Burnt china – 2nd April 2017
Burnt china – 2nd April 2017

Another 18th century inventory that came my way recently made mention of
“Six Burnt China Plates, One Burnt China Tea Pott”
This was a term I hadn’t come across before, and puzzled me. To burn a plate might be careless, but to burn six plates and a tea pot? The items were also of some value, included in a list of the ‘China’ owned by the deceased.
So a little internet searching and I discover that:
“Burnt china” was another term used in the 18th century to differentiate porcelain from pottery.
Good to know.
During the course of my search online I came across the V&A ‘A to Z of Ceramics’ which makes for fascinating and very informative reading (see https://goo.gl/6aaOG4).
Also those interested in tea might be interested to read the publication “Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage, by Rodris Roth” available through Project Gutenberg at https://goo.gl/TMJztJ