Q: Years ago I bought a box full of dinnerware made with rice carefully imbedded and baked into the porcelain. The rice pieces are translucent when the piece is held toward the light. The dishes are white with blue designs and blue dragons in the middle. The bottom of the dishes are marked “Made in China,” and there are Chinese characters above the mark. Can you tell me something about these dishes?
A: Although this type of porcelain is sometimes called “rice” porcelain, it’s not made with rice. The porcelain is pierced to make rice-shaped holes before the first firing. Later the holes are filled with glaze and the piece is refired, creating the translucent rice-like appearance. “Rice porcelain” was first made in China in the 1300s, but the technique may have originated in Persia over a thousand years ago. Rice porcelain has also been made in modern times. The words “Made in” on your dinnerware indicate that your dishes were made after 1915. A 20th-century rice porcelain dinner plate sells for about $10 to $15.