Except in the direction of figures, the productions of Bow were of an unambitious character. “Useful” wares showing many varied types of decoration were made during the thirty odd years of the factory’s existence. The earlier of these were interpretations, not as a rule slavish copies, of the Chinese famille rose and of the works of the Japanese potter, Kakiyemon; their colours are often harmonious, and their gilding of peculiar richness. Such praise cannot be bestowed on the later productions, which have too often a garish and clumsy air; the charm of simplicity is sacrificed in the effort to be splendid, and the results are crude and ungainly. It is interesting to note some pieces with landscapes so closely resembling the type which is commonly found on the German porcelain made at Fulda as to point to the suggestion that they must have been derived from that source.
Some of the figures made at Bow show considerable spirit and breadth of modelling, which is best appreciated when the china has been left white, without the addition of coloured enamels. The statuettes of the actors Woodward and Kitty Clive in character, King Lear, and some dignified figures of nuns, are almost as effective as the white figures of Nymphenburg, of which mention has already been made. These white pieces date mostly from the earlier stages of the works. At a later time the clever modelling is usually obscured by enamelling of unpleasing tones. A great number of the later figures are copied directly from the Meissen models of Kändler. Instances in the Schreiber Collection at Kensington are a spirited pair of prancing horses held in respectively by a Turk and a negro, Augustus the Strong of Saxony kissing his hand to a lady, and a pair of tureens in the form of partridges on their nests.
Perhaps the most pretentious figures ever made at Bow were the pair of General Wolfe and the Marquis of Granby, of which there is an example in the same collection. These were modelled by Tebo, who is also mentioned as having worked at Worcester and Bristol. The name has a curiously unfamiliar form, and is probably an English phonetic spelling of the French Thibaut. It is by no means improbable that he was one of the many French potters who migrated to this country in search of fortune, or to escape the tyrannical pretensions of the French royal manufacture. The pair of figures was doubtless made in 1760, to commemorate the events of the previous year, so glorious in the annals of British warfare. In the victories of Quebec and Minden, Wolfe had met his death and Lord Granby had won his first distinction by saving the British cavalry from disgrace. These two soldiers were the popular heroes of the day, and their figures in porcelain would be sure to command a ready sale. The portrait of Wolfe is copied from a sketch by Captain Smith, which was engraved by Richard Houston. Granby appears to be taken from a print by the same engraver after a painting by Reynolds, which was published in 1760; he is represented in the uniform of Colonel of the Horse Guards.
* * * * *
Passing on to Chelsea we have to deal with perhaps the most famous of English china works, one that takes its place worthily beside the great factories of the Continent. The history of Chelsea is in one respect parallel to that of Bow; its earlier productions, with all their technical imperfections, are possessed of a charm that is wanting in the gorgeous and ambitious achievements of its later years. This is notably the case with the statuettes for which most of all the name of Chelsea is famous. Neither the figures of the cream-coloured glassy paste marked with a triangle, nor those in the heavy cold-looking material on which a raised anchor often occurs, are devoid of spirit and vigour; nor are these qualities concealed by the excessive use of gold and enamel colours common at a later period. While they are not for the most part original conceptions, good judgment was exercised in the choice of models to be copied. Barthélemy de Blémont’s Nourrice, for example, is no less charming in white Chelsea porcelain than in the colour-glazed earthenware in which it first made its appearance.
After the works passed from the management of Charles Gouyn into the hands of Nicholas Sprimont, distinct changes are noticeable alike in the composition of the paste and in the nature of the decoration, but still for some time the colouring of the figures was subdued and limited in range. New models appear, copied in many cases directly from the Meissen figures of Kändler and Acier; the masked man dancing with a peasant girl, and the “Monkey Musicians,” may be cited as instances. Chelsea seems, however, to have been less dependent than Bow on extraneous inspiration. During the last years of the factory’s independent existence a great variety of fresh models make their appearance, coming from the hand of sculptors such as Roubiliac. Here at last original compositions are more in evidence; where inspiration has been sought elsewhere it has been derived not from porcelain prototypes, but from painted works by French or English masters, made accessible by contemporary engravings.
PLATE 18
Vase, Sèvres, dated 1772, with classical medallions on an apple-green ground. Height, 10-7/8 in. Jones Collection.
No. 805-1882. See p. [58].
Mark: