Bow Porcelain Factory
The origin of porcelain manufacture at Bow is very obscure. The first reliable notice of it is the patent applied for on 6 December 1744 by 'Edward Heylin in the parish of Bow in the county of Middlesex, merchant, and Thomas Frye of the parish of West Ham in the county of Essex, painter.' The specification, enrolled 5 April 1745, is 'for a new method of manufacturing a certain mineral, whereby a ware might be made of the same nature or kind, and equal to, if not exceeding in goodness and beauty, china or porcelain ware imported from abroad. The material is an earth, the produce of the Cherokee nation in America, called by the natives unaker.' The specification proceeds to give a detailed account of the composition of the porcelain and the mode of its manufacture. It seems probable that the description given was purposely vague, and that porcelain was not made in any quantity, if at all, under this patent; the object of the patentees may have been to protect the use of substances of which they had no practical experience. Mr. William Burton gives an analysis of the ware described in Heylin and Frye's patent, and arrives at the conclusion that 'not only were the proportions of Heylin and Frye entirely wrong, but their "frit" was useless for its supposed purpose.' The Cherokee clay or 'unaker' is said to have been brought to England by a traveller who recognized its similarity to the 'kaolin,' or china clay, of the Chinese. Some information concerning this man is given by William Cookworthy of Plymouth, who afterwards discovered in Cornwall the materials, china stone (petuntse) and china clay (kaolin), from which true porcelain is made.
1750s Messrs. Crowther and Weatherby were proprietors of the Bow manufactory; Thomas Frye acted as their works manager. Their works were known as 'New Canton,' and though situated on the Essex side of the River Lea, close to Bow Bridge, were commonly described as the Bow China Works and were so styled by the proprietors.
1751-3 William Duesbury worked in London, as an enameller to various firms of potters, including the Bow factory.
c1758 The firm reached its highest point of success; three hundred person were employed, ninety of whom were painters, all living under one roof. The firm had a retail shop in Cornhill and a warehouse at St. Katharine's near the Tower.
1762 The partnership continued till the death of Weatherby
1763 John Crowther became bankrupt - described as 'John Crowther, of Cornhill, chinaman.'
Crowther seems to have carried on the business again after his bankruptcy, but it never regained its former glory.
1776 it was sold for a small sum to William Duesbury, and all the moulds and implements were transferred to the factory at Derby.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] British history online