Golden-Edge Bone China Mug and Saucer

A bone china mug with a matching saucer, finished with a gold rim.

Bone china is the thinnest and whitest of the porcelains, and translucent enough to hold against a light. That matters here because a gold rim on a thick, opaque body looks applied; on a thin translucent one it looks like part of the piece.

It is also, counter-intuitively, harder and more chip resistant than ordinary porcelain of the same thinness — the bone ash in the body is what gives it that strength.

One firm limit: a gold rim is a surface decoration. Hand wash it. A dishwasher cycle will dull the gold long before anything happens to the china underneath.

• Bone china: thin, white and translucent
• Gold rim: reads as part of the piece, not applied to it
• Harder than porcelain: the bone content is what does that
• Mug and saucer: a cup that stays at the table
• Hand wash: a dishwasher dulls gold
• Tea or coffee: sized for either

Details

Why shop Maison's Kitchen

• Free shipping to Canada and the United States, with no minimum order.
• 30-day returns — send it back for a full refund.
• Tracked — every order ships with a tracking link.