A typical recipe for bone china clay is:
China Clay 37.5%
Bone Ash 37.5%
Feldspar 20%
quartz 5%
The 'bone' in bone china indicates that the china clay has been mixed with bone ash.
Bone china is made out of clay, not bones. Actually, bone china is made out of clay AND bone ash, which is the white ash produced from the burning of bones in open air. I would assume any type of bone could be used.
Kaolin is the main type of clay in porcelain. Bone china is a porcelain body that has an inclusion of bone ash, calcined animal bone (calcium phosphate), which adds hardness and translucency.
Bone china dishes qualify. They are made from china clay and bone ash.
Kaolin
Kaolin
white clay or Kaolin (which is a clay mineral with the chemical composition Al2Si2O5(OH)4). Other materials mixed with China clay to make porcelain clay have included feldspar, ball-clay, glass, bone ash, steatite, quartz, petuntse and alabaster.
Bone China housewares are made up of 3 main ingredients. They housewares are made up of fifty percent bone ash, twenty-five percent stone, and twenty-five percent clay. The stone and clay amounts can differ depending on where it was made.
Bone china is made of 50% bone ash, & 25% each of china clay and china stone. It is combined with water to make a slurry, which is then fashioned into cups, saucers, plates and so on. The pieces must be fired in a kiln at high degrees of heat (1100c to 1250c) for the china to become hard and strong. It is the bone (usually animal bone, cleaned of all meat and glue) that gives the china its transparent whiteness. The ingredients of bone china are china clay, china stone, silica, alumina, alkalies, lime and bone ash. It is fired at high of 2,300 to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. In the best grades of English bone china, 50% or more of the body consists of refined bone ash prepared from specially selected animal bones which are reduced to a fine powder by heat. The bone is mixed with the finest china clays and highest quality Cornish stone. Specially skilled workers are needed in the manufacture of bone china and the best and most highly skilled in the world are found in the pottery district of England.
50%Bone ash 25% each of china clay and china stone.
China is the country with the largest reserves of clay in the world. The significant deposits present in various parts of China make it the leading producer and exporter of clay globally.
Fine china is made of a white clay made to imitate porcelain. Porcelain is one of the many types of clay used in China. Porcelain is considered valuable because of its white color and translucence. Porcelain is made of three materials: quartz, feldspar & kaolin (refined white clay) fired at a very high temperature. This was first made in China, creating the category "chinaware" In the 1700's the Europeans tried to copy the formula by trial and error. Meissen succeeded. The raw materials were found in Germany and France (Limoges region) and these countries produced porcelain. In Britain, they substituted bone ash for the quartz and feldspar creating bone china. Fine china is a created category, usually referring to bone china and porcelain as opposed to stoneware, ironstone and earthenware which is fired at a lower temperature and prone to chipping and crazing.