All experienced collectors know that with Chinese porcelain the mark is the last to be looked at. Identifying Chinese porcelain items, including evaluation of age and/or manufacturing period, always involves, among other, shape, decoration and other reference points.
How to identify Chinese porcelain?
When visually identifying Chinese porcelain, the Shape is the first thing meeting the eye. A short glance over a vase or jar, for example, often allows an expert of Chinese ceramics to assert or discard the possibility of a Chinese object being antique.
What is the difference between porcelain and bone china?
Porcelain is also created in much the same way, but it’s fired at a higher temperature and the end result is much harder. Bone china is, as its name suggests, made from cow bone.
What does bone china look like?
To the naked eye, bone china does not look bright white as fine china or porcelain. Bone china has a warmer off-white color than porcelain. The words bone china are often marked on the underside of a piece of bone china. Porcelain looks bright white to the naked eye and it is more durable and weighty when compared to bone china.
How can you tell if a porcelain figurine is glazed?
Look for an exposed piece of porcelain that does not have glaze over it. With fewer impurities in the clay, porcelain hardens with a melted, glass-like surface after firing before glazes are added. If you can find a place with no glaze, as on the bottom of the figurine, note the clay's hard, translucent and mirror-like quality.
What is the difference between porcelain and fine china?
Fine china is made from kaolin, a type of white clay. Porcelain is also made from kaolin, but the firing temperature is higher than that of fine china, making it more durable. The word porcelain derives from the Latin word porcella, which means seashell.
What is difference between porcelain and bone china?
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. "Bone china" starts the same way as porcelain china but includes an extra ingredient, bone ash.
How can you tell if it's porcelain?
Pottery is opaque; light does shine through a piece of porcelain. Pottery breaks in a line. Porcelain is thinner, lighter and more stain-resistant. If you hold a pottery plate in one hand and a porcelain plate in the other, you will find the porcelain is colder and the pottery is heavier.
How can I tell if I have real china?
Flip each plate over and check out the backstamp. It often has the manufacturer's name, the pattern name, and even the date. If it says “Fine China” or “Bone China,” your piece is the real thing for sure.
Which is more expensive porcelain or bone china?
In summation, bone china is a type of porcelain distinguished by the addition of bone ash during the manufacturing process. It is more expensive than most porcelains. However, it is important to note that some fine china pieces are pricier.
How do you know something is china?
Tips for Determining Type If you can see a lot of light coming through the piece, you most likely have china with bone ash in it. Examine the color. Noritake also notes that the color of bone china tends to be more ivory than white. If your piece is pure white, it is more likely to be hard or soft porcelain.
How can you tell if porcelain is unmarked?
Identifying Unmarked Porcelain Essentially, porcelain is translucent and relatively lightweight. One can identify it by tapping the piece lightly. Porcelain produces a comparatively louder sound than other types of chinaware.
How can you tell the difference between porcelain and enamel?
Difference Between Porcelain and Enamel The finish is as durable as the one on your car, although much thicker, and like a car finish, it can chip and crack. However, with proper care, an enamel finish can last for years. Porcelain is basically ceramic that has been fired at high heat to make it smooth and nonporous.
How can you tell if a plate is porcelain or ceramic?
The main difference between ceramic and porcelain dinnerware is that ceramic dinnerware is thicker and more opaque than porcelain, which has a delicate and translucent appearance. Moreover, ceramic dinnerware is more suitable for casual, everyday place settings while porcelain dinnerware is ideal for formal dining.
How do I find my Chinese makers mark?
Hallmarks or Maker's Marks Also called backstamps, these markings may be found on the bottom of a vase or figurine or on the bottoms of china plates, saucers or cups.
How do I know if my china is valuable?
Look on the bottom of saucers, dishes and cups for hallmarks or monograms. Just because ceramic china dinnerware looks old, it doesn't mean that it's valuable. Spider cracks in glaze coats can happen during the firing process and not just come from age, which makes spidering a questionable identification technique.
How do I find out how much my fine china is worth?
In general, the value of fine china depends on the brand, condition, location, and age. This may go without saying, but an older, antique piece of china will command a higher price than newer pieces. The location or origin can also help determine its value.
Introduction
From our website, we found that many people are interested in identifying bone china and porcelain. They want to know how to tell the difference between them. In this article and video, we are going to share with you some tricks we use to, hopefully, they will help you. Let’s get started.
Method 1
The most common method we use is by using the torch on our phone. Everyone got the phone by the side, right? Now, take a close look. We will switch the torch on and Let’s put the torch underneath the mug, and see what will happen.
