Cowrie shell
From Floor Coverings
Contents |
What Are Cowrie Shells?
Where do you find cowrie shells?
Cowrie shells are those compact glowing white and translucent shells you may find on the beach, and they have mottled brown spots around the backs of the shell, but the lip where the shell's owner peeks out to feed, is pure white. They are beautiful shells and prized by collectors for decoration and display. If you see a live creature still inside a shell that has washed up, putting it into a tidal pool would be the best thing so that it can feed and recover. If there is a patch of calm ocean nearby, they can be returned there also. Cowrie shells purchased in a store or online can be used as a display in a bathroom, which can have matching Ceramic Tiles on the floor, or perhaps other natural stone. As a shell is nature's creation, then using natural materials in your home, like ceramic or stone tiles, is a compliment and especially if you want to be as green as you can within your home.
Is Porcelain Made From Cowries?
No, but porcelain comes from the word for cowrie. This is probably due to the cowrie's translucent qualities. Porcelain has been used for centuries to make dinnerware decorative items and it can be a highly prized object that is made from porcelain. Many old world European manufacturers use, or have used porcelain, and it is still used today to make traditional items, plus gorgeously colored tiles for your home. Porcelain is ceramic based but is baked at such a high temperature that it achieves a glassy quality that is much prized. China is also ceramic based but it is not as hard as porcelain because it's baked at a lower temperature. True porcelain originated in China during the Tang dynasty. It became harder a few centuries after that. In the 1700s, two Germans created the first "recreation" of Chinese porcelain. The English invented bone china which has much of the same properties, but is fired at a lower temperature. Actual bones from cattle when turned into ashes were used in this type of china.
What You Can Use Porcelain Tiles For
They are great for backsplashes in your kitchen and this may be the most popular use for these beautiful tiles in today's renovation and building climate. If you choose to have porcelain tiles for you backsplashes or in your bathroom, then a matching ceramic tiles would work wonders on your floors. Ceramic tiles (clay based) are durable and extremely popular for all or some of the floors in people's homes. There is a huge assortment of colors and styles and properties in today's tiles that are produced for use in modern buildings. Some are even antique reproductions, no doubt improved upon but still looking as they might have hundreds of years ago. Study what use and wear you will have for your Porcelain Tile or other types of tiles, and choose what kind you want. Inspired by cowrie shells, today's porcelain tiles and dinnerware and decorative objects, can be as much loved as they were when they first came to light in China, hundreds of years ago.
