This is a rare and beautiful figure of Venus with two doves, made by the Bow Porcelain factory between 1756 and 1764. We see Venus standing holding her robe with one hand, a flower posy in the other hand. One of her breasts is delicately exposed. At her feet are two loving doves symbolising love.
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 a range of Greek or Roman gods and goddesses.
This figure, which has the shape number B31, dates from between 1756 and 1764 and it was probably copied from Chelsea, who in turn copied it from Meissen. The porcelain is translucent with a beautiful milky glaze - Bow was probably the first factory using bone in its porcelain recipe. The colours consist of very fresh pastel yellow, puce and blue colours and bright green foliage.
The figure is not marked, which is common for figures of this era. An image of this shape can be found in Peter Bradshaw's book on Bow Porcelain Figures, page 121, plate 87.
CONDITION REPORT The figure is good antique condition with some invisible professional restorations and touch-ups to the neck, shoulders, both arms, the legs, the doves and a section of the base to the right birds. Some typical small losses of flowers but generally looking fresh and authentic.
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 24cm high (9.5").
Bow figure of Venus with doves, 1756-1764
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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!