Method 2
Here comes the 2nd method, by listening to the sound when knocking on.
Method 3
The 3rd method would be comparing the weight, if we compare the same size, same shape bone china mug and porcelain mug, the mug that made of bone china would be much lighter, don’t take it wrong, the thinner one is actually stronger, as that’s the bone china’s feature, delicate and strong.
Method 4
Another way we usually use is by checking the appearance of the mug, bone china mugs are of high whiteness level, gives people a warm feeling, and it has a thinner texture than porcelain. It’s hard to pick up on video, you can check the below pictures.
Conclusion
A nice cup and saucer can make a cup of tea taste better, as when it comes to ceramic, the better choice is bone china. I hope the above article can help you with identifying bone china and porcelain. Leave me a message if you have related questions.
What is the magic word in Chinese art?
Ming: The magic word in Chinese works of art. The everyday person has once or twice heard the term, ‘Ming’ or ‘Ming Dynasty’. It is possible that it can be associated with being the most valuable. However, this is actually not always the case.
How much is a bowl from the Republic Period worth?
Yet a bowl from the Republic Period, which is post-1911, painted by a famous enameller or exterior porcelain painter, may be worth several hundred thousand dollars .
What is the search for the rare?
The search for the rare. The pieces that are deemed valuable are scarce in numbers . We investigate how many of the objects were made and how many survived. It is quite rare for a piece to be unique, meaning that it is a one-off, standalone object. In most cases, the pieces were produced in large quantities.
Why is bone china not porcelain?
It is not porcelain because it is not fired in a temperature as high as porcelain. In fact, fine china has the same ingredients at porcelain but it is not fired at as high a temperature as porcelain, nor is it as durable as porcelain either. What to Look For. To the naked eye, bone china does not look bright white as fine china or porcelain.
What is fine china?
For instance, a porcelain mixture that is fired at 2,200 degrees F or 1204 degrees C would be called fine china. Fine china is not bone china and it is not porcelain. It is not bone china because there is no bone ash in it. It is not porcelain because it is not fired in a temperature as high as porcelain.
What is bone china called?
Bone china. Bone china goes by more than just one name. Bone china is sometimes called hard paste porcelain with bone ash even though it is not really porcelain and sometimes bone china is called fine china. Here is the real deal on bone china: Bone china has a specific percentage of, what else?, bone or bone ash.
What materials are used to make bone china?
Materials used in the making of bone china include bone ash, quartz, kaolin, feldspar, silica, etc. This mixture is then either sculpted or molded into a desired shape or form and readied for firing. The formed piece is then fired in a temperature-monitored kiln.
What is oyster plate made of?
Many pieces like oyster plates are made of porcelain. Of course, just to confuse the issue, over time other manufacturers produced a third type of related ceramic that has some attributes of porcelain. For instance, a porcelain mixture that is fired at 2,200 degrees F or 1204 degrees C would be called fine china.
How much bone is used in bone china?
In bone china, there is typically anywhere between 30% to 45% of animal bone used in the mixture. The type of animal bone that is used is most commonly cow bone, however other types of bone are also ground down and added to a bone china mixture.
Is bone china valuable?
Both bone china and porcelain can be very valuable depending on the specifics of the piece, age, maker or manufacturer, and condition. Get an online appraisal of your bone china or porcelain piece from Dr. Lori. Post navigation.
What is the difference between bone china and porcelain?
The same manufacturing processes are used in making fine china, but without the bone content. Porcelain is also created in much the same way, but it’s fired at a higher temperature and the end result is much harder.
How to tell the difference between fine china and bone china?
The addition of bone ash gives bone china a warm color, while fine china will be a brighter white. If you hold the china up to the light, you’ll see that bone china has a translucent quality compared to fine china.
How much bone is in porcelain?
The quality of the finished product is based on how much bone is in the mixture; a high-quality bone china should contain at least 30 percent bone and can go as high as 40–45 percent. Porcelain has been around since around A.D. 620; more modern methods and mixtures started to be used around A.D. 1279. Originating in China, the earliest porcelains ...
What is the temperature of porcelain?
The firing process is what creates either porcelain or fine china. If the temperature is high—around 1,455° Celsius (2,650° F) —the finished product is much more durable and is known as porcelain.
How does bone china work?
The first causes the product to shrink, and about 20% of the pieces that are made will crack and break at this stage. The second firing happens after the piece is glazed, and melts the glaze into the piece.
Where did porcelain originate?
Originating in China, the earliest porcelains used kaolin (a type of clay) and pegmatite (a type of granite). Early European versions used clay and ground glass. In 1707, German manufacturers started using feldspar instead of glass in a process that continues today. In today’s porcelain, silica is also added to the raw ingredients.
