Bone China, Reality and Alternatives

Yes there are bones in your plates

Introduction

Whenever we go to a shop to buy nice crockery, tea sets, plates, etc. the shopkeeper presents a material which is light on weight, translucent, thin, creamy white, and no doubt stronger. This material is nothing but bone china. Sometimes we directly ask for bone china crockery as it sounds good and looks nice.

So let’s have a look at the reality of bone china. This information will help you to decide whether you should use bone china or not.

What is bone china

Bone china is a type of porcelain that is composed of feldspathic material, kaolin, and bone ash. Feldspathic material is a rock-forming aluminum tectosilicate mineral containing sodium, calcium, potassium, barium. Kaolin is a clay mineral and the third component is of course bone ash.

If we talk about the formulation of bone china then in it 25% cornish stone, 25% kaolin, and 50% bone ash are used. However, the percentage of these materials can vary. The higher the percentage of bone ash, the costlier the material is.

The UK was the largest producer of bone china earlier but now China has taken its place. Other producer countries of bone china are Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Indonesia, and Thailand. In India, Rajasthan is the hub for the production of bone china.

Whose bones and why bones

In bone china, mostly cattle bones(leg bones of cows, oxen, and buffaloes) are used as they have lower iron content. The bones are collected from the slaughterhouses and brought to the factories for further processes. The cattle bones are used because they mix well with clay material.

Moreover, bones are used to make the product lighter, whiter, stronger, and thinner. Porcelain is called bone china when it contains at least 25% bone ash. The history of using bone ash in porcelain is interesting.

Even it is said that the bones of humans are also used in bone china.

How to identify bone china products

The method of identifying bone china products is very simple. This method can be called the light method. To test your product you just need to hold the cup or plate up to a light (bulb light or sunlight). Now place your fingers behind the products and check whether you are able to see your fingers through them or not. As bone china products are translucent, fingers must be visible through the item.

Although we can find the identity of the product printed on the item, sometimes it becomes less clear after some time. Also, people are becoming aware so it happens that companies do not print the real identity of bone china on products or sometimes things are sold to us at more prices by calling them bone china. So it is better to prepare ourselves and know the alternative method.

Should we use bone china products or not?

After looking into the process of bone china production we are clear that the companies use a large amount of cattle bones. So we can say that it is our perspective now.

Some people are religious who worship cows and oxen. Whereas, some people are indifferent who are fine with these practices. So some can eat on these dishes and some can not.

Some people are vegetarian and some are vegan, so it is not a good choice for these kinds of people. So they can simply find the luxury in other materials.

And in my opinion, I can say that although the bones are collected from the slaughterhouses when these bones add some more money in a butcher’s or any trader’s account along with meat and leather’s money then we can guess somewhere more animals are being slaughtered. So why not we can go with other good options.

What are the alternatives to bone china crockery?

It doesn’t matter if we don’t use bone china, we can still enjoy serving food in our beautiful crockery sets made with other materials. We have many options these days, like:

Crockeries made with glass

Tableware of stainless steel

Or as we use traditionally the bronze utensils.

We can also use crockeries made up of porcelain, clay, or we can use earthenware that does not contain any bone and look as good as bone china.

This topic can be a matter of discussion. Please share your opinion as well so that we can broaden our perspective further. Also, you can share this article if you think that someone there should know about it.

Thanks for your read……… :)