Plate
1770 (dated)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This plate is a domestic dinner plate, probably from a set of half a dozen or more. It would have been used as an under-plate when a soup was served, and for eating the first two courses of a meal. According to a late-18th-century dining manual, 'the first course should consist of soups, boiled poultry, fish and boiled meats, and the second of different kinds of game, high seasoned dishes, tarts, jellies etc.' A servant would have replaced the plate with a clean one of a different design for the dessert.
People
The plate was made for Robert Crowther, a silk merchant of Stockport, Cheshire. He was a relative of John Crowther, one of the partners in the Bow factory. John Crowther was also a partner in a wholesale pottery business in the City of London and partner in a London glassworks.
Materials & Making
The Bow factory manufactured a type of porcelain strengthened with ashes from animal bones. The result was a comparatively durable ceramic material, one that would have been suitable for drinking utensils and other utilitarian wares. The factory made large quantities of blue and white porcelain, which was relatively cheap and aimed at the middle-ranges of the market.
This plate is a domestic dinner plate, probably from a set of half a dozen or more. It would have been used as an under-plate when a soup was served, and for eating the first two courses of a meal. According to a late-18th-century dining manual, 'the first course should consist of soups, boiled poultry, fish and boiled meats, and the second of different kinds of game, high seasoned dishes, tarts, jellies etc.' A servant would have replaced the plate with a clean one of a different design for the dessert.
People
The plate was made for Robert Crowther, a silk merchant of Stockport, Cheshire. He was a relative of John Crowther, one of the partners in the Bow factory. John Crowther was also a partner in a wholesale pottery business in the City of London and partner in a London glassworks.
Materials & Making
The Bow factory manufactured a type of porcelain strengthened with ashes from animal bones. The result was a comparatively durable ceramic material, one that would have been suitable for drinking utensils and other utilitarian wares. The factory made large quantities of blue and white porcelain, which was relatively cheap and aimed at the middle-ranges of the market.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Phosphatic soft-paste porcelain, painted in underglaze blue |
| Brief description | Plate, phosphatic soft-paste porcelain, painted in underglaze blue, Bow Porcelain Factory, London, England, dated 1770 |
| Physical description | Plate of soft-paste porcelain, octagonal, painted in underglaze blue in the middle with the letters 'RC' in monogram within a border of formal foliage and flowers; on the rim a border of cell-diapers and formal scrolls and lambrequin. Underneath is the inscription, 'Mr. Robert Crowther, Stockport Cheshire January 1770.' |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'MR ROBERT CROWTHER STOCKPORT CHESHIRE January 1770' (Inscribed on the back) |
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
This plate bears the monogram of Robert Crowther, whose brother John was one of the partners at the Bow factory. John Crowther's long experience of the market may have influenced Bow's policy of concentrating on the 'more ordinary sort' of wares.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Mr Wallace Elliot |
| Object history | London, Sotheby's, 19/06/1924. From the Henry Tew Bruton Collection. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type This plate is a domestic dinner plate, probably from a set of half a dozen or more. It would have been used as an under-plate when a soup was served, and for eating the first two courses of a meal. According to a late-18th-century dining manual, 'the first course should consist of soups, boiled poultry, fish and boiled meats, and the second of different kinds of game, high seasoned dishes, tarts, jellies etc.' A servant would have replaced the plate with a clean one of a different design for the dessert. People The plate was made for Robert Crowther, a silk merchant of Stockport, Cheshire. He was a relative of John Crowther, one of the partners in the Bow factory. John Crowther was also a partner in a wholesale pottery business in the City of London and partner in a London glassworks. Materials & Making The Bow factory manufactured a type of porcelain strengthened with ashes from animal bones. The result was a comparatively durable ceramic material, one that would have been suitable for drinking utensils and other utilitarian wares. The factory made large quantities of blue and white porcelain, which was relatively cheap and aimed at the middle-ranges of the market. |
| Bibliographic reference | Young, Hilary. English Porcelain, 1745-95. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1999. 229p., ill. ISBN 1851772820. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.59-1938 |
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| Record created | December 3, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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