This is a very rare and impressive large figure of Juno with an eagle, made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1765. This figure formed part of a series of the Four Elements, with Juno representing air. The eagle at her feet represents Jupiter (or, in Greek mythology, Zeus). As with many Greek and Roman myths, Juno had quite a complicated relationship with Jupiter: he was both Juno's twin brother and her spouse. Here we see Jupiter in his transformed guise as an eagle, while Juno waves her garment in the wind signifying air.
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.
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. One popular series of figures was the Elements, consisting mostly of water, air, earth and fire. Bow copied many figures of the German Meissen series that were brought out in the decades before.
This figure dates from about 1765, which was at the height of Bow's ability to make beautiful figures often copied from Chelsea or Meissen. The porcelain is translucent with a beautiful milky glaze - Bow was probably the first factory using bone in its porcelain recipe. This particular copy of Juno is exceptionally colourful with a very refined face and the eagle seemingly in conversation with Juno, and it stands on a beautifully shaped base of Rococo scrolls.
The figure is marked with the red anchor and cross device. An image of this shape can be found in Peter Bradshaw's book on Bow Porcelain Figures, page 193, plate 203.
Provenance: the figure has a label of the shop of Arthur S. Vernay in New York City on the underside. Vernay was a well-known antiques dealer and explorer who ran a shop in New York between 1904 and 1943. It is interesting to think that this figure was made in East London more than 250 years ago, at some point ended up in New York, and then found its way back to East London again, only a stone's throw from the place where it was produced.
CONDITION REPORT The figure is in near-perfect condition, which is very rare to find. The only restoration to be found is the bunch of red flowers at Juno's feet - otherwise there is no damage, repairs, crazing or even any significant wear.
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 29cm high (11.5").
Bow figure of Juno with eagle, ca 1765
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We always aim to have happy customers so if you have an issue with or questions about your item, please contact us and we will do anything we can to resolve the issue with you!
