Huang Cheng-nan, a ceramicist from Yingge in Taipei County, went to China’s Jing-dezhen some 10 years ago, where he saw for himself the eggshell porcelain bowls of master potter Gao Meisheng. This filled him with the resolve to spend the next 10 years researching how to make porcelain bowls of a thickness no more than 0.1mm.
Huang pointed out that he comes from a family of potters that goes back four generations, and he has personally been studying wheel-throwing techniques for the last three decades. All his effort now goes into making bowls with sides even thinner than an eggshell, or the human hair. Compared to Chinese eggshell porcelains of a similar size, Huang’s bowls are not only half the thickness, but they also weigh only 20g.
The largest bowl that Huang has produced thus far measures 60cm in diameter, and held in the hands feels virtually weightless. If you blow on it, it will rock gently back and forth, just like a dancing porcelain.
According to Huang, although he started researching the technique back in 1999, he only succeeded three years ago, when he made a 30cm diameter bowl with a thickness of 0.8mm.
He remembers that, seven or eight years ago, he was having problems forming the shapes of the bowls, but then he discovered a traditional type of clay from Britain, which he blended with another clay formula and made fine adjustments to the firing temperature. He was then able to successfully make a bowl of only 0.1mm thickness, which was also beautifully translucent, such that you could actually see through it to the writing on the adjacent bowl.
Difficulties during the firing stage meant that, to date, Huang has made less than ten bowls. The president of a listed Taiwanese company was so keen to have some for his collection, he actually offered a Porsche 911 in exchange for five of them.
According to Yu Jan-chi, director of the Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Huang has not revealed the secrets of how he makes his eggshell porcelain bowls, but says it’s very difficult to make these bowls with a thickness of less than 1mm. He has exhibited one of his bowls in the museum before. The bowl was balanced on a web-like cradle in the crux of a branch, and it was really impressive how light it was.
(TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER, liberty TIMES)
台北縣鶯歌鎮陶藝家黃正南十多年前到中國景德鎮參觀，見識到中國薄胎大王高梅生的薄胎碗作品，隨即興起一股不服輸的鬥志，花十年研究做出厚度不到零點一毫米的薄胎碗，技術獨步。
黃正南表示，家裡四代從事製陶，自己鑽研手拉胚超過三十年，目前把所有的心力都放在要做出比蛋殼、頭髮還要更細的薄胎碗，和差不多尺寸的中國薄胎碗相比，他的厚度不僅要薄了二分之一，重量也只有二十公克。
現在黃正南做出最大直徑約六十公分的薄胎作品，捧在手中幾乎感受不到重量，且只要吹一口氣，薄胎碗身就會擺動，如同一件會舞動的陶瓷藝術品。
黃正南說，從一九九九年開始研發技術，直到三年前才首度做出直徑約三十公分、厚度零點八毫米的薄胎碗。
黃正南回憶，最初七、八年他的作品幾乎連成形都有困難，後來找到一種英國古瓷土，再加入其他的配方和精準拿捏燒窯溫度，不僅成功作出零點一毫米以下的薄胎碗，透明度也很好，隔著碗也能清楚看到後面的文字。
由於燒製難度太高，黃正南至今只完成不到十件作品。台灣一位上市櫃公司老闆甚至為了收藏，以一部保時捷911和他交換了其中五件作品。
鶯歌陶博館長游冉其表示，黃正南研發出的超薄陶瓷技術並沒有公開，但能做出一毫米以下的薄胎作品，真的很不容易，先前黃正南曾在館內展示一件薄胎碗，作品還是放在樹枝間的蜘蛛網上，輕薄程度讓人印象深刻。（自由時報記者蔡偉祺）
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