Bone china

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Staffordshire bone china covered chocolate cabinet cup, with enamels and gilding, c. 1815-20, Victoria and Albert Museum BLW Bone China Chocolate Cup.jpg
Staffordshire bone china covered chocolate cabinet cup, with enamels and gilding, c. 1815–20, Victoria and Albert Museum

Bone china is a type of vitreous, translucent pottery, [1] the raw materials for which include bone ash, feldspathic material and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from calcined animal bone or calcium phosphate. [2] Bone china is amongst the strongest of whiteware ceramics, and is known for its high levels of whiteness and translucency. [3] [4] Its high strength allows it to be produced in thinner cross-sections than other types of whiteware. [3] Like stoneware, it is vitrified, but is translucent due to differing mineral properties. [5]

Contents

In the mid-18th century, English potters had not succeeded in making hard-paste porcelain (as made in East Asia and Meissen porcelain), but found bone ash a useful addition to their soft-paste porcelain mixtures. This became standard at the Bow porcelain factory in London (operating from around 1747), and spread to some other English factories. The modern product was developed by the Staffordshire potter Josiah Spode in the early 1790s. Spode included kaolin, so his formula, sometimes called "Staffordshire bone-porcelain", was effectively hard-paste, but stronger, and versions were adopted by all the major English factories by around 1815. [6]

From its initial development and up to the latter part of the 20th century, bone china was almost exclusively an English product, with production being very largely localised in Stoke-on-Trent. [7] Most major English firms made or still make it, including Spode, and Worcester, Royal Crown Derby, Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, and Mintons. In the 20th century it began to be made elsewhere, including in Russia, China, and Japan. China is now the world's largest manufacturer.

In the UK, references to "china" or "porcelain" can refer to bone china, and "English porcelain" has been used as a term for it, both in the UK and around the world. [8]

History

The first development of what would become known as bone china was made by Thomas Frye at his Bow porcelain factory near Bow in East London in 1748. His factory was located very close to the cattle markets and slaughterhouses of London and Essex, and hence had easy access to animal bones. Frye used up to 45% bone ash in his formulation to create what he called "fine porcelain". [7] [9]

Plate from Ronald Reagan's state service for the White House, by Lenox Reagan-343.jpg
Plate from Ronald Reagan's state service for the White House, by Lenox

Later, Josiah Spode in Stoke-on-Trent further developed the concept between 1789 and 1793, introducing his "Stoke China" in 1796. He died suddenly the year later, and his son Josiah II quickly rechristened the ware "Bone china". [10] Among his developments was to abandon Frye's procedure of calcining the bone together with some of the other raw body materials, instead calcining just the bone. Bone china quickly proved to be highly popular, leading to its production by other English pottery manufacturers. [11] Both Spode's formulation and his business were successful: his formulation of 6 parts bone ash, 4 parts china stone and 3.5 parts china clay, remains the basis for all bone china. It was only in 2009 that his company, Spode, went into receivership before eventually being purchased by Portmeirion. [7] [12]

Production

Raw materials

The traditional formulation for bone china is about 25% kaolin, 25% Cornish stone and 50% bone ash. [13]

The bone ash that is used in bone china has traditionally been made from cattle bones that have a lower iron content. These bones are crushed before being degelatinised and then calcined to around 1,000 °C to produce bone ash. [14] The ash is milled to a fine particle size. [15] The kaolin component of the body is needed to give the unfired body plasticity which allows articles to be shaped. [3] This mixture is then fired at around 1200 °C. [15] The raw materials for bone china are comparatively expensive, and the production is labour-intensive, which is why bone china maintains a luxury status and high pricing. [7]

The use of hydroxyapatite compounds, derived from rock sources, rather than bone ash has seen increased use since the 1990s. If used appropriately the resultant ceramic material conforms to accepted definitions of bone china, and the properties and appearance are indistinguishable from those using naturally derived bone ash. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Mineralogy

Bone china consists of two crystalline phases, anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) and β-tricalcium phosphate/whitlockite (Ca3(PO4)2) embedded in a substantial amount of glass. [20]

Production locations

For almost 200 years from its development bone china was almost exclusively produced in the UK. During the middle part of the 20th century manufacturers in other countries began production, with the first successful ones outside the UK being in Japan: Noritake, Nikko and Narumi. [21] [22]

In the Soviet Union, bone china was produced at the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. Production started in 1969. [23]

In more recent years production in China has expanded considerably, and the country is now the biggest producer of bone china in the world. Other countries producing considerable amounts of bone china are Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. [21] [22] [24]

From the start of the first factory, Bengal Potteries, in 1964, bone china output from Indian factories had risen to 10,000 tonnes per year by 2009. [25] Rajasthan has become a hub for bone china in India, with production in the state totalling 16-17 tonnes per day in 2003. [26]

