Clarendon tea cream

Bone china

Bone china is a type of porcelain body initially produced in the United Kingdom in which calcined ox bone, bone ash, is a critical part. It is distinguish by brilliant whiteness, strength and translucency. clarendon tea cream may be an example of this procedure.

The first use of bone ash in ceramics is assigned to Thomas Frye in in the late 1740s in which he used it to introduce a kind of soft-paste porcelain. In In the late 18th century, Josiah Spode continued with further developments, and subsequently made it popular, by combining it with kaolin, China stone and china clay to compete with the imported Oriental porcelain.

The initial elemental recipe of three and a half parts china clay, four parts china stone, and six parts bone ash remains the standard English body.

The production of bone china normally involves a two stage firing process where the initial "biscuit" is fired without a glaze at 1280