Bow porcelain factory
Encyclopedia
Chelsea porcelain factory
The Chelsea porcelain manufactory is the first important porcelain manufactory in England; its earliest soft-paste porcelain, aimed at the aristocratic market—cream jugs in the form of two seated goats—are dated 1745...
in the manufacture of early soft-paste porcelain
Soft-paste porcelain
Soft-paste porcelain is a type of a ceramic material, sometimes referred to simply as "soft paste". The term is used to describe soft porcelains such as bone china, Seger porcelain, vitreous porcelain, new Sèvres porcelain, Parian porcelain and soft feldspathic porcelain, and is also used more...
in Great Britain. The factory was located near Bow
Bow, London
Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...
in what is now the London Borough of Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
and the local council owns a significant collection, which is held in the care of the borough's Heritage and Arts Service.
History
Designs imitated imported Chinese and Japanese porcelains and the wares being produced at Chelsea, at the other end of London. MeissenMeissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
figures were copied, both directly, and indirectly through Chelsea. Quality was notoriously uneven; the warm, creamy body of Bow porcelains is glassy and the glaze tends towards ivory.
Early patents applied for by Thomas Frye
Thomas Frye
The Anglo-Irish painter Thomas Frye The Anglo-Irish painter Thomas Frye The Anglo-Irish painter Thomas Frye (c. 1710 – 3 April 1762 best known for his portraits in oil and pastel, including some miniatures and his early mezzotint engravings, was also the patentee of the Bow porcelain factory,...
and his silent partner Edward Heylyn
Edward Heylyn
Edward Heylyn was a merchant and entrepreneur who was one of the founders of the Bow porcelain factory.The Heylyn family originally came from North Wales. Heylyn was the third son of John Heylyn, a saddler of London who is said to have made a fortune supplying saddles for the Duke of Marlborough’s...
in December 1744 (enrolled 1745) and a totally different patent of 1 November 1748 (enrolled March 1749), both apparently intended broadly to cover the uses of kaolin, do not seem to have resulted in any actual manufacture before about 1749, though Frye's published epitaph claimed that he was 'the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England.' "Heylyn and Frye do not appear to have had a factory of their own, but probably carried on their experiments at a factory already existing at Bow, having first secured the services of a well-skilled workman whose name has not been preserved, and who may have been the real inventor of English porcelain," a writer noted in 1911.
The earliest Bow porcelains are of soft-paste incorporating bone ash
Bone ash
Bone ash is the white, powdery ash left from the burning of bones. It is primarily composed of calcium phosphate. It is commonly used in fertilizers, polishing compounds, and in making ceramics...
, forming a phosphatic body that was a precursor of bone china
Bone china
Bone china is a type of soft-paste porcelain that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material and kaolin. It has been defined as ware with a translucent body containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phosphate...
. By 1750 Frye was serving as manager of the factory, under new owners John Crowther and Weatherby. In 1753 they were advertising in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
for painters and a modeller. Sources for the early history of the Bow manufactory were collected by Lady Charlotte Guest
Lady Charlotte Guest
Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest, , later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English businesswoman and translator...
in memoranda, diaries, and notebooks, including a diary of John Bowcocke, who was employed in the works as a commercial manager and traveller. The works, designated 'New Canton,' were sited on the Essex side of the River Lea, close to Bow Bridge.
About 1758, the manufactory's high point, three hundred person were employed, ninety of whom were painters, all under one roof. "An account of the business returns for a period of five years shows that the cash receipts, which were £6,573 in 1750-1, increased steadily from year to year, and had reached £11,229 in 1755. The total amount of sales in 1754 realized £18,115." The firm had a retail shop in Cornhill and a warehouse at St. Katharine's near the Tower
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, though the West End shop that was opened in 1757 in the Terrace in St. James's Street closed the following year. The part-owner Weatherby died in 1762 and his partner Crowther was listed as bankrupt the following year. Three sales dispersed his effects in March and May 1764. Though Crowther continued in business in a small way, in 1776 what remained of the Bow factory was sold for a small sum to William Duesbury
Royal Crown Derby
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is a porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750...
, and all the moulds and implements were transferred to Derby: see Chelsea porcelain factory
Chelsea porcelain factory
The Chelsea porcelain manufactory is the first important porcelain manufactory in England; its earliest soft-paste porcelain, aimed at the aristocratic market—cream jugs in the form of two seated goats—are dated 1745...
.
The chaser and enamellist George Michael Moser
George Michael Moser
George Michael Moser was a renowned artist and enameller of the 18th century, father of celebrated floral painter Mary Moser, and, with his daughter, among the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768.-Biography:...
, a key figure in the English Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
and a founder of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
, modelled for Bow, the sculptor Joseph Nollekens
Joseph Nollekens
Joseph Nollekens was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. He was also a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.-Life:...
was told years later; the sculptor John Bacon also modelled for Bow in his youth. The large white figure of the Farnese Flora, a high point in the Bow production, was taken, it has been suggested, from a terracotta by Michael Rysbrack.
A pair of Bow figures of Kitty Clive
Kitty Clive
Catherine "Kitty" Clive was a British actress of considerable repute on the stages of London.Most likely born in London, her father William Raftor was an Irishman and former officer in the French army under Louis XIV...
and Henry Woodward as "the Fine Lady" and 'the Fine Gentleman" in David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
's mythological burlesque Lethe, 1750-52 "are probably the earliest full-length portrait figures in English porcelain"; some were enamelled by William Duesbury
William Duesbury
William Duesbury was an important enameller and British entrepreneur, founder of the Royal Crown Derby and owner of porcelain factories at Bow, Chelsea, Derby and Longton Hall.- Biography :Duesbury was born on 7 September 1725...
Some Bow figures were imitated from Chelsea models. Bow porcelain adopted the newly-invented technique of transfer-printing from Battersea enamels in the 1750s.