A Bow porcelain Knife and Fork, circa 1754-58
This Bow knife and fork are painted in underglaze blue with hatched foliage, stylised strapwork and lambrequins. Much utilised by Saint-Cloud earlier in the century, this style of decoration is loosely derived on the broderie ornaments of the designer Jean Berain (1640-1711) and his followers. The knife has a curved steel blade, and the fork has three tines on a steel baluster stem. Silver ferrules.
Provenance: An English Private Collection.
Condition: No restoration. The fork has a small area of staining beneath the glaze, and the knife has a tiny glaze loss. There are slight variations in the interpretation of the pattern, and also the tone of blue. The silver ferrules are good, and the steel fittings are sharp.
Dimensions: Length of knife 27.6 cm (including blade); Length of fork 22.2 cm (including tines)
Bow Porcelain: The Collection formed by Geoffrey Freeman, A. Gabszewicz & G. Freeman (Lund Humphries, 1982).
A Review of Bow and Worcester Knife and Fork Hafts, Tony Stevenson (ECC Transactions, vol. 13, no. 3, 1989).
Cutlery: From Gothic to Art Deco – The J. Hollander Collection, Jan van Trigt (Petraco-Pandora NV, 1999).