Dinnerware pattern

Bone china

Bone china is a type of porcelain body first produced in the UK in which calcined ox bone, bone ash, is a critical constituent. It is distinguish by high whiteness, translucency and strength. dinnerware pattern may be an example of this process.

The first use of bone ash in ceramics is associated with Thomas Frye in 1748 in which he used it to develop a kind of soft-paste porcelain. In Towards the end of the 18th century, Josiah Spode undertook further developments, and consequently made it popular, by mixing it with china clay, kaolin and China stone to compete against the imported Oriental porcelain.

The original elementary formula of six parts bone ash, four parts china stone, and three and a half parts china clay still remains the standard English body.

The manufacture of bone china consistently uses a 2 stage firing where the initial "biscuit" is fired without a glaze at 1280