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