Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ebook Porcelain Analysis and Its Role in The Forensic Attribution of Ceramic Specimens 1St Edition Howell G M Edwards 2 Online PDF All Chapter
Ebook Porcelain Analysis and Its Role in The Forensic Attribution of Ceramic Specimens 1St Edition Howell G M Edwards 2 Online PDF All Chapter
https://ebookmeta.com/product/porcelain-analysis-and-its-role-in-
the-forensic-attribution-of-ceramic-specimens-1st-edition-howell-
g-m-edwards-2/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/black-decker-the-complete-guide-to-
ceramic-tile-includes-stone-porcelain-glass-tile-more-3nd-
edition-carter-glass/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/sperm-sexing-and-its-role-in-
livestock-production-vinod-kumar-yata/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/political-theories-of-modern-
government-its-role-and-reform-1st-edition-peter-self/
Calipered Kinematically aligned Total Knee
Arthroplasty: Theory, Surgical Techniques and
Perspectives 1st Edition Stephen M. Howell & Stefano A.
Bini & G. Daxton Steele
https://ebookmeta.com/product/calipered-kinematically-aligned-
total-knee-arthroplasty-theory-surgical-techniques-and-
perspectives-1st-edition-stephen-m-howell-stefano-a-bini-g-
daxton-steele/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/essays-in-constructive-
mathematics-2nd-edition-harold-m-edwards/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/corporate-attribution-in-private-
law-1st-edition-rachel-leow/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/sensor-data-analysis-and-
management-the-role-of-deep-learning-1st-edition-a-suresh-editor-
r-udendhran-editor-m-s-irfan-ahmed-editor/
Cultural Heritage Science
Howell G. M. Edwards
Porcelain Analysis
and Its Role in the
Forensic Attribution
of Ceramic Specimens
Cultural Heritage Science
Series Editors
Klaas Jan van den Berg, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Aviva Burnstock, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK
Koen Janssens, Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Antwerp,
Belgium
Robert van Langh, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jennifer Mass, Bard Graduate Center, New York, NY, USA
Austin Nevin, Head of Conservation, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK
Bertrand Lavedrine, Centre de Recherche sur la Conservation des Collections,
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Bronwyn Ormsby, Conservation Science & Preventive Conservation, Tate Britain,
London, UK
Matija Strlic, Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London,
London, UK
The preservation and interpretation of our cultural heritage is one of the major
challenges of today’s society. Cultural Heritage Science is a highly interdisciplinary
book series covering all aspects of conservation, analysis and interpretation of
artworks, objects and materials from our collective cultural heritage. The series
focuses on science and conservation in three main fields
• Art technology
• Active conservation and restoration
• Preventive conservation and risk management
The series addresses conservators and conservation scientists at museums, insti-
tutes, universities and heritage organizations. It also provides valuable information
for curators and decision makers at museums and heritage organizations. Cultural
Heritage Science comprises two subseries, one focusing on advanced methods and
technology for conservation experts, the second presenting the latest developments
in conservation science. All titles in the book series will be peer reviewed. Titles will
be published as printed books and as eBooks, opening up the opportunity to include
electronic supplementary material (videos, high-resolution figures, special data
formats, and access to databases).
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland
AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: Dinner plate from the Barry-Barry (Pendock-Barry) armorial service supplied from the
Derby China Works to Pendock Barry Neale of Tollerton Hall, Nottinghamshire, in 1806/7. It is a
beautiful example of William Billingsley’s superb rose painting on porcelain and was executed
externally for the Derby China Works when he was resident in Brampton-in-Torksey. This armorial
exhibits only the escutcheon contained within a wreath of oak leaves and acorns and detailed genealogical,
analytical and heraldic research was critical for the determination of its correct attribution and chronology.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the
shoulders of giants”.
Sir Isaac Newton FRS (1642–1727), Letter to
Robert Hooke FRS (1635–1703), 5th
February 1675.
Preface
“To whom shall I give this beautiful book just printed, polished and perfect . . .
You used to think that my trifles were worth something.
Now please take this book, the labour of a life, such as it is, and see that it remains for all
ages”.
Gaius Valerius Catullus (84–54 BCE), Carmina I.1.
“Arts and science should be mines where the noise of new works and further advances is
heard on every side”.
Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, Novum Organum, Book I, XC, 1620 (The New
Instrument of Science): proposing that the search for truth and the verification of facts
through inductive reasoning should be mandatory before proceeding further, forming the
basis of the Scientific Method.
The material for this book arose from research into porcelains which has been
carried out by the author over many years, as a collector in appreciation of their
artistic beauty, as an analytical chemist in the scientific interrogation of their body
paste, enamel pigments and glaze compositions and as a ceramic historian in the
assessment of the manufactory foundations and of their appropriate correlation with
available documentation, literature and opinions that have been expressed relating to
their recipes, formulations and business survival against intense competition from
home and abroad. Generally, the attribution of the origin of a porcelain artefact from
earliest times has been achieved through the application of several parameters,
including its provenance, associated documentation relating to its manufacture,
factory marks and upon a stylistic evaluation, whereby the shape, texture and design
of the item, its applied enamelling and decorative artistry have been accepted as an
exemplary standard and established as such by experts and connoisseurs of the
genre. In common with other artworks, the forging or faking of porcelains has
been prevalent through the ages and, whereas some of these are manifestly poor
reflections of the antique artefacts, others have been well executed and have then
proved rather difficult to differentiate from the genuine article. It is then quite
difficult for the definitive declaration of the authenticity of an unmarked and
potentially rare piece of porcelain to be satisfactorily and unequivocally
vii
viii Preface
derived from fragments, shards or from perfect, finished items of china, is reviewed
and operational protocols are established for the satisfactory identification of the type
of porcelain comprising a factory’s output from the analytical data presented. Two
analytical protocols of this type for the identification of porcelain body types are
proposed: the first based upon the elemental oxide percentages and the second upon
the spectroscopic interpretation of the molecular mineralogy which pertains to the
high kiln firing temperatures used in porcelain manufacture.
The influence of the importation of Chinese porcelains into Europe on the local
growth of the European manufactories in the seventeenth and eightennth centuries is
considered alongside their marine transportation from China to Europe which was
carried out mainly by the British Honourable East India Company and the Dutch
East India Company, along with their Portuguese and Swedish marine associates.
Several case studies are examined in detail for porcelain specimens to indicate the
forensic role that is adopted by modern analytical science, with information provided
at the quantitative elemental oxide and qualitative molecular spectroscopic levels
where applicable, towards the holistic attribution of a specimen to a particular
factory and followed by discussion as to whether this is in support of the established
convention or against the accepted conclusions that have been expressed hitherto. In
several instances, the situation is a clear mandate for a status quo being maintained
regarding the attribution of a porcelain specimen, whereas in others some potential
reassessment of an earlier attribution is now indicated definitively. Overall, the
information provided by the analytical chemical data is seen to be extremely useful
and desirable for porcelain artefact identification and for its potential attribution in
the context of a holistic evaluation of porcelains. The case is made for the establish-
ment of this procedure to be adopted more widely in its proper place in ceramics
research and to assist in the future identification of hitherto unknown porcelain
artefact exemplars of questionable factory origins. In some specific cases, the
adoption of this holistic approach to the attribution of porcelain specimens still
does not result in a definitive conclusion that is universally acceptable and more
detailed studies are then advocated.
Perhaps it is not generally realised that although porcelain types can now be
defined quite precisely, the historical situation has not always been so: hence, a
mis-nomenclature or mis- attribution of fired ceramics has arisen in the past through
the use of rather careless descriptors and the logical baseline adage should be applied
as a starting point – all porcelains are ceramic but not all ceramics are porcelain!
Several ceramic historians have attempted to circumvent this difficult issue hitherto
by referring to certain ceramics as “porcellaneous”, a rather indefinite descriptor
which does nothing to clarify the situation as to whether a particular artefact is a
genuine porcelain type or not – although clearly the term does indicate that the
ceramic in question should merit its potential inclusion for consideration as a
porcelain.
