Ceramics home: Porcelain: Bow.

Bow

(1745 - 1775)

A factory making soft paste porcelain at Bow (then in Essex, now near Stratford High Street) was founded by the painter and engraver, Thomas Frye. Together with his partner, Edward Heylin, a potter who also had a glass business in the area, he experimented with different compositions of paste, and by 1748 they were producing a variety of 'useful and ornamental' china, strengthened by the addition of bone ash. Bow porcelain was purchased by the wealthy and the middle classes, and the factory was one of the most innovative and commercially successful. Known as 'New Canton', the factory was modelled on that at Canton in China, and at its peak of production, had about 300 employees.

The bulk of practical wares made in Bow were in blue and white, and based on oriental designs. Some were inspired by the all-white blanc de Chine wares exported in vast quantities to Europe, decorated with applied sprigs of blossom. Others were decorated in the Chinese famille rose style, and many in Japanese patterns. The factory was one of the first to use the technique of decorating plain white china with overglaze transfer printing. Figures were also produced in great numbers from 1750, using subjects based on Oriental and Meissen originals, and popular London theatrical celebrities. Earlier figures tended to be left in plain glazed white porcelain, or decorated in subtle pastel shades, while from about 1760 brighter colours were used, and figures had raised scroll-moulded bases often enriched with gilt decoration.

Related objects

There are 179 related objects.

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A27261b fork. 1754-1758	A27261a fork. 1754-1758	A22252 figure. c. 1750	A22251 figure. c. 1750
A13562 plate. 1768-1772	A12225 figure. c. 1770	A9893 vase; frill vase. c. 1770	A9891 dish; sweetmeat dish; male figure. c. 1755
A9890 figure group. 1761-1776	A9852 figure. 1758-1765	A9780b plate. 1768-1772	A9780a plate. 1768-1772
A9739 dish. 1766-1770	A9738b dish. 1770	A9738a dish. 1770	A9737 sauce boat. 1766-1770
A9735 figure. 1756-1758	A9732 figure. 1756-1760	A9728 figure. c. 1765	A9726b figure. c. 1765
A9726a figure. c. 1765	A9724 figure. c. 1765	A9721a plate. 1766-1770	A9717 candlestick; figure group candlestick. c. 1762-1765

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