Coffee Pot, Bow Porcelain Factory, circa 1767

Of Chinese export form with loop handle; the body imaginatively painted in a bright ‘early blue’ underglaze with pine, rock and bamboo after the Chinese. Yellow tinged body; clear gl...

Of full-bellied pear-shape with large sparrow-beak lip set slightly below the top rim of the body in front of a triangle of circular pouring holes and at the right angle to the strap...

A pierced basket standing on a well-formed rococo base. Perhaps for potpourri, although the internal decoration suggests another use. We think probably oranges, chestnuts, etc. Pr...

Small figure of a young woman wearing a puce-sprigged white skirt, lifted slightly with her left hand, pale pink jacket with typical Bow opaque blue collar and cuffs. We've called...

This is a wonderful little figure of a boy or putto made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1760. The Bow Porcelain Factory was one of the first potteries in Britain to make soft...

This antique German porcelain coffee pot was made by the Furstenberg Works factory in circa 1760 in the period Rococo style. This coffee pot is d...

This is a very rare and impressive large figure of Juno with an eagle, made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1765. This figure formed part of a series of the Four Elements, with...

This is a wonderful pair of figures of Arlecchino and Columbina, made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1758. These figures formed part of a series of the Commedia dell'Arte, a very popular series of theatrical figures that served as decoration at the dinner table in the 18th Century. The Bow Porcelain Factory was one of the first potteries in Britain to make soft paste porcelain, and most probably the very first to use bone ash, which later got perfected by Josiah Spode to what is now the universally used "bone china". Bow was the main competitor of the Chelsea Porcelain Factory, but where Chelsea made very fine slipcast porcelain, Bow made a different soft paste porcelain that tended to be softer and could be pressed into moulds. Bow served a larger public generally at lower prices. The factory was only in operation between 1743 and 1774, after which the tradition got incorporated into some of the later famous potteries such as Worcester and Derby. These figures were used to adorn the dinner table when dessert was served; groups of figures served to express something about the host, the guests, or to direct the conversation. The Italian Commedia Dell'Arte, a comical form of masked theatre, was very popular in those days and Bow copied many figures of the German Meissen series that were brought out in the decades before. This pair dates from about 1758, which was at the height of Bow's ability to make beautiful figurines often copied from Chelsea or Meissen. The pair is modelled after a Meissen pair by Kaendler. The porcelain is translucent with a beautiful milky glaze - Bow was probably the first pottery using bone in its porcelain recipe. Arlecchino (Harlequin) is playing the bagpipes, dressed in an odd costume of mismatched chintz and playing cards and wearing a funny black trumpet...