The provision of analytical chemical information relating to the glaze, to the
applied pigments used in the decoration and to the presence of trace elements in
these components is now finding novel applications in the area of porcelain artefact
attribution to complement the existing analytical studies of porcelain body
Preface xi
In this book, therefore, an approach has been adopted in which the stories of the
people involved or associated with early porcelains, and their manufacture is neither
discounted nor marginalised but has been fed into the background information for
appraisal. This has been found to relate materially to artefact provenancing issues
and compositional variation and especially to the reliability of the historical docu-
mentation that has been presented hitherto on porcelain manufactories.
Keywords Chemical analysis Minerals Ceramics Porcelain Stonewares
Analytical techniques Historical documentation Porcelain manufactories Case
studies Forensic holistic interpretation Connoisseurship Forgeries Fakes
Enamel decoration Chinese porcelains Early European porcelains Glazes
Pigments
In his background research for the current text, the author acknowledges the efforts
of previous writers on the ceramic history of porcelain manufactories, many of the
earliest having to rely upon only a limited access to documentation but nevertheless
containing information from eyewitness accounts. These sources often could not be
verified independently against evidential material in the absence of chemical anal-
ysis and records, yet these historians made significant and highly important advances
in their subject which stimulated those who followed later. The establishment of
modern analytical scientific hypotheses from chemical data interpretation is
catalysed by debate and discussion, and the author wishes to acknowledge the
assistance and time given freely by the following colleagues, friends and museum
curators for their informed discussions, which have encompassed many years’
experience in ceramics and documentary research. Several have kindly provided
specimens for the studies described in this book, whilst others have facilitated access
to archives and papers or have given their permission for the reproduction of the
appropriate photographs from the porcelain and ceramic specimens in their
collections:
Professor Philippe Colomban, Sorbonne University, Paris; Dr Morgan and Mrs
Rachel Denyer, Penrose Antiques, Thornton, West Yorkshire; Bryan Bowden
Antiques, Harrogate, North Yorkshire; Charles Fountain, Director, Nantgarw
China Works Museum Trust, Tyla Gwyn, Nantgarw, Glamorganshire; Lady
Miranda Rock, Director of the Burghley House Preservation Trust, Burghley
House, Stamford, Lincolnshire; Rev. James Dickinson, Chesterfield, South York-
shire; Stuart Brown, Builth Wells, Powys; Guy Fawkes, Farnley Hall, Otley, North
Yorkshire; the late Dr Peter Bradshaw, Sheffield, South Yorkshire; Dr Alexander
Surtees, University of Bradford; Professor Jan Jehlicka, Charles University, Prague,
Czech Republic; Dr Elizabeth Carter, University of Sydney, Australia; Dr Danita de
Waal, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Professor Ian Freestone, University
College, London; Dr W. Ross Ramsay, Invercargill, New Zealand; Professor Chris
Brooke, University of Nottingham; Andrew Renton, Keeper of Art Amgueddfa
xiii
xiv Acknowledgements
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Setting the Scene: Analytical Data and Connoisseurship
for Attribution in Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Application to Ceramics and Porcelains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3 The Growth of English and European Porcelains
in the Eighteenth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4 Body Compositions of Early Porcelains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.5 Key Analytical Markers for Porcelain Identification . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.6 Raw Material Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
1.7 The Requirement for an Analytical Protocol for Porcelain
Attribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
1.8 Is There a Need for Analytical Data Input for the Definitive
Porcelain Attribution for Unknown Specimens? . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2 Chinese Porcelains and their Early European Competitors . . . . . . . 65
2.1 Early Porcelain Manufacture in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.2 The European Challenge to Imported Chinese Porcelains . . . . . . 71
2.2.1 Straits Chinese Porcelain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.3 The Export of Chinese Porcelain to Europe Through
Canton and Nanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.4 Portuguese Shipments of Chinese Porcelain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
2.5 The Early European Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
2.6 Aristocratic Financial Support for European Manufactories . . . . 92
2.7 Early French Soft Paste Porcelain Compositions . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
xv
xvi Contents
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Appendix I: Lady Charlotte Guest/Schreiber (1812–1895) . . . . . . . . . . 415
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Appendix II: The “Bearded Tulip”: Who Was “De Junic” and Can
Analysis Help to Unravel the Mystery Surrounding this Artist? . . . . . . 423
What Is Known About “de Junic”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
Appendix III: Retailers of Porcelain: A Source of Uncertainty for
Analytical Attribution? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
Did the Swansea China Works Ever Produce Nantgarw
Porcelain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Appendix IV: The Importance of Establishing the Correct Chronology
for Factory Operations in a Holistic Forensic Analytical Approach.
Example: The Swansea and Nantgarw Manufactories, 1814–1820 . . . . 443
Transcript of an Interview given by Henry Morris, formerly
of the Swansea China Works, to Colonel Grant Francis
on the 14th August 1850. Reproduced in the Cambrian
newspaper on the 3rd January, 1896 and then quoted by
William Turner in his book The Ceramics of Swansea and
Nantgarw, published in 1897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Chronology of Activities and Landmark Dates at the
Swansea and Nantgarw China Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Details of the Auction Sales of Swansea and Nantgarw
Porcelains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Appendix V: Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness
Burdett – Coutts of Highgate, 1814–1906 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
Contents xxi
xxiii
Chapter 1
Introduction
“To develop a complete mind study the science of art and the
art of science”.
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519.
“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what
other people do not know”.
Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1892.
“If the fresh facts which come to our knowledge all fit
themselves into the scheme then our hypothesis may gradually
become a solution”.
Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1908.
Abstract Hard and soft science and the holistic evaluation of evidence for the
attribution of a porcelain artefact to a particular manufactory. The comparison of
analytical chemical data, historical documents and provenancing and stylistic appre-
ciation by connoisseurs. The need for an objective appraisal of all three components
in the attribution of porcelain is explored and advanced to the ability to differentiate
fakes and forgeries from genuine, rare and non-standard pieces. The potential pitfalls
of associating a painter with a particular factory are highlighted. The role of shards
and porcelain fragments recovered from the archaeological excavation of manufac-
tory sites and their correlation with finished and perfect porcelain artefacts from the
same source origin is considered, The composition of the raw materials of early
European porcelains prior to the revelation of the primary components of kaolin and
petuntse in imported Chinese porcelains in the second decade of the eighteenth
century showed the need for analytical chemical science which was not available at
that time.
“It is almost a cliché to remark that nobody boasts of an ignorance of literature but it is still
socially acceptable to boast of an ignorance of science and to proudly claim an incompe-
tence in mathematics”.
Twelve years later in 2008, the science writer, Philip Ball, in an article in Nature
(2008) explored the abstract surreal art of Salvador Dali, which he correlated with
the Two Cultures address of C.P. Snow some 50 years earlier and deduced somewhat
controversially that the conclusions of science and art would not be able to inform
each other satisfactorily. Therefore, he argued that the two disciplines should
probably best be kept well apart! Whatever one may feel personally about these
individual statements made over the space of 50 years, the succinct message being
relayed over many decades of interdisciplinary investigation and research at the arts/
science interface is that there is an awareness by some of a mutual lack of appreci-
ation of the science involved by the arts and humanities community and vice versa
and that the common ground between the two is often rather murky, even if this does
not fully merit Snow’s rather derisive epithet of “ignorance”.
This is surely then not a good basis for the adoption of forensic scientific analysis
for an art work, which in its truest form requires a holistic and determinental
approach, advocating thereby the equal consideration and merited evaluation of
scientific data, the assessment of available historical documentation, the evidence
of an historical provenance if available and also the definitive pronouncement of an
expert opinion or connoisseurship in its input to arrive at a measured judgemental
decision relating to the art work in question. In other words, a mutually collaborative
appraisal based upon both an appreciation of analytical science and the fine arts
(Edwards, Porcelain to Silica Bricks: The Extreme Ceramics of William Weston
Young, 1776–1847, 2019) is necessary for the synergistic assimilation of the scien-
tific data input, stylistic assessment and historical documentation for the evaluation
of art works, which in our specific case is exemplified by porcelains. It is apposite to
consider here the classification of porcelain as an art work and/or an artefact: the
name artefact derives from the Latin arte (by skill) and facere (to make) and is
defined as a man-made object of historical interest, which clearly embraces ceramics,
which can be both functional and artistic. Peter Hupfauf (2019) has urged curators of
art exhibitions to be aware that primarily functional objects can often simultaneously
express artistic interpretations. There is no doubt, therefore, that ceramics generally
and porcelain specifically can be considered works of art, whether they are func-
tional or otherwise, and as such they are an integral part of a national cultural
heritage.
