China has brought the tradition of the dinnerware pieces in the world. With many stages of developments in manufacturing process, eventually led to the mixing of clay and stone to produce the first true porcelain pieces. Many researches and refinements led to the discovery of fireable clear and colored glazes, as well as individualized decoration.
Ceramic Dinnerware is manufactured in various categories using a combination of raw materials, including different types and grades of clay, stone, glass, and bone ash. These are combined with standardized firing temperatures, produce dinnerware types in different categories that include porcelain, bone china, fine china and restaurant china.
Stoneware is made by a combination of unprocessed clays and flux additives. It is baked at high temperatures for durability and chip resistance. It is a non porous ceramic usually colored and includes iron in the clay.
Porcelain was first developed in China during the 9th century. It is produced from high quality clay and is hard, nonporous, translucent and strong white dinnerware. Porcelain can be categorized in two types:
Soft Paste. Made by a combination of white clay and ground glass and baked at a low temperature.
Hard Paste. Made by a combination of china stone and kaolin, and baked at high temperatures. Bone China is made by the use of highly refined clay and bone ash. Usually, most haves about 50 percent bone ash, along with 25 percent china stone and 25 percent kaolin clay. This comes in a variety of designs, as flowers, fruit, geometric designs, lacy swirls, animals, or even holiday motifs. As it involves a labor-intensive process, the products are very expensive. It is whiter in color, lighter in weight, less brittle and translucent.Ironstone China includes all English stonewares and is similar to porcelain, but is not translucent and is sometimes off-white.Fine China is made up of flint, clay and flux materials. It is y fired twice, first at a high temperature and then again to develop the high gloss. It is thin, translucent and vitrified. This is the highest quality dinnerware and is inclusive of bone china, Belleek and some feldspar china. This type of wares are more fragile and less suitable for commercial everyday use.Restaurant China is a type of American china. This uses a combination of fine china and porcelain. As, it is designed for commercial restaurant use, the restaurant china is developed for high impact strength and durability with the low absorption (of water less than 0.5 percent) required for food-safety in commercial food service applications. |
