Tableware

Tableware is the dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining. It includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes.

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China

In the most basic terms, China tableware is a combination of clay, kaolin, feldspar, and quartz. It’s fired up in a kiln and it almost always needs to be hand-washed due to some of its more delicate accents, like gold rimming or hand-painted patterns.

There’s fine china and then there’s bone china. Both originated in China; one, as the name implies, has a bone (usually from a cow) in it.

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Porcelain

China is not porcelain. These two words are often interchanged and the two are very similar, but there’s a difference. Porcelain is fired at a hotter temperature, which makes it sturdier than China.