There could indeed be a major perceived stumbling block for the input of
scientific data to the artistic context arising from a mutual lack of understanding in
the two disciplines of art works and science; however, the real impasse to the
apparent acceptance of scientific data obtained from an art work by a community
which is composed primarily of art experts is really centred upon the interpretation
that has been given to the analytical data and that this is where the perceived conflict
of emotion and opinion sits between the two spectral extremes of analytical scientist
and art connoisseur. There is no doubt that analytical science inherently deals with
4 1 Introduction
factual information – the hard science – and it is also true that the technical
interpretation of those data which emanate from an analytical experiment does not
generally lend itself to an immediate appreciation by someone who has not been
trained scientifically. Likewise, the opinion expressed by an art expert or connois-
seur on the origin or attribution of an art work—the soft science – is based upon a
weighted judgemental assessment of several factors, which may be intuitive, but
nevertheless has been based upon many years’ experience of their studying similar
works of art, such as oil paintings or china, and this would include stylistic
considerations along with the summary appreciation of key evidential artistic factors
which for oil paintings would be the pentimenti, brush work, pigment usage, period
fashion awareness and artistic composition. For porcelains, such expert evaluation
would naturally involve the consideration of the texture, the potting characteristics,
translucency, the glaze, the type of porcelain body, the shapes, mouldings, structure
and the applied decoration – these would generally be grouped together under the
term of “stylistic evaluation”.
Occasionally, an art expert sitting in judgement on a disputed oil painting, for
example, may make a comment such as “This oil painting does not exhibit the
chemistry shown between the artist and the sitter as is evident in other works by this
artist” or perhaps, “This work of art does not feel right and it is just not good enough
to be the work of X, as can be seen when it is placed alongside another unequivocally
accepted work of art by the artist X”. Both of these remarks have been made by
international art experts recently in their appraisal of two oil paintings which have
been claimed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci, namely, Salvator Mundi
and La Principessa. Whilst the general feeling amongst some art experts is that both
of these paintings are on balance genuine works by Leonardo, others, in contrast,
vigorously take the opposite view and have declared that they are patently either
fakes or studio copies. In both cases, these were judgemental decisions made on the
basis of perceived artistic impressions only and scientific analysis was apparently not
involved for a variety of reasons in these overall appraisals. An analogous situation
certainly applies for ceramic artworks, where a difference of opinion expressed by
connoisseurs could result in a disputed attribution of a particular artefact to a
manufactory and the provision of scientific analytical information about its potential
source could be invaluable potentially in the attainment of a definitive assessment.
However, the final judgement is not always as clear cut as may have been expected
from an initial appraisal and there are several cogent reasons for that as will be
apparent in some of the relevant case studies that are discussed in detail later in
this book.
The input of novel scientific analytical data to an original attribution of an artwork
which had been previously made on the basis of expert opinion alone can then either
support or bring into question the factual basis of that original attribution. The access
to scientific analytical or documentary data that results in the potential reversal of an
expert opinion that may have been expressed many years hitherto may well advise a
revision of the status of the artwork to its proper place and standing in the genre and
could imply that the artwork strictly belongs to another category. The situation may
occur whereby the original artwork attribution should now be rescinded in the light
1.1 Setting the Scene: Analytical Data and Connoisseurship for Attribution in Art 5
of later scientific evidence and/or documentary data which suggests that the contrary
opinion should apply and that the artwork should now be re-affirmed as genuine or
perhaps relegated to the status of being a copy, a mis-assignment or perhaps even a
fake. This dichotomous situation has been highlighted in an exhibition at the
National Gallery, London, staged between June and September 2010, entitled “A
Closer Look: Deceptions and Discoveries”, which was accompanied by a brochure
called “The Science of Painting: Your Guide to Close Examination – Fakes, Mis-
takes and Discoveries”. Dr. Marjorie Wieseman, Curator of Dutch Painting at the
National Gallery, gave the opening lecture at this event entitled “Connoisseurship
under Fire”, in which she recounted the challenge made by scientific analysis to the
attribution of several pictures in the custodianship of the National Gallery and the
subsequent overturning of several earlier expert opinions and assumptions relating to
those paintings in the light of recently acquired objective scientific knowledge about
the works themselves and their creators which was not available when the original
expert assessments and judgements were made. It is interesting that for the 16 case
studies described therein and detailed in the accompanying monograph written by
Dr. Wieseman (A Closer Look: Deceptions & Discoveries, 2010) (Fig. 1.1), which
elegantly brings together the modern science and the older connoisseurship opinions
in a holistic forensic approach, the scientific evidence resulted in somewhat over half
the paintings being confirmed as being truly original (nine in number) and the
remaining seven being categorised as requiring a downgrade in status to that of
workshop copies or even fakes. This surely puts into perspective the scale of the
problem facing artwork attribution nowadays and the proliferation of fakes, copies
and forgeries that can appear and indeed have appeared in the marketplace, which is
engendered and driven by significant financial gains accruing to the faker or forger.
For the National Gallery Exhibition, a glossary of terms used in painting descrip-
tors was compiled which briefly sets the scene for those who are unfamiliar with the
specific terminology frequently used in the attribution of an artwork by art experts.
In descending order of certainty, this is, namely, “attributed to” meaning very likely
but not absolutely certain, “studio or workshop of ” meaning painted by a pupil of an
artist and most likely accomplished in his atelier and under his/her direction,
“follower or circle of ” meaning someone who admired the artist’s work but who
was not necessarily a pupil in his or her workshop, and finally “imitator of” meaning
one who has created a work in the original artist’s style but possibly at a much later
date. The definition of connoisseurship is put simply as “A stylistic attribution of a
painting usually made in conjunction with technical or historical research”. Hence,
a connoisseur is required to embrace the quality or relative aesthetic merit in an
artwork, which is generally based upon the acquisition of an extensive practical
knowledge acquired from years of study of original works of art by a particular artist
and his or her contemporaries. In addition, connoisseurship has the mandate
according to this definition to consider technical and scientific information, as well
as documentary evidence, which must sit alongside the clause for art appreciation
based superficially on visual style and artistic composition. Several important
corollaries now emerge from these definitions which illuminate the perceived gulf
between science and the arts alluded to by C.P. Snow in his Rede Lecture:
6 1 Introduction
Fig. 1.1 A Closer Look: Deceptions and Discoveries by Dr M.E Wieseman, National Gallery Co.,
London and Yale University Press, New Haven Connecticut, USA, 2010. Cover detail from Winter
Landscape, Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840), oil on canvas, 32.5 45 cm, acquired by the
National Gallery in 1897. This National Gallery painting appears identical to that in the Museum fur
Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Dortmund which was acquired in 1940, but there is only one version
of the painting mentioned in associated nineteenth century documents. The London version has
several details which do not appear in the Dortmund version. Infrared imaging studies show the
presence of an underdrawing in the London painting characteristic of Friedrich’s work, which are
absent from the Dortmund version. It is now believed that the London painting is the original and
that the Dortmund version is a studio copy made probably from the original whilst it was still in
place in the artist’s atelier
1.1 Setting the Scene: Analytical Data and Connoisseurship for Attribution in Art 7
of an artwork then what is the material standing of this information and how is it
valued against the other factors which must also have been considered in parallel
for that evaluation? In other words, if the scientific data indicate that something is
potentially incorrect or non-standard in some of the aspects being addressed in the
case of a specific artwork and perhaps, in contrast, all the other factors are positive
for an artwork attribution, what is the resultant judgement going to imply for that
artwork? Some specific examples of this scenario, which highlights the differ-
ences of opinion between analytical scientists working in the broader area of
cultural heritage artefacts and connoisseurs, will be provided in the literature
(Edwards et al., Raman Spectroscopy in Cultural Heritage Preservation, 2021).
