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July Newsletter

Welcome to our July 2011 Newsletter.

Looking to buy a 'Cheap' Cake Stand?

Well don't forget you only get what you pay for! As we did when we tested two cake stands from a certain auction web site recently.

As can clearly be seen in the above picture the central hole is certainly not central. This makes the plate sit at an angle when assembled.

The above picture shows what happens when the wrong drill bit is used. The china chips away from the central hole ~ not what you want to happen on expensive and pretty plates.

This picture shows a chipped central hole and a long skid line where the drill has slipped across the surface of the plate.

Still want to buy a 'cheap' cake stand?

Many sellers do not show pictures of the plates disassembled and make the hole that the centre fitting goes through far too large so that the plates sit at odd angles.

Looking to buy a Cake Stand made by the professionals?

Well now you have come to the right web site.

The above picture shows one of our drilled vintage china plates.

Cake Stand Heaven only sells professionally drilled vintage plates that meet our strict quality control. Each cake stand is assembled and checked for alignment before posting to our customers. We do not use cracked, chipped or crazed plates. We use the same U.K. supplier for our metal centre fittings as the major manufacturers do.

You wouldn't expect anything less would you!

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This month, rather than featuring a particular pottery, we are looking at some common terms used to describe 'Chinaware'.

Porcelain is a Ceramic material consisting of clay (kaolin) and other ingredients which is fired in a kiln at very high temperatures. The content and firing produces a robust and translucent (due to the formation of glass), material. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature than earthenware which makes for a vitrified (the formation of glass) and non-porous body.The name 'Porcelain' comes from the old Italian name for the Cowrie shell which has a translucent surface.

A vintage porcelain milk jug and sugar bowl.

Bone China is a type of porcelain that contains bone ash which was developed by Josiah Spode between 1789 and 1793. The formula of 6 parts bone ash, 4 parts china stone and 3.5 parts china clay was so succesful that it remains the same base for bone china used today. Its strength permits the production of 'Fine' (thinner) bone china items such as beautifully decorated teacups and teaware. The raw materials used in the making of bone china are expensive and production is labour intensive which is why bone china is a luxury item. 

A beautiful example of vintage Paragon bone china.

Earthenware is a ceramic material used for pottery tableware and decorative objects and is one of the oldest materials used in pottery. Red, white and buff coloured clays are used and either biscuit (bisque) fired or glost-fired (glaze-fired). The body is porous and opaque and needs to be glazed in order to be watertight. It is not a strong and more porous than stoneware but it is less expensive and easier to work.

A Sadler earthenware teapot.

Stoneware is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic ware. It has a fine texture and is very strong and durable and is used for kitchenware and cookware. Stoneware is usually fired once but to produce a better quality glaze it is sometimes twice fired. Water absorption of stoneware is less than 1%.

Blue Denmark pattern stoneware cake stand.

The word Ceramic is derived from the Greek keramikos and means 'of or for pottery'. A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by heating and cooling. The earliest ceramics were pottery items made from clay with or withour added substances and hardened in a fire. For our purposes the class of ceramics we are interested in is 'Whitewares' and includes Earthenware, Stoneware, Porcelain and Bone China.

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