If you are collecting figurines you will need some idea of how they are made and the traditional methods used to make them. A few were modelled directly in the porcelain mixture and then they where fired, but the mixture was not  suitable for modelling figures.

In both the East and West the normal practice has been to have a master-mould in clay or wax, then take a mould from it and then make casts in porcelain from the mould.  This procedure made it possible to create an unlimited number of figurines from the same master model, as well as being cheaper also makes a high percentage survival rate of any figurines.

Many figurines have been damaged or destroyed throughout the years, but thanks to there reproduction in multiples some people own at least one copy of the really fine ones.  Moulding and casting a figurine was not an easy process.  The mould maker first would cut up the Master model, for example separating the head, arms and legs from the torso, then moulds were taken from each piece and used to make clay casts, finally the workman who at the time was called a repairer, put together the parts and glued them together with slip ( A creamy paste made by mixing clay and water) After this the figurine was ready for firing.

Another method of moulding was slip cast, which was used in three important factories these being Chelsea, derby and Longton Hall.  This involved putting together the moulds into the complete figure and pouring in the slip.  The plaster mould gradually absorbed the water in the slip causing the clay to build up on the inside walls of the figurines mimicking the original model at the right time any excess slip is poured out and then the mould is removed.

Whatever moulding method that was used, there where always details that needed to be moulded separately. Or maybe moulded by hand and attached to the figurine by hand using slip.   We come to the base which is often an elaborate element in the final figurine and was moulded separately.  Because the porcelain shrinks in the heat of the kiln a hole was made in the figurine, allowing gas to escape.

The shape and  placing of the holes often helped the expert determine where certain a figurine was made.  Finally the modeller who was the most important person involved in making the figurines, if his work is crude or uninspired, even the greatest expertise in moulding, repairing and firing will produce no more than a second rate model.

Modellers had to be technicians as well as artists,  they had to anticipate shrinkage in the kiln, and create poses that would be elegant without overstraining the materials.  Until modern times there was no way of completely removing any impurities from the clay, and figurines were liable to sag or lean if they were not supported, this was true of soft paste porcelain figurines and accounts for the frequent presence of tree stumps or rocks and other features whose soul function was support the figurines, this was carefully disguised.  The 18th Century was known as the golden age of European porcelain