The judgemental analysis and appreciation of the merit of a particular artwork
should be made accounting for the weighted opinion of a panel of experts and
connoisseurs, whereby all the available information will have been considered
appropriately in their arriving at an objective conclusion, although, of course, a
difference in expert opinion might still be recorded as noted earlier for the two oil
paintings attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
• “The craving for authenticity is widespread”, a quotation by Lowenthal (Authen-
ticity: Rock of Faith or Quicksand?, 1999), echoes many an opinion relating to
artworks that do not have an indisputably firm provenance but which is never-
theless desirable for their unequivocal acceptance in the art world, whether this be
oil paintings or porcelains. The presence of some potentially questionable attri-
butes, which are perhaps characterised by lacunae, should thus drive an assess-
ment even more towards an appreciation of the value of a scientific input to the
evaluation of art works (Fleming, Authenticity in Art: The Scientific Detection of
Forgery, 1975). The opinion of Keith Pinn (Paktong: The Chinese Alloy in
Europe, 1680–1820, 1999), a respected expert in antique metalwork, summarises
the potential feeling experienced by art connoisseurs quite appropriately in this
context:
“Unless one happens to be lucky enough to be blessed with some kind of divining skill, it is
impossible to judge the composition of an alloy by sight and feel alone. If it served no other
purpose, scientific investigation at least stopped me from making a fool of myself and saved
others from reading a lot of irrelevant nonsense based on a false premiss”.
Although he was clearly referring to the analysis of antique metals and alloys, in
which his international connoisseurship and expertise was highly respected, this
connoisseur immediately recognised the consequences of the faux-pas arising from a
potential mis-attribution or challenge being made regarding a specific artwork to an
expert’s reputation. This has been echoed briefly in a parallel statement by Indictor
(1998) as “. . .in order to avoid the embarrassment of a misattribution”. These
statements made by connoisseurs actually imply that the scientific data should be
regarded as a critical factor in the eventual acceptance or otherwise of the originality
and authenticity of an artwork. The key question here, of course, is whether or not
the scientific interpretation of the experimental data provides a unique solution for
taking forward the assessment to a positive attribution or whether the information
delivered from a scientific analysis is itself generating some further discrepancies
1.1 Setting the Scene: Analytical Data and Connoisseurship for Attribution in Art 9
that need to be reassessed or considered further and perhaps even raises some wider
issues in the field of porcelains concerning the accepted products of a particular
manufactory.
Paul Craddock in his seminal text on fakes, forgeries and copies of artworks
exposed by scientific analysis (Craddock, Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes
and Forgeries, 2009), which was based upon his analytical research work at the
Department of Conservation and Scientific Research at the British Museum,
London, covers a wide field of artefacts in our cultural heritage comprising metal,
coinage, ceramics, glass, enamels, stone and sculpture, paintings, paper, prints,
documents, gemstones, jades and textiles. The unifying theme is the role of scientific
analysis in determining evidence of forgery or unrecorded restoration that has been
made over a wide range of materials and the confirmation or otherwise of their
authenticity, which in many cases required a re-evaluation of the expert opinions
made historically without the benefit of analytical data provision being made
available or considered at that time. The overriding message emerging from this
text is that scientific analysis should be an essential component for the determination
of the authenticity or attribution of an artefact or artwork for cultural heritage
preservation.
A comment should also be made here about historiography, that is, the writing of
history based solely upon sources and documentation and its independent role for
consideration in the porcelain artefact attribution process. A summary of its standing
is provided by Gabriele Boccaccini (Beyond the Essene Hypothesis, 1998) who has
concluded that:
“Historiographic analysis is limited by the quantity of surviving records, by their state of
preservation and by the historical probability or accident of their survival”.
Although this statement was made specifically for the investigation of ancient
manuscripts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is equally applicable to porcelain
manufactory records, which are sometimes no longer existent and which, where
they have survived, can provide a source of inestimable value for the attribution and
evaluation of specimens from that source factory. However, it should also be
remembered that the survival of such useful documentation may only be partial
and that some important and potentially vital manuscripts may no longer exist in the
historical record for our adoption into the attribution process. In some cases, the
original notes made by manufacturers on the experimental trials they have under-
taken on the recipes for novel porcelain bodies exist in an only sketchy form, or even
in a code, and these now require some dexterity in interpretation; for example, Lewis
Dillwyn’s diaries and notebooks of his experimental trials undertaken at the Swansea
China Works with his kiln manager Samuel Walker between 1815 and 1817
(Dillwyn, Notes and Workbooks of Recipes at the Swansea China Works,
1815–1817, reproduced in H. Eccles & B. Rackham, Analysed Specimens of English
Porcelain in the Victoria & Albert Museum Collection, 1922) wherein he was
attempting to create a more robust china body to replace his esteemed duck-egg
porcelain.
10 1 Introduction
flaked off and have become trapped in the detritus found between the bound leaves
of vellum or parchment in books or codices.
What is really needed for the input of scientific interpretation to the attribution
and evaluation of the origins of porcelain artwork through analytical data provision
is a key analytical or spectral signature which can appear during the analytical
interrogation and which will immediately prove it to be an unequivocal indicator
of the type of porcelain body and perhaps even its precise factory of origin. In the oil
painting scenario this would be equivalent to an Old Master painting of the Renais-
sance displaying a unique pigment signature, which conclusively proved that it was
from the workshops of say, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Botticelli or Leonardo da
Vinci. Of course, although these great artists did have their favourite pigments,
which they perhaps mixed in their own favoured ways to achieve the requisite
different tonal qualities, the range of natural dyes and mineral pigments available
to them was still rather limited in scope and therefore these are essentially analyti-
cally the same or very similar natural and mineral pigments which are to be found
over a range of palettes offered by several artists (Delamere and Guineau, Colour:
Making and Using Dyes and Pigments, 2000; Merrifield, Original Treatises dating
from the XIIth to the XVIIIth Centuries on the Arts of Painting, 1849). However, it
now appears from the meticulous microscopic scientific analysis undertaken on
several famous oil paintings that certain additives were occasionally used to achieve
spectacular effects, such as the incorporation of fine-grained metallic bismuth
particles in some of Raphael’s work. In the Ansidei Madonna, painted by Raphael
in 1505 (otherwise known as the Madonna and Child with St John the Baptist and St
Nicholas of Bari) in addition to the use of pulverised silver and gold on the mantle of
the Madonna, Raphael incorporated metallic bismuth into the grey pigment for his
architecture (Roy 2012). The use of powdered glass mixed with pigments as an aid to
the drying of lakes was adopted by Thomas Gainsborough (Jones, Gainsborough’s
Materials and Methods, 1997). Both additives were intended to increase the reflec-
tive powers of the pigments in the areas in which they were used. Certain artists were
known to favour particular mineral and natural pigments, which have been discov-
ered in their works by analytical chemistry, such as turnsole, Naples yellow, chrome
yellow and ultramarine, which were used preferentially by Raphael Sanz, Antonio
Palomino, Sir Thomas Lawrence and John Constable, respectively. One thing is
clear, every great artist was an experimentalist; they certainly did not always adopt
identical procedures for every work of art they created and they were always striving
for the improvement of the finished product or for the achievement of a particular
effect in their masterpieces.
This is precisely the case also with porcelain manufacturers who, whilst they may
have been unaware of the precise chemistry and the reactions occurring between the
complex mixtures of the raw materials employed in their porcelain biscuit body at
the high temperatures adopted in their porcelain firing kilns, nevertheless, were
generally intent on improving the quality of their china as they were operating in
an intensely competitive market, where competitors with perceived inferior products
were unable to attract a purchasing clientele and thereby suffered financially, often
resulting in the bankruptcy and closure of their factory. Achieving an initially
12 1 Introduction
successful porcelain body formulation was, of course, essential to the end purpose
commercially but maintaining the market edge against a competitor’s product was
vital, especially where moves may have been taken elsewhere to further improve the
competitor’s product quality through consequent recipe improvisation and experi-
mentation. Needless to say, the artistic accomplishments of an oil painting compared
with a porcelain dinner service, both of which would have been produced according
to a precise order or commission, differ in one obvious respect: an oil painting would
literally be a unique example of the artist’s work on a commissioned topic whereas
the analogous commissioned porcelain dinner service would comprise perhaps up to
fifty or a hundred pieces of artwork or more of different shapes and sizes which have
been decorated and gilded individually, although modelled from a defined range of
mouldings and shapes, and for that reason each one was somewhat different in
subject accomplishment. Unlike the oil painting, the porcelain dinner service items
were functional and designed for daily use, thereby they would be potentially subject
to greater physical damage, loss and deterioration from careless handling. A good
example of this is provided by the Marino Ballroom dinner-dessert service of
Swansea porcelain ordered in 1817 by Henry Vivian for supper entertaining at his
Marino mansion: by the 1860s it was noted that some 60–70 pieces had already been
broken and discarded from about 200 originally which comprised this large service.
