This is a wonderful figure of a goat and kid made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1765.
This figure would make a wonderful Christmas gift!
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.
This figure of a goat and her kid is probably from around 1765, which was at the height of Bow's ability to make beautiful figurines often copied from Chelsea or Meissen. The porcelain is relatively translucent with a milky greyish glaze. The two goats are placed in front of a bocage of bright green foliage with flowers in red, pink, pule, yellow and blue. The mother goat looks probing, the kid seems to be bleating at her - probably hungry for some milk! The figure is set on a simple Rococo scroll.
The figure is marked with the Bow anchor and dagger mark in red on the underside.
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.
CONDITION REPORT The figure is in excellent condition and looks wonderful. There is no notable damage other than a few small chips off the bocage flowers . There are no visible repairs (although the item has not been tested under infrared light). The colours are bright and the glaze still shiny, except for the back of the bocage, which is a little more grimey (not visible when in position).
Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker's recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.
There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Etcetera - I try to be as accurate as I can and please feel free to ask questions or request more detailed pictures!
DIMENSIONS height 12.5cm (5"), width 5.5 (3.75"), depth 7.5cm (3").
SHIPPING I ship worldwide from the UK, mostly by Royal Mail 2nd Class for the UK and International Tracked and Signed for the rest of the world. I am happy to combine shipping charges on multiple items - please contact me to discuss. In principle I do not make a profit on shipping although for simplicity's sake I charge flat shipping fees. If the fee charged greatly exceeds the actual cost I will gladly refund you the difference - at the same time if it is slightly lower I will gladly make up the difference. In some countries shipping will end up significantly more than the expected fees and I will contact you to discuss our options. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING SHIPPING COSTS AND OPTIONS.
Bow figure of goat and kid, ca 1765
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