BOW c.1750 – 1755 English Soft-Paste Porcelain
A Bow Porcelain Teabowl Decorated in the Style of the 17th Century Delft Artist Frederik Van Frytom (1632 – 1702) c.1750-1755. Based on a Japanese Version of this Delft Design. A Pseudo Chinese Mark to the Base.
SOLD
- Condition
- In Perfect condition.
- Size
- Diameter : 7.5 cm (3 inches)
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 24330
- References
- For a Chinese example of this shape and pattern together with a Bow version dated c.1750-1752 see : Simon Spero Exhibition 2001, English Porcelain and Enamels 1745-1791 page 25, plate 37. The author states "The Bow versions were almost certainly derived from the Arita examples, as neither the Dutch Delft nor the Chinese versions bore the six character mark...Dating from the early 1750`s. these pieces are painted in a distinctly bright tone of underglaze blue ...". For a Chinese export porcelain dish of this pattern see our `Sold Items` number 23899. A very rare Dutch Delft dish of this form and pattern marked "MB 1684" made for export to Japan, where it was used for the tea-ceremony, is illustrated in : Frederik Van Frytom 1632 - 1702, Life And Work Of A Dutch Pottery-Decorator By A.Vecht ( Scheltema and Holkema NV, Amsterdam, 1968 ) page 76, plate 40. A Qianlong blue and white porcelain dish of this pattern described as being after Bow porcelain was sold in 2007, see : The Hodroff Collection, Christie`s New York, January 24th 2007, lot 130. For a Bow porcelain version of this design and shape with a comparison Chinese dish from the collection of Dr.Bernard Watney see : Burghley House Catalogue of Chinese and Japanese Porcelain (No date, publishers details or even title) page 14, photographs at the top of the page. Pieces with Van Frytom designs were recovered from the Ca Mau Cargo (Yongzheng 1723-1735) see our `Sold Items` 14792 for a Cau Mau example and 16294 for a none shipwreck example. Also see 18600 for an Arita example. For a Bow dish of this pattern described as being "derived from a Chinese copy of a Meissen harbour scene" see Bow Porcelain (Elizabeth Adams and David Redstone, Faber and Faber 1981. ISBN 0-571-11696-5) page 165 Illustrations and details of the original Van Frytom dishes dated "MB 1684" made for export to Japan, where they were used for the tea-ceremony see illustrated in : Frederik Van Frytom 1632 - 1702, Life And Work Of A Dutch Pottery-Decorator By A.Vecht ( Scheltema and Holkema NV, Amsterdam, 1968 ) page 76, plate 40. Pieces with Van Frytom designs were recovered from the Ca Mau Cargo (Yongzheng 1723-1735) see our `Sold Items` 14792 for a Cau Mau example and 16294 for a none shipwreck example. Also see 18600 for an Arita example.
Photos
Information
The Bow porcelain factory operated from c.1745 to 1776. It proudly used the name `New Canton` for it`s large factory on Stratford Road near the river Lea.
Frederik Van Frytom :
The Dutch artist Frederik Van Frytom (1632 - 1702) was an important painter of Delft pottery, his style of painting fits very well within the 17th century Dutch landscape tradition, it includes typically Dutch scenes, rustic landscapes with small bridges, pollarded willow and cows scattered about small fields. His ceramic painting technique was individual, more akin to painting than merely filling in a design on a ceramic body. Van Frytom`s connection with oriental ceramics stems from a series of small blue and white Delftware dishes painted by him that were made for the Tea-Ceremony in Japan, the bases of which were marked MB and dated 1684 (See Frederik Van Frytom 1632 - 1702, Life And Work Of A Dutch Pottery-Decorator, A.Vecht, Scheltema and Holkema NV, Amsterdam, 1968). The best known of Van Frytom`s designs is the so-called Deshima Island pattern, now known to be a view of Holland. Porcelain plates of this pattern, as well as related designs, were produced at the Arita Kilns in Japan and then in China at the Jingdezhen kilns, related designs also occurs on Chinese soft-paste porcelain. Plates and dishes of the so-called Deshima Island pattern dating to the Yongzheng period (1723-1735) were sold at Sotheby`s Amsterdam Sale of Chinese Porcelain from the Ca Mau Cargo, "Made in Imperial China". This Western style was then re-used, probably via Japanese or Chinese interpretations, in England at The Bow Factory using soft-paste porcelain, at least some of these Bow pieces closely relate to Chinese soft-paste porcelain versions of the design. However, the Chinese soft-paste examples are quite late in date, so it might well be possible that they are based on the Bow examples that are copying the Japanese or Chinese versions of the Delft. A complex and somewhat confusing inter-connection of design and trade.