Other examples are the Farnley Hall service of Nantgarw porcelain, a large dinner-
dessert service of about 106 pieces, originally commissioned in 1817–1818 by
William Ramsden Hawkesworth Fawkes, of which now only 37 remain in Farnley
Hall, North Yorkshire, and the sumptuous Lord Ongley dessert service of Derby
porcelain commissioned by Lord Ongley in about 1820 of which from an original
42 pieces only 7 now remain on display in Muncaster Castle, Cumbria. An exception
to this scenario is the particular area of cabinet porcelains, which were never
designed for functional use but were intended primarily for decorative display in
glass cases, and as such were often individual examples and demonstrators of the
porcelain manufacturer’s and decorator’s supreme artistic accomplishments and
skills. These might, therefore, be expected to have a preferential survival rate,
even though they were relatively rarer items initially, over and above the analogous
functional wares being produced from the same factory. Even porcelain figures,
which appear to have no functional use whatsoever, unless they have also been
constructed as candle sconces, vases or spill holders, for example, were brought out
to decorate Georgian dinner tables in the eighteenth century and to serve as conver-
sation pieces and focal points for discussion during the meal, and any careless
handling would have invariably exposed these delicate pieces of porcelain artwork
to superficial damage. The development of unglazed and undecorated biscuit por-
celain figures in simulation of polished marble statuary by the Sevres manufactory in
the 1760s, and closely followed by Meissen and Chelsea in response to the demand
for these porcelain figurines, accentuated the perfection of the modeller’s ceramic art
and the requirement for a porcelain body that was visually free from blemishes and
faults. Here, the associated terminology is interesting: the modeller was the designer
or sculptor of the figurine and the repairer was the assembler of the individual pieces
into the final figure and does not refer to the reconstruction of broken pieces of
porcelain. As an illustration (see later, Fig. 8.16), the beautiful Derby China Works
1.2 Application to Ceramics and Porcelains 13
biscuit porcelain figure of A Paris Opera Girl in the Role of Flora, ca. 1795, was
modelled by Jean-Jacques Spangler and repaired by Joseph “Jockey” Hill.
Another relevant comparison which can be made between oil paintings and
porcelains is that the perceived value in the former is exclusively painter-oriented,
whereas for porcelains, although the artistic decorator, such as William Billingsley,
James Giles, William “Quaker” Pegg, John Wager Brameld, Jefferys Hammett
O’Neale and Moses Webster, does command an enhanced premium on their ceramic
art work, the prime analytical and forensic objective in porcelain analysis is not the
identification of the painter but where the “canvas” or porcelain body was made and
when it was manufactured – although it is realised that it is sometimes the case that
the subject of the decoration on a porcelain plate commands a special premium
especially if it was related to a diplomatic gift or designed to commemorate an
historical event. A prime example of this was provided recently by the achievement
at auction of an unsurpassed amount for a lidless and damaged porcelain teapot
dating to about 1765–1770 and decorated in a cobalt blue underglaze enamel which
sold for £575,000 ($806, 000) at auction in 2018 against a pre-sale estimate of
£10,000. Bought for £15 by an astute porcelain collector on the basis of its being
attributed initially to the Isleworth factory, later stylistic and irrefutable analytical
evidence pointed firmly to its definitive re- attribution to the factory of John Bartlam
(see Appendix VI). The main factors in the attribution of this teapot to John
Bartlam’s manufactory at Cain Hoy in Charleston, South Carolina, was its unusual
chinoiserie decoration depicting palmetto trees and cranes and its analytical compo-
sition which precisely matched those of some shards excavated at the factory site and
which therefore made this the earliest piece of porcelain yet found that was made in
the pre-Revolutionary American Colonies. It was purchased by the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York, who appreciated the historical importance of this
particular item of teaware, which preceded by just a few years the famous “Boston
Tea Party” that ignited the American Revolutionary War of Independence and
generated the cry of “No taxation without representation” from the disaffected
American colonists against the mother country of Great Britain. In comparison
with an oil painting, the artistic enameller of this teapot is unknown but it could be
described analogously as “from the workshop of John Bartlam in Cain Hoy” and
indeed it may well have been decorated by John Bartlam himself!
This rather subtle distinction between an identifiable painter and a factory product
actually holds the key to what can be perceived as the imbalance between the three
major components of the holistic appreciation of an art work as applied to oil
paintings and to porcelains, namely, the historical provenancing of the former is
held to be of greater significance in contrast to the analogous situation for porcelains,
except of course for the case we have outlined above for the Bartlam teapot, which
represents the oldest piece of American Colonial porcelain known historically. In the
case of porcelains, it is extremely rare to find in practice that a significant porcelain
service that was commissioned by an aristocratic family in the eighteenth or nine-
teenth centuries is still retained by descendants from that same source: rather rare
exemplars of familial porcelain retention include the Royal Rockingham dinner
service commissioned by King William IV in 1832, which is still in the possession
of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, the Swansea Garden Scenery
14 1 Introduction
dessert service of 1817 which is still in the possession of Sir Michael Dillwyn
Venables-Llewellyn at Llysdinam, and the Nantgarw Farnley Hall dinner service
commissioned by William Ramsden Hawkesworth Fawkes in 1818 which is still in
the possession of Guy Fawkes Esq. of Farnley Hall, Otley (Edwards, Swansea and
Nantgarw Porcelains A Scientific Reappraisal, 2017). Two examples of the Farnley
Hall porcelain service, namely, porcelain tureen or sauce-boat stands, are shown in
Fig. 1.2. In contrast, named porcelain services which have potentially lost their
original although recorded commissioned placements and have been dispersed
through auction sales over the past 200 years, thereby potentially losing their firm
provenancing audit trail from what may have been an impeccably strong and
recorded initial commissioning from the factory or “chinaman” agent, are almost
too numerous to mention but exemplars are:
• The Earl Camden (Fig. 1.3), Viscount Cremorne (Fig. 1.4), Lord Ongley
(Fig. 1.5) and Prince of Wales (Fig. 1.6) services of Derby porcelain;
• The Thomas Coutts (Burdett-Coutts) (Fig. 1.7), Lord Biddulph, Lysaght (Fig. 1.8)
and Marquess of Anglesey services of Swansea porcelain;
Fig. 1.2 Two tureen or sauce – bowl stands from the large Farnley Hall dinner and dessert service
ordered from the Nantgarw China Works agents, John Mortlock’s of Oxford Street, London, in
1817 by William Ramsden Hawksworth Fawkes, MP for North Yorkshire, and lifelong friend of
James Mallord William Turner, the celebrated watercolourist and painter who spent much of his
time at Farnley Hall as an annual visitor. It is very probable that Turner and Hawksworth Fawkes
dined off this service whilst at Farnley Hall in the second and third decades of the nineteenth
century. The porcelain is impressed with the mark NANT-GARW C.W. and is beautifully decorated
with floral groups birds and insects with characteristic dentil gilded edging at the London atelier of
Robins and Randall, who undertook the decorating commission for most of Mortlock’s London-
based commissions and assignments. The decoration is in the manner of the generic Nantgarw
Brace service, with fruit, flowers and birds in vignettes and the typical Nantgarw moulding at the
edge. This service is still in the possession of Guy Fawkes Esq., Farnley Hall, Otley, North
Yorkshire, a descendant of William Ramsden Hawkesworth Fawkes. (Reproduced with permission
of Guy Fawkes Esq., Farnley Hall, North Yorkshire)
1.2 Application to Ceramics and Porcelains 15
Fig. 1.3 Dessert plate from the Earl Camden service of Derby porcelain, ordered from Joseph
Lygo, Derby agent, in London, April 1795. Puce marked with crown and crossed batons and the
pattern number 185. Decorated by William Billingsley with a border of full- blown roses linked to
rosebuds with an apple green ground colour and central vignette of a posy of pink roses. One of the
best documented of the Derby services, the Earl Camden service was a large service of over
100 items originally, including ice cups and trays and ice pails, and cost 160 guineas at that time,
almost ten times that of a standard dessert service. John Twitchett regarded this as the finest example
of Billingsley’s rose painting and it was completed just before William Billingsley left the factory to
join John Rose at the Pinxton China Works in 1795. (Private Collection)
• The Duke of Cambridge (Fig. 1.10), Marquess of Bute, Earl Spencer, Macintosh,
Lord Vernon and Baron Phippes (Fig. 1.10) services of Nantgarw porcelain;
• The Duke of Clarence, Earl of Coventry (Blind Earl) and the Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu services of Worcester porcelain.
