This is a wonderful little figure of a boy or putto made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1760.
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 boy or putto figure was first modelled in the 1750s, which was at the height of Bow's ability to make beautiful figurines often copied from Chelsea or Meissen. This particular one is from a little later (1760), when Bow started putting their figures on top of a Rococo C-scroll base. This putto may originally have had a bocage, or flower tree, behind him. The putto is seated on a beautiful puce-tinted Rococo C-scroll that is typical for the Bow figures of 1760 onwards. The way we know this is a boy is the placement of the ribbon over his left shoulder; with girl figures, Bow placed the ribbons on the right shoulder.
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. Putti were symbolic for God's omnipresence, as well as the sacred dimension of worldy pleasures. They were very popular in the 18th Century. This figure would make a fabulous gift to a loved one, and with its high artistic value it is a wonderful little piece of decoration for any interior design style.
The item is unmarked, which is common for Bow items of this era.
CONDITION REPORT The figure is in good condition although it has some professional repairs, which is common for these figures. The left arm and both legs show some signs of repair, and the face and the body have had some touch-ups. One of the legs of the base is repaired and touched up. There might have been a now missing bocage at the back of the head of the putto. There are some typical missing flower petals on the remaining bocage. However, overall the figure looks brilliant and is in good stable condition.
Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1700s, 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 12cm (4.75").
