Ironstone China

ironstone china, type of stoneware introduced in England early in the 19th century by Staffordshire potters who sought to develop a porcelain substitute that could be mass-produced. The result of their experiments was a dense, hard, durable stoneware that came to be known by several names—e.g., semiporcelain, opaque porcelain, English porcelain, stone china, new stone—all of which were used to describe essentially the same product. The first successful manufacture of ironstone was achieved in 1800 by William Turner of the Lane End potteries at Longton, Staffordshire. In 1805 Turner sold his patent to Josiah Spode the Second, Stoke-upon-Trent, who called his bluish gray ceramic products stone china and new stone. A patent was granted to Charles James Mason, Lane Delph, in 1813 for the manufacture of “English porcelain,” a white ware that he marketed as Mason’s Ironstone China. Job and George Ridgway made a similar product under the name stone china. The wares, usually service pieces and vases based on Oriental shapes, were most often decorated with painted Chinese and Japanese motifs, some of which were executed by transfer printing. An ironstone china called graniteware, or white granite, was a standard of American potteries from about 1860 to 1900.