A Lowestoft Bowl, circa 1790
This bowl is decorated in underglaze blue with an oriental-inspired landscape consisting of pagodas beside a river. These elaborate towers are linked by a long wall punctuated by circular openings. The reverse is painted with a small building on an island and birds in flight. The border is painted with an alternate stylised leafy branch and cartouche design.
A bowl of this size could have been sold as a sugar basin to go with a tea service, or it could simply have been a bowl of useful size, the exact purpose of which was left entirely to the purchaser, as such articles were often sold according to their size alone.
Unmarked.
Condition: Good – no chips, cracks or restoration. Typical impurities are present in the glaze as small brown specks and patches of staining.
The manufacture of soft paste porcelain began at Lowestoft, Suffolk, in around 1760, and lasted until c.1799. Pieces by this much sought-after factory are becoming increasingly hard to find, and this bowl is an excellent example from this late period.
Dimensions: Diameter 11.4 cm
The Illustrated Guide to Lowestoft Porcelain, Geoffrey A. Godden (Praeger, 1969).
Lowestoft Porcelain in Norwich Castle Museum, Volume 1, Sheenah Smith (Norfolk Museums Service, 1975).