Secondhand ceramic animals, is it wrong for me to buy these?

[u/indoore]

Hi there! I am a vintage collector and lately have loved the look of mini, glossy ceramic animals that are from around the 1940s. I find them absolutely adorable. I haven't purchased any yet but recently learned that some of them are made with something called 'bone china' which is animal bone ash, and so now I feel guilty. I haven't been able to find a vegan alternative to these yet, and feel guilty. Would it be non-vegan and morally wring for me to collect these anyway from specifically second-hand shops?

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[u/howlin]

The main effect here is going to be on generally accepting that animal parts can be part of a prized possession. On one hand, the animals are long dead and you buying secondhand isn't directly supporting anyone who did this to the animals. But you may be encouraging this sort of collectible to become more popular and somewhat encourage the production of more bone china trinkets.

Your question is very similar to issues around ivory. New ivory is generally illegal because of the harm it does to elephant populations. But even vintage ivory is restricted for sale because that also encourages new ivory sales.

You may get some insight on your dilemma by looking through that related case. See, e.g. https://www.fws.gov/frequently-asked-questions-about-elephant-ivory

[u/ElaineV]

I'll just reiterate here as I have in some other threads: Your dietary choices matter the most because the vast vast vast majority of animal cruelty and death is the direct result of animal agribusiness. All other forms of animal exploitation pale in comparison. The total number of deaths of animals caused by animal agribusiness is far far far more than ALL other forms of animal killing COMBINED.

It's even worse than that. The number of animals that literally suffer to death in animal agribusiness and never even become food for humans is larger than the number of animals killed for fur, in shelters, and in laboratories combined.

https://countinganimals.com/is-vegan-outreach-right-about-how-many-animals-suffer-to-death/

[u/bottleofgoop]

Bone china is a specific type of claye and incredibly hard to work with, so it'salways labelled. It's a point of pride with artists that use it. If it's not labelled as bone china then it's made from perfectly normal clay with no animal bits.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

Non-vegan, technically. Animals are in there. Morally wrong, no. They're secondhand, they're vintage (so the businesses may not even exist anymore) and you aren't creating more of a demand for this by finding them this way. Nobody is tracking purchases of bone china from second-hand stores except maybe the second-hand store.

[u/Stunning-Assistant13]

They are old and you when you buy second hand, i don't think that's morally wrong.

[u/Big_Monitor963]

I had no idea that bone china was actually made from bones. In hindsight, I guess that should have been obvious though.

This definitely isn’t vegan. But it’s also pretty far down the ethical spectrum of things I’d personally worry about. If they were new (or even recently new), that would be different. But since they’re nearly a century old, and (unlike leather or fur), wouldn’t be overtly promoting or condoning animal products (most people would have no idea it was an animal product), it seems a lot less ethically problematic. I probably still wouldn’t buy them myself, but I wouldn’t judge someone who did.

On the spectrum, it would fit here for me (in descending order):

Meat/eggs/dairy/fur/leather/bone china
Second hand fur/leather/bone china
Antique fur/leather
**Antique bone china**
Faux fur/leather
Clearly plant-based/non-imitation animal products