Parian is a type of bisque

Bisque (pottery)

Bisque porcelain is unglazed, white ceramic ware Examples include bisque dolls.Bisque also refers to "pottery that has been fired but not yet glazed...

 porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

. It was named after Paros, a Greek island renowned for its fine-textured, white marble of the same name. Invented by Thomas Battam

Thomas Battam

Thomas Battam was a British painter of miniatures. He was born in London. He produced copies in enamels, several of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London from 1833 to 1840. Battam later became art director at the Copeland porcelain factory, and was the founder, and president, of the...

, Parian provided a lower cost alternative to carved marble

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

.

A notable advantage was that it could be prepared in a liquid form and cast in a mould - a quality lending itself to mass production. Parian ware was utilised mainly for busts and figurines, and occasionally for dishes and small vases, such as might be carved from marble. Several English factories claimed credit for its development. The Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

 firm run by William Taylor Copeland

William Taylor Copeland

William Taylor Copeland, MP, Alderman was a British businessman and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London and a Member of Parliament.- Family and business :...

 and Thomas Garrett first produced and marketed it in 1842. In 1845, as part of a concerted effort to raise public taste and improve manufactures, the Art Union commissioned Copeland to make a series of figures after works by leading contemporary sculptors. Minton

Minton

Minton's Ltd, was a major ceramics manufacturing company, originated with Thomas Minton the founder of "Thomas Minton and Sons", who established his pottery factory in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England, in 1793, producing earthenware and from 1798 bone china.-History:Minton's early products...

 and Wedgwood

Wedgwood

Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...

 produced similar wares, also known as "statuary porcelain", other manufacturers included Goss

Goss crested china

Goss crested china is typically in the form of small white glazed porcelain models, made from 1858 to 1939, carrying the coat of arms of the place where they were sold as a souvenir....

, Royal Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

, Robinson and Leadbeater. Parian is still being made by Belleek Pottery.

External links

• The Bride - Parian bust (Fitzwilliam Museum
  Fitzwilliam Museum
  The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
  
  , Cambridge)