Bow Porcelain Factory

Lugar: Stratford-Le-Bow

Nascido: 1744

Morte: 1776

Biografia:

The Bow porcelain factory was an English soft-paste porcelain factory located in Stratford-le-Bow, Essex, from 1744 to 1776. It was one of the first porcelain factories in England, along with the Chelsea porcelain factory. The factory was originally located near Bow, in what is now the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, but by 1749 it had moved to 'New Canton', sited east of the River Lea, and then in Essex, now in the London Borough of Newham. The factory was founded by Thomas Frye and Edward Heylyn, who used bone ash in the porcelain mixture, an invention that made Bow porcelain stronger and more translucent than other types of porcelain. The factory produced a wide range of wares, including tableware, figures, and decorative items, imitating imported Chinese and Japanese porcelains and the wares being produced at Chelsea. Bow figures were made by pressing the paste into moulds, rather than the slipcasting used at Chelsea. The factory catered for the luxury end of the market, but also produced a good deal of cheaper sprigged tableware in white, with the relief decoration applied in strips after the main body is formed. The factory was the largest English factory of its period, but after about 1760, quality declined as more English factories opened, and the dependence on Chelsea models increased, perhaps aided by an influx of Chelsea workers after 1763, as production there decreased. The factory closed in 1776.