Translucent porcelain lighting

I find the use of translucent porcelain in contemporary lighting exquisite. Delicate shapes and monumental forms take on a soft warm glow as they are illuminated from within the unglazed ceramic.
Here are two examples by a company called Diffuse that is based in the UK and owned by Jason and Lucy Boatswain. They slip cast their own porcelain and make pendants, wall lights, lamps and chandeliers. A lot of their pieces are custom designed like the chandelier shown (above), but there are many amazing stock designs to choose from as well.
The Cibola Pendant light by Scabetti (Dominic Bromley) is another striking example of how porcelain lighting can take on a sculptural quality.

What is Translucency?

Translucent materials allow light to pass through them only diffusely, that is, the material distorts the image. Also known as diaphaneity, a commonly used term in mineralogy.
A view through a translucent material is blurry or distorted. Examples of translucent materials are frosted glass, paper (tracing paper), and some kinds of amber. It can sometimes be difficult to identify translucent objects. For example, while it is easy to see the fur of a Polar Bear is white, it takes a truly close look to learn it is also translucent. Opacity is based either on absorption or on reflection of the light falling onto the material.

Maria White Mebane ceramics

Inspired by organic vessels and surfaces, she celebrate natural textures in her art the play of light on water, the unique patterning found on animal ekins, insect wings, the delicate shapes that define a flower in bloom. She is interested in the tiny details of great beauty we see in the natural world and how light interacts with these forms and surfaces. she work in porcelain; throwing, carving and giving each piece a unique, tactile pattern. In some cases, She will sandblast her work to give it a smooth texture like that or river stones. Her intent is that her work asnks to be touched and ultimetely adds to a space whather it is used domestically or decoratively.

http://www.mariawhitemebane.com

A highly translucent porcelain to create forms that give light

Snce 1983, a love of the translucency of fine high-fired porcelain has led to the development of ways to create thrown forms that give light. A more affordable range of porcelain lighting for industrial manufacture is being created using the experience gained through years of handling and firing the material, as well as continuing to make one-off thrown pieces in the studio. In 1999, time at the Wades Porcelain Ceramic Factory in Stoke-on-Trent was spent creating a lit porcelain cast form that could be industrially manufactured.
Sometimes paper and pencil can help to work out how the practical electrical engineering could be incorporated. Sometimes it is through playing with the clay on the wheel and watching what happens when slight changes are made to the thrown shape. It is impossible to say how it all happens.The quality of light and feeling the translucency that high fired porcelain transmits has inspired finding ways of making the work illuminate without showing the mechanical parts. Although this has been a long, difficult and time consuming process, it is one that had to be done as part of the work.

http://www.caa.org.uk/exhibitions/exhibition-archive/2006/take-me-home/margaret-ororke.html

interesting ceramic process

This lamps are made by mixing paper and porcelain clay. In the firing process the paper burns out leaving a delicate, translucent structure; which suffuses any room with a warm glow.

These lamps have been inlaid with a variety of different textures and colours; Extra large sunburst lamp has been inlaid with leaves and stained red and blue. Large explosion lamp has been inlaid with lasagne and stained red and brown. Extra large cowparsley lamp has been inlaid with cowparsley heads. Large stormy lamp has been inlaid with spaghetti and is a mixture of plain and grey clay.

www.lizemtageceramics.com