Many people are confused as to the difference between "china" and "porcelain". Actually, the two terms describe the same product. The term "china" comes from its country of origin, and the word "porcelain" comes from the Latin word "porcella," meaning seashell. It implies a product which is smooth, white, and lustrous.
The term "porcelain" is preferred in Europe while "china" is favored in the United States. China is "at the top of the list" of ceramic products because of its delicate beauty, and the extreme care and skill taken to produce it. China is very delicate in appearance only, as it is known for its great strength and resistance to chipping, which results from a high firing temperature. In making bone china, calcified bone is used as a refractory material and the firing temperature is lower.
Bone china is usually thinner and the glaze is smoother than porcelain china. The glaze, however, is not as durable as porcelain china since it is softer. At the beginning of England's foray into the business of making china, there were six towns in the Staffordshire area that grew famous for china production. These famous towns for china production were Tunstall, Longton, Hanley, Fenton, Burslem and Stoke-upon-Trent; in the towns were combined into one town called Stokes-on-Tent.
Stokes-on-Tent was also known as the Potteries and is known as the birthplace of bone china. Regardless of how old we are, we never stop learning. Classroom is the educational resource for people of all ages.
Based on the Word Net lexical database for the English Language. See disclaimer. Related Articles. Porcelain is commonly known in two forms:. Ball clay has decayed organic material in it, such as ground up dead leaves or plant material.
This allows it to stretch so that when the clay is fired it will not crack. Kaolin allows it to hold together when fired to temperatures necessary to melt it. Feldspar is a very hard rock and gives the ceramic item strength. When hard porcelain is fired, it is non-porous. That is, the ceramic is solid all the way through. When water is applied to unglazed hard porcelain, the water will not penetrate it.
Complex or curvy shapes tend to slump even more. Thus it is difficult to make hard porcelain that is thin and shapes that are not warped. For this reason, the English created bone china. Bone ash allows the clay to be produced thinner and slumping does not occur in the oven. It is possible to make porcelain that is translucent because of this thinness. However, bone china is porous, is fired at lower temperatures and therefore is more fragile that hard porcelain.
The addition of bone ash gives bone china a warm color, while fine china will be a brighter white. Porcelain is a much more durable material, and is much harder than either type of china. Article Continued Below. You may also like. Popular Posts.
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