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How can you tell the difference between hard and soft paste porcelain?

1 Answer
How can you tell the difference between hard and soft paste porcelain?
The best way to tell the difference between hard paste and soft paste porcelain is to look at a broken or chipped piece. Hard paste porcelain fractures are brittle and smooth, while soft paste porcelain fractures are chalky and break along the grain. On 1stDibs, find a selection of hard and soft paste porcelain pieces from top sellers around the world.
1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
Shop for Bow Porcelain on 1stDibs
Bow Pair of Porcelain Figures of Liberty & Matrimony, Rococo 1760-1764
By Bow Porcelain
Located in London, GB
This is a fabulous pair of figures of Liberty and Matrimony made by the Bow Porcelain factory between 1760 and 1764. These figures were a popular pair portraying marriage. The bow...
Category

Antique 1760s English Rococo Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Porcelain

Tankard with Famille Rose Decoration, Bow C5145
By Bow Porcelain
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Baluster-shaped tankard, decorated with a pattern taken form the Chinese, in the famille rose-verte palette. It is amusing to note how the house on a hill in the original has been me...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century English Chinoiserie Porcelain

Materials

Porcelain

Antique 18th Century Bow English Porcelain Figure of a Flute Player
By Bow Porcelain
Located in Philadelphia, PA
An antique English porcelain figurine. By Bow. In the form of a boy clothed in 18th century garb and holding a flute. We've noted losse...
Category

Antique 18th Century English Georgian Porcelain

Materials

Porcelain

Pair of Bocage Candlesticks, Putti and Goats. Bow 1766
By Bow Porcelain
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
A rare, possibly unique, pair of candlesticks in the form of putti, representing The Four Seasons. This is the pair pictured in Stonor’s book (#94); we’ve b...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century English Rococo Porcelain

Materials

Porcelain

Coffee Pot, Bow Porcelain Factory, circa 1767
By Bow Porcelain
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Coffee pot, circa 1765-69: Coffee pot and cover of silver form with domed cover; the body of the pot and dome of the cover pineapple moulded between rims painted in blue with cell an...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century English Rococo Porcelain

Materials

Porcelain

Bow Porcelain Figure of Boy Putto on C-Scroll Base, Georgian circa 1760
By Bow Porcelain
Located in London, GB
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...
Category

Antique 1760s English Rococo Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Porcelain

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