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I have a set of later Rose Medallion dishes (c. 1960-1970). It's service for 12 so at some time they were intended to be used for food. I have read that they are considered 'for decorative use only'. Is this because they are fragile or because the glaze and paint are toxic or carcinogenic?

The latter. The glazes contained poisonous materials if consumed.

thank you for clarifying. appreciate this very much.

During the time frame cited, a goodly amount of ersatz rose medallion made and sold on the planet was transfer-decorated ware produced by ornamentation factories in Hong Kong and Macao. By the early 1970s, some factories in Hong Kong had begun adding warning labels regarding lead content in the glaze, although I believe in the absence of information to the contrary, it is prudent to assume that such transfer-decorated dishes made earlier also had some lead content.

If I understand the problem correctly, Chinese historical ceramic wares always contained varying amounts of lead and other potentially harmful substances in their glazes and decorative pigments. However, it was less of a danger to those using highly vitrified porcelain dishes than pottery, which was fired at lower temperatures, thus was more prone to leach harmful substances into cooking oils and liquids.

Transfer wares made in Hong Kong and Macao before warning labels were introduced often began as Chinese or Japanese porcelain blanks, which posed no lead problems per se; however, the decorative enamels and glazes added by the ornamentation factories proved problematic.

So if you're certain about when your dishes were made, please proceed on the "better safe than sorry" premise.

Best regards,

Bill H.

This is very helpful. Thank you!

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