Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/665

Rh ENGLISH.] POTTERY 641 tion that have ever been produced. Many of them are designed with apparently not even an attempt at beauty of form or grace fulness of curve, and are quite without the vig our that is often possessed by the grotesques of China or Japan. Chelsea vases of this elaborate sort are rare, as their production was slow, and they now fetch very high prices: 2000 has been given for a single vase such as that shown in fig. 71. It should be observed that, till the discovery of the half-de- FIG. 71. Early Chelsea vase, dark-blue body, with composed kao- gilt scroll-work at the sides. (South Kensington linic clay of Museum.) Cornwall about 1755 by Cookworthy, all English porcelain was of the soft variety (a pate tendre), and was really an artificial compound with an ordinary vitreous lead glaze. The painted decoration, like that of Sevres, was applied over the glaze, with the exception of a fine cobalt blue, which was painted on the china in a biscuit state. This colour is much the finest and most truly decorative of any of the pigments, very superior in richness of effect to the much brighter over-glaze colours. That used at the Derby porcelain-works is the most beautiful in tint. The early success of the Chelsea porcelain was partly due to the patronage of George II., who, following the royal fashion of the age, took a great interest in the manufactory, and not only bought large quantities of its productions but also aided it by importing kaolinic clay, models, and even skilled workmen from Saxony. In 1769 the Chelsea porcelain-works were put up to auction, and bought by William Duesbury, the owner of the Derby china -factory. Till 1784 he carried on the manufacture of porcelain at both places, but in that year he pulled down the Chelsea kilns and transferred all the movable plant and the workmen to Derby. The Chelsea mark is usually an anchor, either painted in red or gold, or moulded in relief ; the anchor is often double (see No. 34), and in some cases has the ad dition of one or more daggers. Some specimens first noted by Mr. Jewitt 1 have quite different Potter s marks. No. 34. marks, incised on the paste before glazing, which are of special interest as being the earliest dated specimens of English porcelain. Such marks are a triangle, with the addition &quot;Chelsea 1745.&quot; 1J. Bow Porcelain (Stratford-le-Bow). In 1744 Edward ain- Heylyn and Thomas Frye, the latter a painter of some repute, took out a patent for the manufacture of porcelain at Bow. The composition they used was a curious one, being almost a hard porcelain. The clay, which was called &quot;unaker,&quot; was brought from America, and was probably an impure kind of kaolin. It was ground and washed to separate the sand and mica ; and to it was added pounded glass a pure alkaline silicate varying in proportion from 1 See &quot; History of Chelsea China,&quot; in Art JournalJor~l8QB. Potter s marks. No. 35. equal parts of clay and glass to one- fifth of glass. The glaze was a similar mixture, with less of the American kaolinic clay. This paste and glaze must have been difficult to manage, since in 1748 the partners took out a fresh patent for a more artificial and softer kind of porcelain, with a more fusible lead glaze. In 1750 the Bow works came into the hands of Messrs Weatherby and Crowther, and were then called &quot;New Canton.&quot; For some time the manufactory was successful, and employed 300 hands ; but before long one of the partners died, and the survivor, &quot;John Crowther, chinaman&quot; was gazetted bankrupt in 1763, and the whole stock was sold off. Crowther, however, in spite of his failure, carried on the works till 1775, when they were bought by William Dues- bury, the owner of the Chelsea, Derby, and other china- factories ; he pulled down the Bow kilns and transferred the plant to Derby, as he did afterwards in the case of the Chelsea manufactory. The Bow porcelain is of a fine soft milky white; many of the imitations of Chinese figures are hardly to be distinguished from the originals. Some of the Bow china, decorat ed only in the rich under- glaze blue, with Eastern designs, is very effective. A good many pieces are painted in the Dresden style, and coloured statu ettes or groups of figures, also after German models, were largely produced. The Bow marks are very numerous, some not distinguishable from those of Chelsea ; No. 35 shows four varieties. Derby porcelain is supposed to have been made as early Derby as 1750, possibly by Andrew Blanche, a clever French re- factoi T fugee, who in 1756 entered into partnership with Heath and Duesbury, the last of whom afterwards became the chief china-manufacturer of England. The purchase by Duesbury of the Bow and Chelsea works has already been mentioned. The Derby porcelain is often very large, ela borately moulded, and profusely decorated, generally rather in the Dresden style, weak in form and gaudy in colour. The Derby under-glaze blue was remarkably fine, and many of the plain blue and white pieces, with Chinese patterns, are highly decorative, as are also, though in a less degree, those porcelain services that were painted in the &quot;old Japanese style.&quot; One of the chief specialties of the Derby Avorks was the production of delicate white figures in biscuit china, often modelled with great skill and refinement. Unfortunately the practice of printing the under-glaze patterns, instead of painting them by hand, was introduced at Derby about 1764, and did much to destroy all the artistic value of the work (see below). The marks used were these, first a &quot;D &quot; combined with an anchor (No. 36), or a crowned anchor (No. 37), used during the earlier part of the time when Duesbury was carrying on both the Chelsea and the Derby factories, 1769-84; next the crown was used, either over the &quot;D&quot; only (No. 38), or, more usually, with a saltire or crossed No. 37. No. 38. Potters marks. No. 39. swords immediately under it. Another variety has crossed lines under the crown (No. 39). The Derby works con tinued in the possession of the Duesbury family till 1814 or 1815, when liobert Bloor became the lessee and finally XIX. 8 1