Gilt Bone China Bough Pot and Cover, 19th Century

• Bone China - Bone china, Also called 'English china", is one of the three types of porcelain, the other two being soft paste porcelain and hard paste porcelain.
  
  Porcelain is an ancient ceramic material, first made in China, hence the common name "china", and the introduction of bone china was to counter the imports of Chinese porcelain.
  
  The initial development of bone china is credited to Josiah Spode, who introduced it around 1800 and it was soon after copied by other manufacturers including Minton, Coalport, Davenport, Derby, Worcester, Wedgwood and Rockingham and the Herculaneum factory at Liverpool.
  
  Spode's bone china was made by mixing ash from cattle bones with feldspar and kaolin, which created a material that was stronger, more translucent, and whiter than traditional porcelain. He began to produce this new type of porcelain in 1796 and it quickly became very popular.
  
  At the time, the process and ingredients were kept secret and were only known to a few manufacturers and were protected by patents.
  
  In the 19th century, bone china became increasingly popular and was widely produced by many manufacturers in England. During this time, it was considered a luxury item and was often used to create fine dining sets and other decorative items.
  
  Bone china is still used in the production of fine porcelain wares, such as tea sets, figurines, and other decorative pieces. His basic formula of six parts bone ash, four parts china stone, and three and a half parts china clay remains the standard English body. It is still considered a luxury item due to its strength, translucency, and whiteness, and is often used for high-end and high-quality porcelain. China.
• Bough Pot - A bough pot is a vessel for holding stems of flowers and branches to decorate an interior, especially a fireplace during summer. They are typically ceramic, often semicircular with a flat back and have a body to hold water. The top has a number of small openings to hold the stems. Often the top lifts off.
  
  The term "bough pot" was common in use in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. During the European summer when the fireplace was not in use the fireplace was decorated with floral arrangements. These arrangements consisted of vessels and pots, The term "bough pot" was a colloquial term and came to mean the pots that were used for decorating the fireplace.
  
  The tulipiere and flower brick are types of bough pots that allow larger numbers of flowers.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Coalport and Coalbrookdale porcelain (England) - ceramics 518
• Coalport porcelain (England), item type - pots and boxes 34