Tognana’s porcelain undergoes accurate and strict laboratory tests, sometimes performed in collaboration with the Ceramic Centre of Bologna and the “Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro” (Experimental Glass Centre) of Venice.
The superior quality standards of our products are guaranteed by dishwasher resistance tests performed on industrial dishwashers, as well as by abrasion and mechanical resistance tests. Our paints – which we also use to decorate our tableware – are tested by the American Food & Drug Administration and perfectly satisfy the strict U.S. Proposition 65 requirements regarding the presence of heavy metals.Tognana’s porcelain ware also boasts high heat-absorption and slow heat release features, making it ideal to keep food and drinks warm for a long time.
All the products designed for the Ho.re.ca. sector have painted rims and smooth bases to prevent them from scratching tabletops, placeholder plates or other tableware when stacked. For practicality, all the tea and cappuccino cups, soup bowls and mugs can be used with the same saucers.
The manufacturing process applied to porcelain production is accurate and arduous. To the purpose of revealing the consumer’s real needs, tastes and expectations, the production phase is preceded by in-depth market research and meticulous studies on the technical characteristics of ceramic ware.
The final matrix is prepared from an initial idea that is subsequently developed and perfected.
Dies or gypsum moulds are then make from synthetic material or steel, depending on whether they will be used for die-casting, for moulding with mechanical lathes or for pressing with isostatic presses.
Porcelain belongs to the ceramic family.
A ceramic object is anything made from a material containing clay or actually made of clay.
Ceramics can be course of fine.
This difference depends on both the choice of materials and the manufacturing process as well as on the temperature the object is fired at. Products ranging from porcelain to terracotta all belong to the fine ceramic category.
Bone China is a very important type of porcelain that contains bone ash (phosphates) which, in a percentage of 45/470/0 together with 33% kaolin and 20% feldspars, gives the body a very delicate, ivory colour and the end product unique translucency and a lightness that can never be achieved by traditional porcelain.
Porcelain is the most important and prized product of the ceramic family. It is made primarily of kaolin, well-known in ancient China although it reached Europe no earlier than 1700. The main components needed to make a porcelain body are 50% kaolin, 25% quartz and 25% feldspar.
Porcelain’s main properties are its hardness (although it is fragile, porcelain is harder than common steel) and translucency.
These two results are obtained after first firing the body at 980 degrees and then firing it once again at 1400 degrees centigrade. The glaze applied directly to the biscuit – before firing the object for the second time – has the same composition of the body itself but the various elements are used in different proportions. One of this product’s great advantages is that it doesn’t “age”.
Stoneware contains great quantities of clay that can vary but are always greater than 80%. The remaining materials are feldspar and quartz. It is fired and glazed in a single process which is why it is defined as being single-fired.
The glaze colours of the resulting product are warmer and its porosity amounts to approximately 10%.
TIPS FOR USE: in order to prevent the Stoneware products from absorbing the moisture that could create some unaesthetic spots, it is advisable, as soon as the washing phase is finished, to dry them immediately or store them in a vertical position by keeping a distance within them.
Fine stoneware is an important material and is made using “plastic clays” of volcanic origin skilfully mixed with the addition of kaolin (very malleable white feldspar rock). Fired at a high temperature, this mixture achieves a very compact and fully watertight consistency that, in theory, does not require water-proofing coatings.
Majolica is made of a mixture of red clays such as terracotta and is twice-fired like earthenware. The resulting material is generally porous which is why it is coated with fired glaze.
If a self-vitrifying body is used to make the majolica there is no need to glaze it to make it watertight.
Melamine is a synthetic material (polymer) that is produced by the melting of the raw material into powder in a mold. In the stamping phase, decals are applied with hot decorations also composed of melamine and cellulose.
For the table proposals melamine is used for the realization of plates, cups, bowls, glasses and trays and aesthetically similar to porcelain is also presented as a rather light material, resistant to breakage and durable over time. It can be washed in a dishwasher up to 80 ºC, even industrially.
Earthenware is decidedly superior to terracotta and is made of white or ivory, rarely coloured, clay. Lots of objects are made out of earthenware: pots and pans, crockery, ornaments and other objects as well as particularly fine dinner services.
To achieve the finished product the body is fired to obtain the biscuit and then fired again after having applied the glaze.
There are two types of earthenware, i.e. “Soft” and “Hard” and their distinction depends mainly on the different firing temperatures of the clay and of the biscuit, as well as on the different compositions of the glaze.
“Hard” earthenware (ironstone) is definitely the best of the two because the two firing processes are performed at 1200 degrees centigrade against the 1050 degrees used to fire “soft” earthenware.
Terracotta is a simple type of ceramic used since ancient times because it is relatively easy to make.
Once it has been given the desired shape, the clay body is fired once only. This can even be done in a pit (not in a kiln). A clear example of the use of terracotta in ancient times was to make vessels to preserve and transport food.
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