Characterisation of Local Bone Ash for Bone China Production

Abstract

Clay body can be defined as a mixture of clay or other minerals to achieve a specific purpose in the production of ceramics. Among the types of clay that can produce white translucent ceramic products is porcelain. 'Porcelain' is derived from Italian word porselino which means 'piglet'. It is said that the name was given based on a cowry shell which is small and plump like a piglet or porselino and the shell also has shiny transparent finish like porcelain. Porcelain was produced in the 10th century during the reign of Emperor Hou Zhou Shi Zong, China. In 1748 a modification was carried out to the porcelain body by a British ceramic manufacturer Thomas Frye in Bow porcelain factory, London. The new body was known as 'fine porcelain'. He has formulated 45 % cattle bone ash in his porcelain mix to produce finer porcelain body, stronger, lower level of maturity during firing and its translucent effect was even greater. The term 'Bone China' was introduced by Josiah Spode in 1789 from Stoke after he successfully improved the formulation created by Frye. The beauty of bone china product in various forms is interesting enough for people to collect this exclusive product. However, bone china product has becoming an issue for Muslims who questions the materials used such as the permissible status of the bone used in its production. To solve this problem, a research has been carried out to identify the raw materials, the production methods and the way of detecting what type of bone used in the production of bone china.