Bow Porcelain

Of late there has been a shift in the study of early English and American ceramics, in that science is being used in a more routine manner to answer questions about attribution, dating, raw materials, and kiln-firing techniques. One such example is the work of Jay, Cashion, and Blenkinship (2015) in regard to Lancaster delftware and the recognition of the use of Carrickfergus magnesian clay in that ceramic body. Another example is the work by Owen and Hanley (2017) in the recreation of Bartla...

Posted by Ross Ramsay on January .......

Predicated on our new research contribution (Number 19) presented to the English Ceramic Circle in London, November 21st, we are proposing that the English porcelain tradition can be traced to its infancy with the firing of refractory ceramics in the Blackwater Valley and Stamford dating back to the 16thC if not before. A major advance in our understanding of this development was the work of Morgan Wesley on the Burghley House jars pu...

With the discovery of the Limehouse porcelain site in 1990 these porcelains have become prominent with auction houses, dealers, and collectors. Prior to the Limehouse excavation the consensus was that the first use of soapstone in English porcelains lay with Benjamin Lund at Bristol. This belief was based on the soapstone licence awarded Lund in early 1749, the observations by Richard Pococke, and the chemical analyses by Eccles and Rackham in 1922. However, with the ...

In this publication (Ramsay, Ramsay, and Girvan, 2011) we recognize that Benjamin Lund used bone ash in part of his porcelain production. This combination of bone ash and soapstone has been traced by us back to Bow where it was being used by at least early 1745, if not earlier. Research into porcelain wasters at Warmstry House, Worcester by Victor Owen has demonstrated the presence of a Mg-P body in early Worcester material. Technology pathways, as initially employed by Owen and ...

Posted by Ross Ramsay on January 23rd, 2014

    This update on our collective thoughts is based on two monographs we have published during 2013.

1.    Ramsay, W. H. H., Daniels, P., & Ramsay E. G., 2013: The Limehouse Porcelain Factory: It’s Output, Antecedents, & the Influence of the Royal Society of London on the Evolution of English Porcelain based on Composition and Technology. 42 pp. ISBN: 978-0-473-23459-1...

In our joint publication on the Limehouse porcelain manufactory we demonstrate that our understanding of the development of English porcelains underwent a major watershed during the early years of this millennium with the recognition that by the early to mid-1740s the Bow porcelain manufactory was producing a commercial, hard-paste porcelain using a china clay (Cherokee clay) imported from the New World.

Concomitant with this has been the re-examination of many notions and...