Porcelain is the most refined of the common clay bodies, made from finely processed materials with little to no grog or coarse particles, which gives it that smooth, bright white surface potters and buyers both recognize instantly. Fired hot, usually in the cone 6 to cone 10 range, true porcelain can vitrify to the point of becoming slightly translucent in thin sections, letting light glow softly through a wall held up to a window, a quality earthenware and most stoneware simply cannot match.

That same fine particle structure that gives porcelain its beauty also makes it notoriously less forgiving to work with than stoneware. With little grog to provide structure, porcelain is softer and more prone to slumping, warping, and cracking on the wheel, especially for anyone still learning to center and pull walls evenly, and it dries and shrinks more than most stoneware bodies, which raises the odds of cracked handles or warped rims if drying is rushed. Many experienced throwers describe porcelain as unforgiving of hesitation, since it responds to the smallest inconsistency in pressure.

For that reason, most teachers steer complete beginners toward a forgiving stoneware body first and suggest porcelain once basic centering and pulling are reliable. When buying porcelain, look for a formulation described as throwing porcelain if the plan is wheel work, since some porcelain bodies are blended specifically to be a little more workable at the cost of a small amount of the pure translucency, which is a reasonable trade for anyone past the very beginning stage but not yet fighting for perfect technical porcelain.