Fine Bone China
What is Fine Bone China and How It’s Made
For those households who love throwing dinner parties or often has company coming over, it is important to maintain a presentable home as well as have fine china available. Serving food in fine china adds a sense of luxury and refinement, making eating not only a gastronomic adventure for the mouth and tongue but for the eyes as well.
One of the most revered types of china is the fine bone china. Fine bone china has been around for ages and is found in most households. Numerous processes are involved in making fine bone china. Though its making process are more or less the same as other fine china, what sets it apart is its main ingredient. Unlike other good china, Fine bone china consists of at least 25% bone ash. With this compound, along with china stone and kaolin clay, the china is better in terms of strength, whiteness and translucency. Fine bone china’s qualities include allowing light to pass through it without being totally transparent. One of the ways to check the authenticity of a fine bone china is to hold it up to a light. Then place your hand behind it and if you can see your fingers through the china then it is truly fine bone.
Fine bone china making involves several repetitive steps. First, the bone ash and the clays are mixed together with water. Then the produced slurry are sliced and formed with plaster molds into bowls, cups and dishes as well as other pieces. After the pieces are taken from the molds, they are roughly cleaned to remove excess clay or lumps then placed into a kiln. After being fired, the china pieces are polished, re-fired, glazes and re-fired again, this time to set the glaze. When the glazed is set, the pieces are decorated by hand or by machine and then re-fired again to enable the decoration to set. The completed china pieces are inspected, packaged and sent to various stores. Those pieces which didn’t pass inspection are either sold as “seconds” or destroyed. The intense and complex processes involved in making fine bone china justifies why it is more expensive than other china.
Fine bone china is available in myriad designs, thus making decisions on which on to buy often confusing. Some manufacturers of fine bone china offer designs such as fruit, flowers, animals, geometric designs or swirls. Because of the wide design range, chine buyers won’t have any difficulty mixing and matching their fine bone chine with their current kitchen decor. For those who love the simple, contemporary type of fine bone, plain white pieces with gold or platinum edges are also available.
Fine bone china owners often take great pains in maintaining the shine and overall appearance of their fine bone china. First time users and buyers, on the other hand, should know that only soft cloth and mild detergent should be used in cleaning fine bone china. If it can be avoided, don’t place fine bone china pieces in the dishwasher. The piece might clink against each other and may chip.