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AIBU?

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Original poster

To have not known bone china is made from actual bones?

147 replies

LiIo · 14/08/2022 23:20

Genuinely just found this out tonight. I hope I don’t sound stupid but I’m genuinely surprised. I mean it makes sense given the name but still…!

OP posts:
JuneOsborne · 15/08/2022 00:12

Ffs, it's so hot. Pottery, not lottery!

AppleBottomRats · 15/08/2022 00:12

wherearebeefandonioncrisps · 15/08/2022 00:03

Bone char is often used to make sugar white.
Not all companies but many do.

It’s common in the US but rare in the U.K. fortunately!

frustratedhostage · 15/08/2022 00:16

Yep. The name kind of gives it away.

Neverendingdust · 15/08/2022 00:16

you should try black pudding OP 😏

tootiredforanything · 15/08/2022 00:17

I had no idea!

whalleyt · 15/08/2022 00:19

I had to Google this to see if it was actually true. I had no idea

same 😆

I just assumed bone referred to something else

AnnieSnap · 15/08/2022 00:22

I didn’t know. It never occurred to me and I’m 63 😳

NellyBarney · 15/08/2022 00:24

It never surprised me as bones are so widely used, e.g. in marshmallows, haribos, soap, and traditionally for cutlery handles, wine coolers and much more. I assume restaurants might need offer vegan alternatives for their crockery offers, though.

flumposie · 15/08/2022 00:27

News to me too !😱

Strulch · 15/08/2022 00:27

So I take it bone china wouldn't be used by vegans or is that ok?

AlwaysAWoman · 15/08/2022 00:29

I did not know this!! 😨

Delphinium20 · 15/08/2022 00:33

No idea! I'm middle aged and this is the first I've realized it, but now it makes sense. I just assumed it had to do w/ a metaphor, like 'white as bone' or 'strong as bone' or 'brittle as bone' or was an English spelling of a different word from another language.

IndigoC · 15/08/2022 00:34

I discovered this myself just a week ago when I bought myself a teapot. It’s actually fascinating — it’s a process that evolved here in the U.K. in the 1700s because they didn’t have access to the paste they had in China. Most bone china today is still 40-50% bone ash. It’s apparently what gives it that particular milky translucence (which I used to love).

I went with a fine china teapot in the end, no bone ash.

jazzybelle · 15/08/2022 00:36

Many years ago, I met someone who was a vegetarian or vegan. They would not use bone china plates, cups or anything that was bc.

Meanderingpuppy · 15/08/2022 00:38

I had no idea. But shocked actually, but thank you for enlightening me

ofwarren · 15/08/2022 00:40

It's in the name!
Surely if you weren't sure, you would just look it up?

Germolenequeen · 15/08/2022 00:42

Oh dear Lord - as an avid collector of Art Nouveau and Art Deco ceramics I'm suddenly very aware of bones all around me 😱

AppleBottomRats · 15/08/2022 00:42

Strulch · 15/08/2022 00:27

So I take it bone china wouldn't be used by vegans or is that ok?

I wouldn’t buy it myself. But I wouldn’t check what other people’s crockery was made of when visiting them.

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 15/08/2022 00:45

PersonaNonGarter · 15/08/2022 00:01

Did you go to a creepy Edinburgh Festival show about this at the weekend? I did!

I did know this but what was the show?

Sounds interesting.

Pyewhacket · 15/08/2022 00:49

I guess the clue is in the name 😑

Mothership4two · 15/08/2022 00:56

For some reason I have always known. Also knew that cochineal food colour was made from crushed beetles, but recently found out that the name is no longer used in the UK but it's now called carminic acid or carmines. I thought it had been banned, but I think it was just the name that was banned for some reason.

timeisnotaline · 15/08/2022 00:56

I had no idea, and I love bone china 😮

Mothership4two · 15/08/2022 00:59

@Strulch

So I take it bone china wouldn't be used by vegans or is that ok?

I would doubt it. The vegans I know won't wear leather, so I imagine eating or drinking from something made of crushed bones would be a no-no

LemonSwan · 15/08/2022 01:05

Nope never knew!

Strangely this has bought back memories of searching for a tea set in charity shops and I did once purchase a bone China set which I superglued some fur too to recreate Meret Oppenheims tea set for a school art project. Seems ironically more fitting than I realised at the time.

bumbledeedum · 15/08/2022 01:08

Well there's something I wish I could un-learn...