Lenox was the only major manufacturer of bone china in the United States, [27] and supplied Presidential dinner services to the White House. [28] [29] The factory closed in March 2020. [30]

Cultural issues

In the 21st century, so called Islamic or halal bone china has been developed using bone ash from halal animals. [31] [32]

Due to the use of animal bones in the production of bone china vegetarians and vegans may avoid using or purchasing it. [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pottery</span> Craft of making objects from clay

Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a potter is also called a pottery. The definition of pottery, used by the ASTM International, is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products". End applications include tableware, decorative ware, sanitary ware, and in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware. In art history and archaeology, especially of ancient and prehistoric periods, pottery often means vessels only, and sculpted figurines of the same material are called terracottas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porcelain</span> Ceramic material

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C. The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arise mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. End applications include tableware, decorative ware such as figurines, toilets and washbasins, and products in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earthenware</span> Nonvitreous pottery

Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below 1,200 °C (2,190 °F). Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ceramic glaze, and such a process is used for the great majority of modern domestic earthenware. The main other important types of pottery are porcelain, bone china, and stoneware, all fired at high enough temperatures to vitrify. End applications include tableware and decorative ware such as figurines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoneware</span> Term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature

Stoneware is a broad term for pottery fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. End applications include tableware, decorative ware such as vases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Whieldon</span>

Thomas Whieldon was an English potter who played a leading role in the development of Staffordshire pottery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josiah Spode</span> Founder of the Spode pottery works (1733-1797)

Josiah Spode was an English potter and the founder of the English Spode pottery works which became famous for the high quality of its wares. He is often credited with the establishment of blue underglaze transfer printing in Staffordshire in 1781–84, and with the definition and introduction in c. 1789–91 of the improved formula for bone china which thereafter remained the standard for all English wares of this kind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spode</span> English brand of pottery and homewares

Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two important techniques that were crucial to the worldwide success of the English pottery industry in the 19th century: transfer printing on earthenware and bone china.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creamware</span> Cream-coloured, refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body

Creamware is a cream-coloured refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body, known in France as faïence fine, in the Netherlands as Engels porselein, and in Italy as terraglia inglese. It was created about 1750 by the potters of Staffordshire, England, who refined the materials and techniques of salt-glazed earthenware towards a finer, thinner, whiter body with a brilliant glassy lead glaze, which proved so ideal for domestic ware that it supplanted white salt-glaze wares by about 1780. It was popular until the 1840s.

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Soft-paste porcelain is a type of ceramic material in pottery, usually accepted as a type of porcelain. It is weaker than "true" hard-paste porcelain, and does not require either its high firing temperatures or special mineral ingredients. There are many types, using a range of materials. The material originated in the attempts by many European potters to replicate hard-paste Chinese export porcelain, especially in the 18th century, and the best versions match hard-paste in whiteness and translucency, but not in strength. But the look and feel of the material can be highly attractive, and it can take painted decoration very well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hard-paste porcelain</span>

Hard-paste porcelain, sometimes called "true porcelain", is a ceramic material that was originally made from a compound of the feldspathic rock petuntse and kaolin fired at a very high temperature, usually around 1400 °C. It was first made in China around the 7th or 8th century and has remained the most common type of Chinese porcelain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedgwood</span> English pottery and porcelain manufacturer

Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapidly successful and was soon one of the largest manufacturers of Staffordshire pottery, "a firm that has done more to spread the knowledge and enhance the reputation of British ceramic art than any other manufacturer", exporting across Europe as far as Russia, and to the Americas. It was especially successful at producing fine earthenware and stoneware that were accepted as equivalent in quality to porcelain but were considerably cheaper.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus Ware</span>

Lotus Ware is a type of porcelain produced from approximately 1892 to 1896 at the Knowles, Taylor & Knowles (KT&K) pottery of East Liverpool, Ohio, United States. It is thought that the name may have originated from a comment made by the owner, Isaac Knowles, asserting that the glaze of the pieces resembled the glossy sheen of lotus blossom petals. These ceramics were ranked at the top at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, where they won every prize for fine porcelain. It is generally considered to be the finest porcelain ever produced in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mintons</span> English pottery company (1793–2005)

Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, decorative techniques, and "a glorious pot-pourri of styles - Rococo shapes with Oriental motifs, Classical shapes with Medieval designs and Art Nouveau borders were among the many wonderful concoctions". As well as pottery vessels and sculptures, the firm was a leading manufacturer of tiles and other architectural ceramics, producing work for both the Houses of Parliament and United States Capitol.

This is a list of pottery and ceramic terms.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biscuit (pottery)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceramic art</span> Decorative objects made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery

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The Turner family of potters was active in Staffordshire, England 1756-1829. Their manufactures have been compared favourably with, and sometimes confused with, those of Josiah Wedgwood and Sons. Josiah Wedgwood was both a friend and a commercial rival of John Turner the elder, the first notable potter in the family.

