A Bow Figure of a Boy Shepherd Piper modelled in the white, circa 1756
Modelled in the white as a standing shepherd playing the bagpipes beside a tree stump. He wears a brimmed hat, jacket and breeches, and his dog is seated at his fee, between which is a large flower. A square hole at the base of the tree stump was intended to accept a tôle fitment.
This particular Bow model was almost certainly based on a ‘dry edge’ Derby example, as can be seen in the last, comparative image.
Condition: Restoration to parts of the shepherd’s hat brim, his fingers and the tip of his left foot, the pipes and the right-hand corner of his jacket, as well as to the dog’s middle section and front legs. There is some crazing to the glaze on the dog’s head and also gas bubbles in areas where the glaze has pooled. Firing cracks around the circular air hole on the underside of the base.
Dimensions: Height approx 15 cm
Bow Porcelain: The Collection formed by Geoffrey Freeman, A. Gabszewicz & G. Freeman (Lund Humphries, 1982).
Eighteenth Century Porcelain Figures 1745-1796, Peter Bradshaw (Antique Collectors’ Club, 1981).