pottery and porcelain

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Ceramics in domestic and ornamental use, including earthenware, stoneware, and bone china (or softpaste porcelain). Made of 5% bone ash and china clay, bone china was first made in the West in imitation of Chinese porcelain. The standard British bone china was developed about 1800, with a body of clay mixed with ox bones; a harder version, called parian, was developed in the 19th century and was used for figurine ornaments.

Hardpaste porcelain is characterized by its hardness, ringing sound when struck, translucence, and shining finish, like that of a cowrie shell (Italian porcellana). It is made of kaolin and petuntse (fusible feldspar consisting chiefly of silicates reduced to a fine white powder); it is high-fired at 1,400°C/2,552°F. Porcelain first evolved from stoneware in China in about the 6th century AD. A formula for making porcelain was developed in the 18th century in Germany, also in France, Italy, and Britain. It was first produced in the USA in the early 19th century.

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