bone china

Hard-paste porcelain containing bone ash. It was developed by Josiah Spode (1754–1827) in England c. 1800. The addition of bone ash to china stone and china clay (i.e., hard china) made bone china easier to manufacture; it is stronger, does not chip easily, and has an ivory-white colour that lends itself to decoration. Other factories (Minton, Derby, Worcester, Wedgwood, Rockingham) adopted the formula in the early 19th century. Bone china remains popular for tableware in Britain and the U.S. See also stoneware.

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