Plate design and perception

None of the studies below tested bone china. They tested plates and bowls of different colours, shapes and weights. We include them because they show which properties of tableware matter — and some of those are properties bone china has.

Colour

White versus black. In a laboratory study at the Universitat Politècnica de València with Oxford collaborators, 53 people rated identical strawberry mousse. Served on a white plate it was rated significantly more intense and sweeter, and was liked more, than on a black plate. The shape of the plate made no significant difference (Piqueras-Fiszman et al., Food Quality and Preference, 2012).

It depends on the dish. When the same team tested three desserts on white or black plates in a real restaurant, plate colour mattered, but the effect varied by dessert — one was rated slightly more appetising on black (Piqueras-Fiszman et al., Flavour, 2013).

Colour and shape together. A follow-up with cheesecake found that colour and shape interacted: white round plates raised ratings of sweetness and intensity, while black square plates raised some overall quality judgements (Stewart & Goss, Flavour, 2013).

Weight

Heavier bowls. Fifty adults tasted the same yoghurt from three bowls that looked identical but differed in weight. From the heaviest, they rated it significantly denser, nicer and more expensive (Piqueras-Fiszman, Harrar, Alcaide & Spence, Food Quality and Preference, 2011). The authors described this as “sensation transference”.

But expectations matter. In a later study of plastic spoons, yoghurt tasted from a lighter spoon was rated denser and more expensive than from artificially weighted spoons (Harrar & Spence, Flavour, 2013). What people expect an object to weigh shapes how they react to it.

Arrangement

Studies with Jozef Youssef’s dishes found consistent preferences: angular elements pointing away from the diner, and a dominant line on the plate ascending to the right (Youssef et al., 2015, summarised by Spence).

Contrast and portion

Colour contrast between food and plate has been linked to how much people serve themselves: in one study, low contrast — white sauce on a white plate — led people to serve more (van Ittersum & Wansink, reported in Piqueras-Fiszman et al., 2013).

Where bone china fits

Designers value bone china for qualities the research shows tableware can carry: a warm, bright white ground; a fine, smooth surface; precise thin rims that frame food; and the ability to carry colour well. These are reasons it is an interesting material for considered tableware. They are not evidence that bone china makes food taste better, and the Institute does not claim that.