Southern Ice
The New Porcelain

outhern Ice is a new porcelain that has been impressing porcelain artists around the world. Southern Ice was formulated by the Australian ceramist Les Blakebrough, well known for his 'Watercolors on Porcelain' work, and is being distributed by Clayworks, Australia. I was recently sent a sample of this new porcelain body and have had the opportunity to test it.

To start off with, this clay has very good plasticity, much better than the Leach porcelain I am used to using. It will stand up as good or better than any other porcelain when thrown thinly. It's plasticity it is comparable to, if not better than Limoges porcelain. It is very white, without the use - so I am assured by the manufacturer - of bone ash (which is used in Bone China), even in oxidation firings. The secret lies in the pure Australian ingredients. Southern Ice surpasses Coleman porcelain and possibly Japanese porcelain by far in whiteness.

Southern Ice can be fired to cone 10 and beyond. At this temperature, it is not only very white, but also quite translucent. I did not test many glazes with it, but it seems to have a good glaze fit, although this will of course depend on the glazes used.

Overall it can be said that this is an excellent porcelain, especially if you are looking for a higher quality, purer clay body that fires very white. Inquiries may be made via e-mail to the manufacturer Clayworks.

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