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Would you like to know how our ornaments are made?
In 1996, the local newspaper ran a feature on Marvin and Eleanor Siewert, the owners of MarEll Porcelain:
"On a quiet country road .....the spirit of Christmas lives year round. Eleanor and Marvin Siewert , of Mar Ell Porcelain, create holiday magic.... There home run business is more than a money making venture , it is a lifestyle".
Porcelain is a liquid. It has to be well mixed as it is a form of clay. When doing this you also have to try not to get air bubbles in it and you must let it sit for awhile after mixing, best of all over night.
A mold is used for the shape you want. The mold is two or more pieces to form the shape. It is opened up and brushed out with a soft brush. You have to be sure there is no dust within the mold. The mold is put back together and held together with large rubber bands.
Porcelain is poured into the mold filling the mold to the top. The molds are made of a special plaster. This plaster pulls the liquid out of the porcelain mix. As the porcelain thickens, the level drops in the mold so that you have to keep adding the liquid porcelain to the mold as the level goes down.
The porcelain is left in the mold until it is the right thickness and then the excess is poured out.
The mold must than sit and cure for about a half hour before it can be opened. The piece is very wet and soft and must be handled very carefully.
It is laid on cotton and covered to dry slowly. It takes about a week for it to be dry enough to have the seam lines and any defects cleaned off.
It is now placed in the kiln to be fired which takes on average 7 to 8 hours. ( By contrast ordinary ceramics are fired for 3 - 3 1/2 hours.) When it comes out and has cooled for 12 hours it must be sanded smooth, which takes about 45 minutes an ornament. It is then glazed and fired again, about a 4 hour fire. The next step is to put the decal on and then that has to be fired for about another 3 1/2 hours. Sometimes I can put the gold writing on after the decals, it depends on the shape, other wise there has to be a gold firing. The ornaments are than capped and gold string put on.
As you can see, our electric bill is something else!
We have about 375 - 400 different molds. We attend several craft shows throughout Michigan so why not e-mail us ornaments@marellporcelain.com for more information about when we will be in your area. Or Go To Our Show Listings Page.
Back To MarEll Porcelain Ornaments Home.
Go To Our Favorite Links
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Would you like to know more about the History of
Porcelain and
Christmas Ornaments?
http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/shofu/index_e.html
Kutani Porcelain
Digital Archives of Ishikawa, Japan
http://www.trocadero.com/stores/blueand
whiteamerica/aimari.htm - Imari Porcelain
http://artistictile.net/pages/Info/Info_Porcelain.html
- A history of Porcelain William C. Gates, Jr., M.A., Curator and Historian, Ohio Historical Society.
http://davidfryerstudios.com/manuf/history.htm
- A Potted History of Porcelain by David A. Fryer
http://crockeryinfo.dux.ru/history.htm
- History of Porcelain from WIACS
http://www.capodimonte.com/history.html
- The history of Capdimonte
http://www.artbookservices.com/subjects/
ceramics/1851491554.html
- A Collector's History of British Porcelain
book for sale
Christmas Ornaments
http://people.delphi.com/mariachristm/trees.html
- THE CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF
THE CHRISTMAS TREE
http://members.aol.com/TourHomes/victorian.html
- Christmas Traditions
http://www.holidays.net/christmas/story.htm
- The History of Christmas
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