The magnificence of these original porcelain services can be seen from the
selection illustrated here in Figs. 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, and 1.10. The
purchase of other porcelain services of esteemed quality at auction sales has thereby
acquired a novel source attribution and provenance based on their new owners and
this is often unrelated to their original commissioning, which in some cases is
unknown: examples of these are the Lady Seaton (Nantgarw) (Fig. 1.11), Rothschild
(Derby) (Fig. 1.12), Sir John Williams (Nantgarw) (Fig. 1.13) and Brace (Nantgarw)
services, all of which are admired today by collectors and connoisseurs for their
exceptionally fine quality of porcelain substrate and the applied decoration rather
than for their original historical provenance, which in many cases is not known.
Having said that, where special porcelain services are named and have a known
16 1 Introduction
Fig. 1.4 Small kidney shaped, oval scalloped comport from the Viscount Cremorne service of
Derby porcelain, decorated simply with random Chantilly sprigs of blue forget-me-nots and gold
leaf for which the order commission has extensive supporting documentation as described by John
Twitchett ( Derby Porcelain 1748-1848: An Illustrated Guide, 2002). Puce mark with crossed
swords and batons and gilder’s numeral 1 at footrim being that of Thomas Soar. The dessert service
has the baronial coronet and cypher PHC, signifying Philadelphia Hannah Cremorne, a grand-
daughter of William Penn the founder of the colony of Pennsylvania, who married her grandmother
Margaret Hannah Callowhill in 1695 and whose daughter was Margaret Penn, Philadelphia’s
mother. Thomas Dawson, born 1725, was created Lord Dartrey and Viscount Cremorne in 1785.
Lady Philadelphia Cremorne was lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. The
Cremorne service was commissioned on the 9th December, 1788 and this oval comport is one of
only two made to the special design of Lady Cremorne at a cost of £2 7s (£2.35). Two ice pails from
this service costing originally £5 5s (£5.25 ) are now in the Royal Crown Derby Museum. (Private
Collection)
historical provenance with current relevance and interest since their original dis-
persal, they do command high premiums – such as the Hafod service (Derby),
Macintosh service (Nantgarw), Blind Earl service (Worcester) and the Barry-
Barry (Pendock Barry) service (Derby).
Fig. 1.5 Dessert plate from the Lord Ongley service of Derby porcelain, Robert Bloor period, ca.
1820, with Nantgarw-style moulded C-scroll border and inspired by James Plant’s Nantgarw
porcelain decoration at John Sims’ atelier, London, ca. 1817–1819, showing children playing at
snowball centrally and vignettes of birds, fruit, flowers and butterflies. Robert Bloor, proprietor of
the Derby China Works purchased several examples of James Plant’s work on Nantgarw porcelain
from this atelier on his visit there and used these as models for his Lord Ongley service at Derby.
(From the Private Collection at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria. Reproduced with permission of Peter
Frost-Pennington Esq)
Fig. 1.6 Dessert plate from the Prince of Wales service of Derby porcelain, 1786, pattern 65, puce
painted factory mark of crown and crossed batons with a gilder’s mark “8” in puce ascribed to
William Longden. Ordered by HRH George, Prince of Wales and painted by William Billingsley
with a small central rose in a circlet of gold dots, fine gilding and with dawn pink edging. Illustrated
in W.D. John, William Billingsley, Plate 28, and described in J. Twitchett (Derby Porcelain 1748-
1848, pp. 254–255) who quoted a letter from Joseph Lygo to William Duesbury II on May 21st,
1787, for the order of this complete dessert service costing £26-5-0. (Private Collection)
factories in this group is noteworthy and this will be a critical factor for historical
consideration later – namely, hard paste, soft paste, magnesian, bone china, phos-
phatic, glassy and hybrid bodies are all well recognised now and have been classified
for each source factory specified. Several factories manufactured different types of
porcelain, but not necessarily at the same time: for example, Caughley started as a
soft paste porcelain manufactory in 1772 but moved on to hard paste porcelain
production around 1790 and Limehouse started as a soft paste porcelain manufactory
in 1744/45 but made magnesian porcelain during its last year’s production in 1747.
Only four of these listed English porcelain factories which were founded in the
eighteenth century have survived today into the twenty-first century, these being
Worcester, Derby, Aynsley and Coalport, and, except for Aynsley, in all cases their
survival depended initially upon their takeover of smaller china factories, along with
their associated invaluable staff expertise and knowledge acquisition to achieve a
better or more varied production at their own sites. Later, these factories were all
themselves absorbed into larger consortia, which nevertheless preserved their trade
names and reputations for their successful ongoing product marketing. More than
30 or more English and Welsh factories fell by the wayside in the eighteenth and the
early nineteenth centuries, it must be said not necessarily because their products
were markedly inferior to those of their competitors but rather on account of their
1.3 The Growth of English and European Porcelains in the Eighteenth Century 19
Fig. 1.7 Dessert plate from the prestigious Burdett-Coutts large ( probably in excess of 300 pieces)
dinner and dessert service of Swansea porcelain, ca. 1818, commissioned by Thomas Coutts,
banker to King George III, from John Mortlock, agent for Swansea porcelain in Oxford Street,
London, to celebrate his marriage to the actress Harriet Mellon in 1818. It was enamelled in John
Sims’ atelier in Pimlico, London. The service passed through inheritance to Thomas Coutts’ grand –
daughter Angela Burdett-Coutts, and the service then numbering 249 pieces of porcelain eventually
was dispersed in a Christie’s auction sale in May 1922 after the death of her husband and heir
William Burdett – Coutts (for further details see Appendix V). (Private Collection)
experiencing cash flow financial problems and of their unacceptably large produc-
tion losses experienced through kiln wastages upon firing, these sometimes signif-
icantly exceeding 50%, which threatened their commercial viability. Very
frequently, they experienced premature closure upon the death of their owners and
founders, who normally had devised the idea of manufacturing porcelain in that
particular location in the first place and had the dynamism, vision, drive and initial
financial wherewithal to initiate it and see it through to full manufacturing produc-
tion. Succession to the factory ownership and management by the founder’s partners
and family members was not always carried on with the same degree of enthusiasm,
vigour or ability as was manifest by the original owner or founder. Sometimes, small
factories were very successful initially but ran into short term financial or raw
materials supply problems, these factories then being taken over and subsumed
into larger factories and china works, which were also often practising in their
same geographical vicinity as local competitors, but not always so. Classic examples
of the incorporation of English porcelain manufactories in the eighteenth century
include Bow and Chelsea, Plymouth and Bristol, Plymouth and Worcester, Derby
20 1 Introduction
Fig. 1.8 Dinner plate from the Lysaght service of Swansea porcelain, ca. 1815–1817, decorated
locally by Henry Morris and depicting a wicker basket of garden flowers centrally located in a
cobalt blue-edged ground reserve. Notice the similarity in the theme of the floral wicker basket
which also occurs in the Burdett-Coutts service shown in Fig. 1.7. This topic will feature in
Appendix IV. (Private Collection)
and Chelsea and Coalport and Caughley. All of these mergers occurred in the mid-to
late eighteenth century. Invariably, the taking over of one enterprise by another to
carry on with the manufacture of a similar product involved the acquisition of key
workforce personnel and an implied transfer of their specialist practical knowledge
about their former production processes and information about the sourcing of raw
materials and formulation recipes for the porcelain bodies, their glazes and pigments
used in the decoration to their new employers. The English porcelain factories which
became established in the eighteenth century and shown in Table 1.1 in chronolog-
ical order of their foundation number 31 in all, from Pomona in 1744 (Bemrose
1975) to Pinxton in 1796 (Sheppard, Pinxton Porcelain, 1795–1813, 1996; Gent,
The Patterns and Shapes of Pinxton Porcelain, 1796–1813, 1996). Most of these
made soft paste porcelain either mainly or exclusively. Plymouth has been
recognised historically as the first hard paste porcelain manufactory to set up in
England, having been established in 1768, however, some correction of the historical
record is required in this instance as Plymouth is clearly preceded chronologically as
1.3 The Growth of English and European Porcelains in the Eighteenth Century 21
Fig. 1.9 Dinner plate from the Duke of Cambridge service of Nantgarw porcelain, 1818, commis-
sioned by HRH The Prince Regent, Prince George, for his younger brother, Adolphus, Duke of
Cambridge, upon the occasion of his marriage in July 1818 at Buckingham Palace to the Princess
Augusta, Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel. This plate depicts the original order specification in the
commission of four landscapes, two of fruit and two of birds in the eight vignettes: similar copies
were created later by the Nantgarw China Works which had a rather different composition. The
service was decorated by Thomas Randall in the atelier of Robins & Randall, Islington, and retailed
through John Mortlock’s, Oxford Street, London. This plate was selected for display of the finest
Nantgarw porcelain in the “Coming Home” (Gartre’n Ol) Exhibition to celebrate the 200th
Anniversary of the Foundation of the Nantgarw China Works at Tyla Gwyn, Nantgarw, June-
September 2019. Marked impressed NANT-GARW C.W. Illustrated in W.D. John et al., Nantgarw
Porcelain Album, 1975, Colour Plate 58. (Private Collection)
a hard paste porcelain manufactory in this list by both Bristol and by Bovey Tracey
in 1749 and 1750, respectively.
