Bone China: A history, companies that use it, and the benefits of it.
English manufacturer's of fine china still use ox bone ash, however many china manufacturer's recently have been using other compounds to make fine china. Ox bone still makes some of the best china, and also allows the addition of more colourful patterns to the china. Though not as hard as true porcelain, bone china is more durable than soft-paste porcelain. The bone ash also greatly increases the translucence of the porcelain. You can put these plated under light and see how much ox bone ash they have, just by seeing how much light goes through. English fine china makers such as Royal Doulton, still use this for china even today. Before bone china, English China manufacturer's made fine soft-paste porcelain at Chelsea, Derby, and Bow. These china patterns were mostly styled after Continental and Oriental designs.
A Short History on Bone China
Prior to English porcelain, English china manufacturer's and potters were using hard-paste and soft-paste porcelains. J.Spode II (1754-1827) was the first to use ox bone to create a hybrid form on hard-paste porcelain china, called bone china. Bone china is a form of hard paste porcelain because it is a mixture of 25% china clay, 25% Cornish stone, 50% bone ash in its standard formula. Bone china became the English porcelain for several reasons. It was less liable to loss in firing than soft paste porcelains which contain glass. The firing temperature was much lower (1250º C) than for hard paste porcelain (1400º C). Thus, potters could use their existing methods and ovens. Also, the brilliance of enamel colours and gold was greater than on other porcelains.
Properties and Benefits of Bone China
Bone China, made from a hybrid hard-paste porcelain containing ox bone ash has the following properties:
- Bone China is extremely hard, and is stronger than hard-paste porcelain (due to the addition of the ox bone ash) and easier to manufacture.
- Bone China has a beautiful ivory white appearance which distinguishes it from hard-paste porcelain. (This is also is created by adding bone ash to the ingredients for hard-paste porcelain).
- Bone china is intensely white and will allow light to pass through it. You can check the quality or percentage of ox bone ash in a china piece by putting it up to a light source. The higher the quality of fine china, the more light that you can see through the fine china plate or piece.
- It is calcined bone which gives traditional English bone china its translucency and whiteness.
- The amount of calcined ox bone also allows the addition of more colourful patterns (or more colours to stain the china), thus bone china is usually has most the most exquisite patterens of all china, and those usually are the more expensive and costlier ones.
In conclusion, calcined ox bone china is still used by many English Fine China manufacturer's even today, and the properties of this china allow for some of the most unique, beautiful, and expensive Fine China pieces in the Fine China world.
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