Can you tell me why everybody calls their best porcelain table service "china"?
There's an excellent and historical reason why we refer to Mom's best Thanksgiving porcelain dinner plates and service as "china." Up until the middle of the 18th century, the West and the New World (us) didn't have a clue how to make that marvelous ceramic that is a clay but, after firing, is amazingly strong yet has glass-like properties -- including translucence! The secret formula for making porcelain was the sole domain of the East. In fact, in China it was a state secre