The range and types of porcelains being manufactured in England in the eigh-
teenth century was quite diverse, encompassing hard paste, soft paste, magnesian,
glassy, phosphatic and hybrid bodies. This is an interesting fact which needs to be
considered historically further in the context of a comparison with the contemporary
European continental porcelain factories, which invariably manufactured hard paste
and soft paste, and possibly a hybrid glassy, porcelain body only, and to the tenet
being maintained even now by many historians that the English porcelain industry
must have grown from the prior practical experience in porcelain synthesis being
practised in Europe and emanating in a significant knowledge transfer taking place
from colleagues and contemporaries in France and Germany, who had started up
their manufactories some 20 or 30 years earlier. This allegation just does not match
22 1 Introduction
Fig. 1.10 Nantgarw dinner plate, Baron Phippes, Viscount Normanby, service, ca. 1817–1819,
demonstrating the beauty of Nantgarw porcelain at its best with a simple gilt armorial crest
decoration at the verge between two moulded scrolls of foliage, flowers and stars and otherwise
undecorated. Only two Nantgarw services are known of this type with just a crest and completely
undecorated otherwise with no enamelling, the other being the plain, unmoulded Homfray service
of Penllyn Castle (crest: an otter, pierced by an arrow in gold) (now in the National Museum of
Wales Amgueddfa Cymru, Cardiff). Henry Phippes was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, created
Baron Mulgrave of York in 1794 and Viscount Normanby, Earl of Mulgrave in 1812. Marked
impressed NANT-GARW C.W. His crest comprises a demi-lion rampant or holding in both paws a
palm branch vert. (Private Collection)
with the hard evidence that we now have from the analytical data about the
manufacture of contemporary porcelains in England and on the Continent which
conclusively indicates that the indigenous porcelain industry in England developed
along a totally different synthetic pathway to its Continental contemporaries. It is
intriguing to speculate on how the supposition that the English porcelain industry
was initiated by a transfer of knowledge derived from its French and German
equivalents originated and can still be sustained. Perhaps, there are some historical
documents in existence which allude to the idea that there was indeed information
filtering through from the Continental European factories to interested parties
engaged in porcelain synthesis in England in the 1740s, but the range and diversity
of the indigenous English porcelain being manufactured and exemplified as shown
in Table 1.1 indicates that other factors and considerations must also have been
present which initiated and sustained the birth and growth of English porcelain as a
separate entity which was independent of any implied knowledge transfer that was
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
PRESERVATION OF FOODS
All food for preservation should be kept in a clean, cool, dry, dark
place. Reduction in temperature to near freezing, and removal of
moisture and air stop bacterial development.
Drying, cooking, and sealing from the air will preserve some meats
and fruits, while others require such preservatives as sugar, vinegar
and salt. The preservative in vinegar is acetic acid.
All preservatives which are actual foods, such as sugar, salt and
vinegar, are to be recommended, but the use of antiseptic
preservatives, such as salicylic acid, formaldehyd, boracic acid,
alum, sulphur and benzonate of soda, all of which have been used
by many canning merchants, is frought with danger. The United
States Department of Agriculture holds, that by the use of such
preservatives, unscrupulous dealers may use fruits and vegetables
not in good condition.
There can be no doubt that, wherever possible, the best method
for the housewife to preserve food is to do her own drying, canning,
preserving and pickling of fruits and vegetables, which she knows
are fresh, putting up her own preserves, jams, jellies, pickles, syrups,
grape juice, etc.
Since economy in food lies in the least amount of money for the
greatest amount of nutriment, the preparation of simple foods in the
home, with a care that no more is furnished for consumption than the
system requires, is the truest economy in health and in doctor’s bills.
It is not more brands of prepared food which are needed, but
purity of elements in their natural state. A dish of wholesome, clean
oat meal has more nourishment and more fuel value than the
average prepared food.
In the effort to emphasize the importance of pure food in
amount and quality, pure air and pure water must not be
overlooked. Much infection is carried by these two
elements. Pure air, containing a normal amount of oxygen,
is absolutely necessary that the system may digest and
assimilate the foods consumed.
COOKING
The cooking of food is as important as its selection, because the
manner of cooking makes it easier or more difficult of digestion. The
question of the proper selection and cooking of food is so vital to the
health and resultant happiness of every family, and to the strength
and well being of a nation, that every woman, to whom the cooking
for a family is entrusted, should have special preparation for her
work, and every girl should be given practical and theoretical training
in Dietetics in our public schools. The study is as dignified as the
study of music and art. Indeed it can be made an art in the highest
conception of the term. Surely the education of every girl in the
vocation, in which she sooner or later must engage, either actively or
by directing others, means more than education in music and
drawing. We must all eat two and three times every day; there are
few things which we do so regularly and which are so vital; yet in the
past we have given this subject less study than any common branch
in our schools. When the dignity of the profession of dietetics is
realized, the servant problem will be largely solved.
In cooking any food, heat and moisture are necessary, the time
varying from thirty minutes to several hours, according to different
foods. Baked beans and meats containing much connective tissue,
as boiling and roasting cuts, require the longest time.
The purposes in the cooking of foods are: the development of the
flavor, which makes the food appetizing, thus encouraging the flow of
gastric juice; the sterilization, thereby killing all parasites and micro-
organisms, such as the tape worm in beef, pork, and mutton, and the
trichinae in pork; the conversion of the nutrients into a more
digestible form, by partially or wholly converting the connective
tissue into gelatin.
The fundamental principle to be observed in the
cooking of meat concerns the retention of the
Cooking of
Meats
juices, since these contain a large part of the
nutrition. The heat develops the flavor, and the
moisture, together with the heat, dissolves the connective tissue and
makes it tender.
A choice piece of meat may be toughened and made difficult of
digestion, or a tough piece may be made tender and easy to digest,
by the manner of cooking.
