The first development of what would become known as bone china was made by Thomas Frye at his Bow porcelain factory in East London in 1748. But it was Josiah Spode in Stoke who perfected the formulation of bone china and it quickly proved to be highly popular.

From its initial development up to the twentieth century, bone china remained almost exclusively an English product, with production being effectively localised to Stoke-on-Trent.