Broken China Mosaic Tiles (Pique Assiette)

Created from an old Oxford and USA plate. 

It is unfortunate whenever a favorite piece of china accidentally breaks. The dish is less desirable and appears inadequate. Save cracked and chipped dishes instead of tossing them into the trash. Use them to create beautiful and potentially profitable projects.
Broken china mosaics range from complex intricate pieces of art to practical items. Another name for broken china mosaic art is Pique Assiette. If you plan on creating broken china projects, especially, if you mean to break the dishes yourself prepare a work area first.  Read more about preparation here, How to Plan for Making China Mosaic Tiles. 

Breaking China

It is not necessary to use tile nippers when breaking the dishes into workable pieces. Striking the china with a hammer, produces random sizes and shapes. Many china mosaic artists prefer random shapes and sizes to symmetrical shapes. Always enclose the plate in a towel or sturdy fabric to contain flying pieces.

Take precautions when doing any project no matter how straightforward it may seem. Be sure to wear safety glasses or goggles when using nippers or a hammer to crack or break dishes. Pieces fly much like gravel shooting into a car’s windshield and could easily injure your eye. Avoid cutting your hands and fingers when handling the pieces. Do not grip the pieces tightly or slide your fingers along the shards.

Dish materials are hard. They include glass, ceramic, porcelain, and pottery. It takes a strong grip to nip through these materials and calluses form after awhile. Alleviate this problem by wearing fingerless gloves made from leather. Some projects require drilling a hole through the piece. Use a diamond drill bit instead of a masonry bit. Masonry bits work well on softer, chalky dishware but more often than not, you will probably work with the harder substances.