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Ceramics. A. E. Dodd & D. Murfin. The Institute Of Minerals & Maney Publishing. 1994
  2. ↑ By The British Pottery Manufacturers' Federation, and quoted in Dictionary Of Ceramics. Arthur Dodd & David Murfin. 3rd edition. The Institute Of Minerals. 1994-1995.
  3. 1 2 3 Ozgundogdu, Feyza Cakir. “Bone China from Turkey” Ceramics Technical; May2005, Issue 20, p29-32.
  4. ↑ 'Trading Places.' R.Ware. Asian Ceramics. November,2009, p.35,37-39
  5. ↑ What is China? As with stoneware, the body becomes vitrified; which means the body fuses, becomes nonabsorbent, and very strong. Unlike stoneware, china becomes very white and translucent. Archived 2015-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Honey, W.B., Old English Porcelain: A Handbook for Collectors, p. 4-5, 410-411, 1977, 3rd edn. revised by Franklin A. Barrett, Faber and Faber, ISBN   0571049028
  7. 1 2 3 4 'Trading Places.' R.Ware. Asian Ceramics. November,2009, p.35,37-39.
  8. ↑ Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, p. 130, 1975, OUP, ISBN   0198661134; Faulkner, Charles H., "The Ramseys at Swan Pond: The Archaeology and History of an East Tennessee Farm, p.96, 2008, Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2008, ISBN   1572336099, 9781572336094; Lawrence, Susan, "Archaeologies of the British: Explorations of Identity in the United Kingdom and Its Colonies 1600-1945", p. 196, 2013, Routledge, ISBN   1136801928, 781136801921
  9. ↑ "Science Of Early English Porcelain." I.C. Freestone. Sixth Conference and Exhibition of the European Ceramic Society. Vol.1 Brighton, 20–24 June 1999, p.11-17
  10. ↑ "Spode Museum Trust:The First Spode Period 1776-1833". Archived from the original on 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  11. ↑ Karwatka, Dennis. "Josiah Spode and His World-Famous Pottery." Tech Directions; Apr 2009, Vol. 68 Issue 9, p12-12.
  12. ↑ "Stoke kilns fired up for Spode again". Staffordshire Sentinel. Nortchliffe. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  13. ↑ Birks, Steve. “Bone China” The Potteries. 17 Feb. 2003 <http://www.thepotteries.org/types/bonechina.htm>
  14. ↑ ‘Production Of Bone Ash For The Manufacture Of Bone China.’ Industrial Ceramics. No.843,1989, p.767-770
  15. 1 2 Whitewares: Production, Testing And Quality Control. W.Ryan & C.Radford. Pergamon Press / Institute Of Ceramics, 1987
  16. ↑ 'Skeletons In The Cupboard. Asian Ceramics February 2013
  17. ↑ 'Bones Of Contention. Asian Ceramics. April 2004
  18. ↑ 'The Case For Synthetic Bone China. Asian Ceramics And Glass, July 2000
  19. ↑ 'Replacing Bone Ash In China. D.Gratton. Journal Of The Canadian Ceramics Society 65. No.4. 1996
  20. ↑ ‘Pottery Science – materials, process and products.’ Allen Dinsdale. Ellis Horwood. 1986.
  21. 1 2 'Cup And Sources- Asian Tableware Leads The Way'. Rohan Gunasekera. Asian Ceramics July / August 2013.
  22. 1 2 Skeletons In The Cupboard. Asian Ceramics. February 2013.
  23. ↑ "Костяной фарфор Императорского фарфорового завода" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  24. ↑ Bangladesh Tableware. Asian Ceramics February 2012.
  25. ↑ Indian Bone China - Serving Up Opportunities. Asian Ceramics. March 2009.
  26. ↑ Bulls In The China Shop. Asian Ceramics. Asian Ceram. February 2003.
  27. ↑ https://eu.heraldtimesonline.com/story/lifestyle/home-garden/2013/07/06/making-lenox-china-for-the-white-house/47166979/
  28. ↑ https://www.lenox.com/pages/about-us
  29. ↑ https://eu.fayobserver.com/story/news/2014/12/01/china-presidents-made-in-n/22168015007/
  30. ↑ Zisko, Allison (2020-04-21). "Lenox CEO Discusses N.C. Factory Shutdown". Home Furnishing News. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  31. ↑ Shirazi, Faegheh, Brand Islam: The Marketing and Commodification of Piety, p. 17, 2016, University of Texas Press, ISBN   1477309462, 9781477309469, google books
  32. ↑ The Use of Ceramic Product Derived From Non-ḥalal Animal Bone: Is It Permissible From the Perspective of Islamic Law?. Mohd Mahyeddin Mohd Salleh et al. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2017, 7(3): 192-198
  33. ↑ "Vegetarian Society - Fact Sheet - Veggie Aware A-Z". The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom Limited. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
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