Set of Four 18th Century English Porcelain Bow Figures of the "Rustic Seasons"

Provenance: The Metropolitan Museum in New York has a similar Le Nove Porcelain pair of courting figures in its collection. Accession Number: 06.381. Factory: ...

This set of four hand-painted dishes were made by Derby in England late in the 18th century, circa 1790. The border shows an exquisite wavy orange ribbon that opens and closes while ...

This exquisite late 18th-century dish features several elements that make it so full of life. First is the splendid hand-painted goldwork. This gilding enlivens the dish with its ha...

This large 18th century Meissen porcelain leaf form dish incorporates the prevailing artistic trends of the time. Rococo art was known for its emphasis on asymmetry and naturalistic ...

We are pleased to offer this beautiful Mennecy blush pot 'Pot à Fard' made circa 1750. It is decorated with sprays of flowers, the finial shaped as a single purple rose with green le...

Provenance: A New England Estate Hand-painted in the 18th century circa 1765 these beautiful Mennecy Porcelain soft-paste pomade pots are rare. Pots like this held rich creams and l...

This is a very rare and impressive complete set of large figures called The Four Elements, made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1765. It consists of Ceres representing Earth, V...

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...

A personification of Winter, from The Four Seasons. Unusually fine condition for a figure of this period.

This pair of Meissen figurines depicts four infants, each representative of one of the Four Seasons. Autumn and summer are paired together, w...

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...

This is a wonderful pair of figures of Arlecchino and Columbina, made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1758. These figures formed part of a series of the Commedia dell'Arte, a very popular series of theatrical figures that served as decoration at the dinner table in the 18th Century. The Bow Porcelain Factory was one of the first potteries in Britain to make soft paste porcelain, and most probably the very first to use bone ash, which later got perfected by Josiah Spode to what is now the universally used "bone china". Bow was the main competitor of the Chelsea Porcelain Factory, but where Chelsea made very fine slipcast porcelain, Bow made a different soft paste porcelain that tended to be softer and could be pressed into moulds. Bow served a larger public generally at lower prices. The factory was only in operation between 1743 and 1774, after which the tradition got incorporated into some of the later famous potteries such as Worcester and Derby. These figures were used to adorn the dinner table when dessert was served; groups of figures served to express something about the host, the guests, or to direct the conversation. The Italian Commedia Dell'Arte, a comical form of masked theatre, was very popular in those days and Bow copied many figures of the German Meissen series that were brought out in the decades before. This pair dates from about 1758, which was at the height of Bow's ability to make beautiful figurines often copied from Chelsea or Meissen. The pair is modelled after a Meissen pair by Kaendler. The porcelain is translucent with a beautiful milky glaze - Bow was probably the first pottery using bone in its porcelain recipe. Arlecchino (Harlequin) is playing the bagpipes, dressed in an odd costume of mismatched chintz and playing cards and wearing a funny black trumpet...