Ceramics and Glass Circle of Australia

A TREASURY OF BOW

A Survey of the Bow Factory
From First Patent until Closure 1744 - 1774

By Patricia Begg and Barry Taylor

With Contributions by John Scarce, Anton Gabszewicz, Hugh Tait and Ray Yarbrough

Published by the Ceramics and Glass Circle of Australia Inc.
P.O. Box 243 Hawksburn 3142

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Editor: Chris Begg
Photography: Rick Merrie
Cover design: Amanda Roach Design

CONTENTS

President’s Introduction by Patricia Begg
Thomas Frye by John Scarce
Bow Porcelain, The Early Years 1745 - 1750 by Anton Gabszewicz
Bow’s Last Years, William Brown and the ‘Anchor-and-Dagger’ Mark by Hugh Tait
Bow Porcelain and the London Theatre by Raymond Yarbrough
Translucency
Catalogue:

Brief Context and History
The Oriental Influence - Famille Rose
The Kakiemon Wares
The Transfer Printed Wares
Table Wares in the European Manner
Under-glaze Blue and White
White Wares Inspired by the Chinese Blanc de Chine
Early White and Coloured Figures
Later White and Coloured Figures

Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Ceramic and Glass Circle of Australia wishes to thank the many people who have shown their support during this project, "A Treasury of Bow". Both the exhibition, and its catalogue, have been made possible through their generosity.

We are grateful for the three venues so generously made available for the exhibition. The Gold Treasury Museum, with five rooms of their temporary exhibition space, is ideally suited to the character of an eighteenth century porcelain exhibition. The use of the Ian Potter Foundation Gallery, within the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, enables the exhibition to be mounted in its entirety and the Hamilton Art Gallery, where a third of the exhibition will be shown, provides a different way of viewing Bow.

Our sponsors’ enthusiasm has been most encouraging and we thank our principal sponsor, the Guild of China Painters, The Johnston Collection, The Antique Dealers’ Association, Christies and Moorabool Antiques for their significant financial support.

There have been thirty-seven donors to the Ceramic and Glass Circle’s Cultural Fund during the last six months. Their generosity is most appreciated.

Of course, an exhibition would not be possible without both public and private collections being made available for our use. Twenty-four private and four public collections have contributed their Bow pieces. The public collections are The National Gallery of Victoria, the Geelong Art Gallery, the Hamilton Art Gallery and The Johnston Collection. The private collectors are all members of the Ceramics and Glass Circle of Australia.

Our thanks to John Wilson, Melbourne, for furniture, Stockspring Antiques, London, for the mezzotint by Frye and to Dafydd Davis, Melbourne, for the mezzotint self-portrait by Frye.

An exhibition of this size is not possible without a loyal and willing team of assistants. Neil Keir has provided the logistic support to the exhibition that is essential for its success.

The catalogue has been enhanced with contributions by John Scarce, Anton Gabszewicz, Hugh Tait and Ray Yarbrough, leaving with us a wealth of material on this fascinating factory. Our thanks also to Amanda Roach Design for the cover, Rick Merrie for photography and to Chris Begg for editing and layout.

Patricia Begg and Barry Taylor

PRESIDENT’S INTRODUCTION

The Ceramics and Glass Circle of Australia was formed sixteen years ago to provide a focus for people interested in ceramics and glass. The aim of the group is to build its members’ understanding of a wide variety of ceramics and glass, and of the life and times of the period in which they were made.

The group has grown from a small band of loyal supporters to about 140 who mostly come from Victoria, with ten percent from interstate and England. As there are now more than fifty people attending our monthly meetings, we have moved venue twice in order to accommodate them. Our membership is an exciting and buoyant group, with enormous enthusiasm for the acquisition of knowledge and the sharing of their collections.

The Circle, some nine years ago, believed it needed to educate, not only its own members, but the wider community. It achieved this by offering exhibitions, on specific subjects of ceramics and glass, to the Regional Galleries of Victoria. The Directors of these galleries embraced the idea with enthusiasm, resulting in ten exhibitions being mounted over this period. Each exhibition toured to two or three of Victoria’s galleries. These galleries included The National Gallery of Victoria, the Geelong Art Gallery, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, the Hamilton Art Gallery and the Bendigo Art Gallery.

Eight of the exhibitions, with supporting catalogues, have enabled our members to contribute with pieces, articles and expertise. These catalogues have provided a means of raising the public’s awareness of this decorative art, as well as providing an ongoing record of the exhibitions.

Exhibitions require a team of dedicated people to carry out curatorship, research, registration and mounting. The required skills have been taught through a training program conducted by the Circle. All members of the team are members of the Circle, giving their time generously to the project at hand.

The exhibitions are made possible by the generosity and support of all our members and the Public Collections which so willingly entrust their pieces to the Circle for extended periods of time. This enables the public at large to see objects otherwise inaccessible and to be able to learn from the experience.

The initial concept of our eleventh exhibition, ‘A Treasury of Bow’, arose when, during the research for ‘Parasols and Pagodas’, Barry Taylor and I met. An infectious ‘Bow’ disease spread between us. The many unknown and exciting factors associated with the Bow factory and its unique place in English ceramic history became a pre-occupation that led to many hours of fascinating conversation and research.

Four years ago a decision to mount an exhibition to survey the Bow factory, from first patent until closure, 1744 - 1774 was taken. A Melbourne venue was essential and the Gold Treasury Museum was chosen. Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was approached and accepted the offer of the exhibition with enthusiasm and Hamilton Art Gallery, the owner of the early seven piece Bow garniture, requested to participate in the project.

The task, then, was to seek out suitable pieces to accompany a large collection already offered. Our expectation was an exhibition of around 150 pieces. By mid 1999 we knew that we had in excess of 240 pieces and a very exciting exhibition started to emerge. Many of our members purchased pieces specifically for the exhibition as well as contributing what they already owned. Twenty-four of these members have emptied their cupboards of Bow with enthusiasm to help create the exhibition that is now before you.

To have 264 pieces of Bow in the one place, at the same time, where the relationship of body, glaze, translucency and decoration could be studied, was a privilege the five members of the mounting team will never forget.

Comparison of the above attributes allowed clear definitions to emerge. Relationships of body, glaze and translucency identified a group of wares that fell before 1752, all relating to a group of documentary pieces. Another group between 1752 and 1760, with a slightly different body, glaze, translucency and enamel colours, also had documentary pieces to support them. The third group, 1760 to closure and predominantly figures, emerged. This last group has a distinctive rococo appearance, denser body, poorer translucency and a brighter and more varied colour palette.

The Exhibition and catalogue reflect the understanding that was developed through observation and handling of so many wonderful pieces.

It was decided that there would be two educational programs offered in conjunction with the exhibition. The first was the Circle’s annual Study Weekend that examined Bow exclusively and offered five lectures and three workshops run by members of the Circle. The second was to be a seminar associated with the opening of the Exhibition.

With this in mind, two years ago, Anton Gabszewicz, an English ceramic author, accepted our invitation to be a guest speaker and contribute an article for the catalogue. Ray Yarbrough, an American collector and author, was also invited to participate but was unable to travel. However, we are pleased that he has contributed an article. Hugh Tait, an English academic and author, also accepted our invitation to join us and contribute to both the seminar and catalogue.

It is our hope that through the Exhibition, seminar and this catalogue that our excitement for this innovative factory will spread to collectors and ceramic enthusiasts world wide.

By Patricia Begg