(Bihar Times) Many years ago , I was invited to Sri Lanka to address a Rotary Club. My hosts were warm and went out of their way to show me the island. Before I was to leave, my host said that they wanted to give me a gift of a Noritake dinner set. I asked instead for the same money to be spent on a watercolour of the then almost unknown painter Senaka Senanayake . We went to his house and I got two beautiful paintings which I treasure today . Two days later , the then President of Sri Lanka, Mr D.B.Wijetunga , asked me for tea and then gave me a Noritake tea set as a gift !
The tea set had “bone china” written on the underside. I paid no attention because , like most people , I thought that bone china just meant that the porcelain was thin , white and expensive with pretty patterns on it. Much later I learnt that bone actually meant bone and I was eating off oxen/buffalo/cow bones. The set now lies in a truck.
Bone china is a type of porcelain first developed in Britain in which bone ash made from ox bone is a major constituent. It is characterized by whiteness and translucency .
How did this come about ? China was the first to invent “china” and it was a major import into England. English manufacturers were keen to produce porcelain of the quality to be found in Chinese imports but they had to no idea of how to make their porcelain translucent and yet tough. The first use of bone ash in ceramics is attributed to Thomas Frye in 1748 in Bow China Works. In 1800 , Josiah Spode of Staffordshire’s Spode porcelain popularised it, by mixing it with kaolin and China stone
.
Unfortunately bone china quickly became a popular commodity for several reasons - The diminishing trade with China caused by very heavy import duties on porcelain (108% in 1799), less merchant shipping available because of the need to sustain naval and military forces overseas, the patronage of the Prince of Wales, leader of taste at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the growth of the professional and merchant classes who provided a market. It was easy for existing factories to convert to making bone china because the processes were the same as earthenware..
So bone china became a type separate from “ fine china” Companies like Minton, Coalport, Davenport , Derby, Worcester, New Hall, Wedgewood and Rockingham soon followed suit. Now it is made all over the world.
Bone china cost more because tons of animal bone have to be bought from slaughterhouses ,cleaned , boiled and burnt in the open Without this ash component, china is not 'bone' china.
Animal bone is first processed to remove any adhering meat It is then treated to remove glue, which is processed and used in applications where glue is used, and also for expensive paper. The raw bone which is left after the meat and glue have been extracted is then heated to about 1000 C at which temperature any residual organic material is burned off . Then it is finely ground with water and mixed with the other ingredients and then shaped into cups, plates etc and fired.
Since much early bone china was issued unmarked, it is often difficult to attribute the pieces. If the porcelain or china as it is commonly called does not have bone china written on it , the best way to make out is to hold up the piece of bone china up to a light and place your hand behind it, you should be able to see your fingers through it. It is the bone that gives the china its transparent whiteness
Spode’s basic formula of 50% bone ash, and 25% each of china clay and china stone remains the same today. In fact , the more expensive and finer the bone china , the higher the percentage of bone.
Should vegetarians use bone china ? Not just vegetarians, should anyone use it is the question.
These are the arguments that people give :
“ The animal is not killed for the bone. This is simply a by product” Animals do die for it. In India, large animals like buffaloes and cows are NOT killed for their meat as only a very small percentage of people eat it. They are killed for their skin and bones. We have the largest leather industry in the world for instance and it only uses cowskin. We do kill animals for the bones. In fact the varakh industry kills cows simply for their intestines.
“You didn’t kill the animal “ But your family members did by buying the bone china. Where there is no demand , there is no production.
“ The china set is very old and has heirloom value. The animals are long dead” That may be true but you can prevent them from being killed now by not creating a demand for them.
You need to minimise your contribution to animal suffering and exploitation. After all most vegetarians use medicines that have been tested on animals and some , like insulin, which are made of animal tissue like cow and pig. But using bone china is unnecessary. Would you eat on animal bones ? The plate is 60 % bone. For me it is on par with using leather, silk and ivory.. Bone china is essentially a decorative item – like wearing bones as beads or having a library of smelly leatherbound books..
Saying that you have it and therefore have to use it is another problem. If you use it, you create a demand for it in another person’s mind when he/she sees it. So put the crockery you have in a trunk and forget about it. I know it would be more practical to say sell it and give the money to a local animal shelter. But that would create a continuing demand. It’s like selling ivory or those dreadful dustbins that people used to make out of sawed off elephants’ legs. Is it possible for you to enjoy a product of something else's pain ?
Now there are companies that are making synthetic bone ash by mixing hydrated lime with phosphoric acid at a particular temperature . Sri Lanka has a factory in a village near Colombo which is making look alike bone china without using bone ash. They use calcium phosphate instead. So look for one of these companies if you absolutely insist on having fine china.
Don’t contribute to animals being used and killed for nonsensical reasons. Don’t be like the Aggarwals of Bharat Potteries in Jaipur who are vegetarians themselves but who take cow and buffalo bones and use it for their bone china factory.
Comments...
I found this article really interesting and informative, although I may not agree with the author’s philosophy completely. I used to wonder why the name “Bone China”, and now I know. I must say that the author has put in a lot of effort and research into this article. Her arguments against the use of bone china are really convincing.
- Pramod
Pramod.Kumar@mathworks.com
To join the animal welfare movement contact gandhim@nic.in
previous
articles...
Infection of Tick disease in Dogs and its cure
Vegetarian diet is the best diet for human beings
Non-Veg Diet causes Dementia
Excuses for being non-vegetarians
Body odour of Non-vegetarians
Feeling Good
MEAT threatens Planet’s Survival
Am I smarter than you ? Yes, if you are a meat eater.
Need to orient educational system to deal with animals
How to Avoid Cruelty to Gold Fish?
How To Make Everyday An Animal day
Are Eggs Vegetarian?
Are You One of these People ?
Use of Animal Fats in Cosmetics Industries
Killing of endangered Species for Perfume Industries
Missionary Campaign to Control Cruelty to Animals- needed
Drink Milk, Get Sick
Parents Create Monsters
The Business of Murder:Factory Farming and the Meat Industry in India
Effect of landscaping of birds on environment
Dangers of killing deep Sea-Sharks for Cosmetic Products
Use of dog in diagnosis of diseases
Sacred Nature of Neelkanth
Cruelty to Polo Ponies
Self-Regulation of Population by Animals
Dangers of Animal meat eating
Arsenic poison in chicken feed
Cruelty to Animals by Govt. Vets
Worship of God with Blood and Suffering of Animals and Birds
Consequences of Chloramphenicol in Shrimp Industry
Hazards of Trade in Peacocks’ Feather
Supreme Court Ban on cruelty to Animals
Are you a Bad Pet Owner?
The Goat That Laughed and Wept
Animal Owners’ personality traits resemble their Pets’
Human Propensities of Goat
Animal
sacrifice at the altar of religion
Animal
as foster parent
Animal
feed from rendering plant
Trade
in WildLife
Human
Intelligence of Birds
Human Propensities of Cow
Comment |