Is porcelain stronger than fine china?
Fine china is much softer than porcelain, making it much more suitable for applications such as plates and cups. Porcelain is strong enough and durable enough that it’s suitable for a wide range of industrial applications such as electrical insulators. Bone china undergoes two firing processes.
How to tell if a porcelain figurine is earthenware?
The easiest way to identify porcelain figurines as opposed to earthenware or stoneware figurines is to examine the piece. Porcelain figurines have a delicate, fragile quality to them and are somewhat translucent, whereas, stoneware or earthenware figurines are not. Look for an exposed piece of porcelain that does not have glaze over it. With fewer impurities in the clay, porcelain hardens with a melted, glass-like surface after firing before glazes are added. If you can find a place with no glaze, as on the bottom of the figurine, note the clay's hard, translucent and mirror-like quality.
What is porcelain made of?
Items made from porcelain, a type of white clay with kaolin as its main ingredient, belong to the broader field of all ceramics. The term "ceramic" simply means an item made of clay and solidified through heat. In other words, all items made from clay and put into a kiln are called ceramics. In this group, you find three basic clays: earthenware, ...
What is hard paste porcelain?
Artisans used a variety of clay recipes to make figurines and other ceramic items over the years. Hard-paste porcelain includes feldspathic materials within the paste, but after firing, it retains a glassier texture than soft-paste porcelain does. Soft-paste porcelain is also softer when roughed with a file, as it is fired in a kiln ...
Why are porcelain figurines lighter than ceramics?
And because of the higher mineral content, sand and debris present in earthenware and stoneware , porcelain figurines are much lighter than figurines made from their ceramic counterparts. Porcelain is also more durable because of the high temperatures it undergoes during kiln firing.
What color is earthenware?
Earthenware may appear white-, gray- or terra-cotta-colored based on the iron content in it when not covered with a glaze. Stoneware dries from light gray or tan to dark gray or brown. Stoneware and earthenware have coarser textures than porcelain when you compare unglazed areas. av-override. ‒‒:‒‒.
Does porcelain harden after firing?
With fewer impurities in the clay, porcelain hardens with a melted, glass-like surface after firing before glazes are added. If you can find a place with no glaze, as on the bottom of the figurine, note the clay's hard, translucent and mirror-like quality.
What is the difference between bone china and porcelain?
Both porcelain and fine bone china have a white glassy surface, but bone china is lighter, stronger and more translucent than porcelain. When china dishes are thick and heavy, they more than likely contain red, ...
When was porcelain made in China?
Fine porcelain china was first made for the royal families in China during the Song Dynasty between 960 and 1127 A.D. after the discovery of a material called kaolin clay that fires at higher temperatures and creates glass-like white porcelain.
Where did Meissen porcelain originate?
Another high-quality, old porcelain china, Meissen, bears the name of the region in which it originated — the Saxony state in Eastern Germany — where production began in 1710. An American entrepreneur, David Haviland, opened a factory in Limoges to make china dishes to sell to U.S. customers in 1842, marked with Haviland and Limoges, ...
Introduction
Method 1
- The most common method we use is by using the torch on our phone. Everyone got the phone by the side, right? Now, take a close look. We will switch the torch on and Let’s put the torch underneath the mug, and see what will happen. We can compare the two mugs’ looks. The porcelain mug looks dark overall, with some area relatively bright while the rest area is dark, it is …
Method 2
- Here comes the 2nd method, by listening to the sound when knocking on. First, hold the mug you want to identify on your palm, gently, not firmly, and use another mug to knock on it and listen carefully. We can also use another mug to knock, and listen again to avoid mistakes. When we knock the porcelain mug, the echo is short and the sound is sharp and strong, while when we kn…
Method 3
- The 3rd method would be comparing the weight, if we compare the same size, same shape bone china mug and porcelain mug, the mug that made of bone china would be much lighter, don’t take it wrong, the thinner one is actually stronger, as that’s the bone china’s feature, delicate and strong.
Method 4
- Another way we usually use is by checking the appearance of the mug, bone china mugs are of high whiteness level, gives people a warm feeling, and it has a thinner texture than porcelain. It’s hard to pick up on video, you can check the below pictures.
Conclusion
- A nice cup and saucer can make a cup of tea taste better, as when it comes to ceramic, the better choice is bone china. I hope the above article can help you with identifying bone china and porcelain. Leave me a message if you have related questions. If you have a bone china products developing project, click here to find moer about bone china products production process, or lea…