Boiling. In boiling meat, where the object is to eat the tissue itself,
it should be put into hot water, that the albumin on the surface may
be immediately coagulated and prevent the escape of the nutrients
into the water. It is impossible to make a rich broth and to have a
juicy, highly flavored piece of boiled meat at the same time. Meat is
best roasted or broiled when the meat tissue is to be eaten.
The boiling cuts contain more connective tissue, therefore they
require a much longer time to cook in order to gelatinize this tissue.
They are not as rich in protein as the steaks.
Meat soups, bouillons and broths contain very little nutriment, but
they do contain the extractives, and the flavors increase the flow of
digestive juices and stimulate the appetite. It is for this reason that
soups are served before a meal rather than for a dessert; they insure
a copious flow of gastric juice and saliva to act upon the crackers or
toast eaten with the soup. Many mistake the extractives and flavor
for nourishment, feeling that the soups are an easy method of taking
food, but the best part of the nutriment remains in the meat or
vegetables making the soup.
FOOTNOTES:
[8] C. F. Langworthy, Ph. D.—In charge of Nutritive
Investigations of the United States Experiment Station.
DIETS
As previously stated, the object of foods is to supply the needs of
the body in building new tissue in the growing child; in repairing
tissue which the catabolic activity of the body is constantly tearing
down and eliminating; and in supplying heat and energy. This heat
and energy is not alone for muscular activity in exercise or
movement; it must be borne in mind that the body is a busy work-
shop, or chemical laboratory, and heat and energy are needed in the
constant metabolism of tearing down and rebuilding tissue and in the
work of digestion and elimination.
In this chapter, a few points given in the preceding pages are
repeated for emphasis. The proteins, represented in purest form in
lean meat, build tissue and the carbonaceous foods, starches,
sugars and fats, supply the heat and energy. An excess of proteins,
that is more than is needed for building and repair, is also used for
heat and energy; the waste products of the nitrogenous foods are
broken down into carbon dioxid, sulphates, phosphates, and other
nitrogenous compounds and excreted through the kidneys, skin, and
the bile, while the waste product of carbonaceous foods is carbon
dioxid alone and is excreted mostly through the lungs.
Since the foods richest in protein are the most expensive, those
who wish to keep down the cost of living, should provide, at most, no
more protein than the system requires. The expensive meat may be
eliminated and proteins be supplied by eggs, milk, legumes, nuts
and cereals.
The most fundamental thing is to decide upon the amount of
protein—two to four ounces, nearly a quarter of a pound a day—and
then select a dietary which shall provide this and also supply heat
and energy sufficient for the day. If the diet is to include meat, a
goodly proportion of protein will be furnished in the lean meat. This
will vary greatly with the different cuts of meat as shown on Table IV,
page 128. If, as often happens, one does not care for fats, then the
starches and sugars must provide the heat. If one craves sweets,
less starches and fats are needed.
The normally healthy individual is more liable to supply too much
protein than too little, even though he abstain from meat. Yet, as will
be shown later, our strongest races, who have lent most to the
progress of the world, live upon a mixed diet.
If the diet is to include meat, it will consist of less bulk, because
the protein is more condensed; for the same reason, if it includes
animal products of eggs and milk and a fair proportion of legumes, it
will be less bulky than a vegetable diet. This point is important for
busy people, who eat their meals in a hurry and proceed at once to
active, mental work. Those who engage in physical labor are much
more likely to take a complete rest for a half hour, to an hour, after
eating. The thinkers seldom rest, at least after a midday meal, and
those who worry seldom relax the mental force during any waking
hours.
Where the system shows an excess of uric acid, the chances are
that the individual has not been living on a diet with too large a
proportion of protein, but that he has been eating more than he
requires of all kinds of foodstuffs. His system thus becomes
weakened and he does not breathe deeply nor exercise sufficiently
to oxidize and throw off the waste. Let it be recalled here that the
theory that rheumatism is caused by an excess of uric acid is
disputed by the highest authorities. It is accompanied by uric acid,
but not supposed to be caused by it.
Every housewife, to intelligently select the daily menus for her
family, needs a thorough knowledge of dietetics. She must
understand the chemistry of food that she may know food values.
The difficulty which confronts the housewife, is to provide one meal
suited to the needs, tastes, or idiosyncracies of various members of
her household. Peculiarities of taste, unless these peculiarities have
been intelligently acquired, may result in digestive disturbances. As
an illustration: one may cultivate a dislike for meat, milk, or eggs, as
is often the case, and the proteins for the family being largely
supplied by these, the individual is eating too much of starches and
sugars and not sufficient protein,—legumes, nuts, etc., not being
provided for one member. Such an one’s blood becomes
impoverished and she becomes anaemic.
The relief lies in cultivating a taste for blood building foods. Foods
which are forced down, with a mind arrayed against them, do not
digest as readily, because the displeasure does not incite the flow of
gastric juices. One fortunate provision of nature lies in the ability to
cultivate a taste for any food. Likes and dislikes are largely mental.
There are certain foods which continuously disagree and they should
be avoided; but many abstain from wholesome food because it has
disagreed a few times. It may be that it was not the particular food
but the weakness of the stomach at this time. Any food fails of
prompt digestion when the nerves controlling the stomach are weak.
Many foods disagree at certain times because of the particular
conditions regulating the secretion of digestive juices. Where this
condition has continued for some time it becomes chronic and a
special diet is required, together with special exercises to bring a
better blood supply to stomach and intestines and to regulate the
nerves controlling them.
Dr. W. S. Hall estimates that the average man at light work
requires, each day,
106.8 grams of protein[9]
57.97 grams of fat
398.84 grams of carbohydrates
These elements, in proper proportions, may be gained through
many food combinations. He gives the following:
Bread 1 lb.
Lean Meat ½ lb.
Oysters ½ lb.
Cocoa 1 oz.
Milk 4 oz.
Sugar 1 oz.
Butter ½ oz.
A medium sized man at out of door work, fully oxidizes all waste of
the system and he requires a higher protein diet,—125 grams. In
such event he does not require so much starch and sugar. If on the
other hand he were to take but 106.8 grams of protein, as above, he
would require more carbohydrates. One working, or exercising in the
fresh air, breathes more deeply and oxidizes and eliminates more
waste, hence he has a better appetite, which is simply the call of
nature for a re-supply of the waste.
In active work, one also liberates more heat, thus more fat,
starches, and sugar are required for the re-supply. If one has an
excess of starch (glycogen) stored in the liver, or an excess of fat
about the tissues, this excess is called upon to supply the heat and
energy when the fats and carbohydrates daily consumed are not
sufficient for the day’s demand. This is the principle of reduction of
flesh.
It is interesting to note that habits of combining foods are
unconsciously based upon dietetic principles. Meats rich in protein
are served with potatoes, or with rice, both of which are rich in
starch. Bread, containing little fat, is served with butter. Beans,
containing little fat, are cooked with pork. Starchy foods of all kinds
are served with butter or cream. Macaroni, which is rich in starch,
makes a well balanced food cooked with cheese.
Pork and beans,
bread and butter,
bread and milk,
chicken and rice,
macaroni and cheese,
poached eggs on toast, and
custards, form balanced dishes.
A knowledge of such combinations is important when one must
eat a hasty luncheon and wishes to supply the demands of the body
in the least time, giving the least thought to the selection; but hasty
luncheons, with the mind concentrated upon other things, are to be
strongly condemned. The mind must be relaxed and directed to
pleasant themes during a meal or the nerves to the vital organs will
be held too tense to permit a free secretion of digestive juices.
Chronic indigestion is sure to result from this practice. Dinner, or the
hearty meal at night, rather than at noon, is preferable for the
business or professional man or woman, because the cares of the
day are over and the brain force relaxes. The vital forces are not
detracted from the work of digestion.
Experiments in the quantity of food actually required for body
needs, made by Prof. R. H. Chittenden of the Sheffield Scientific
School, Yale University, have established, beyond doubt, the fact
that the average individual consumes very much more food than the
system requires. In fact, most tables of food requirements, in
previous books on dietetics, have been heavy.
Prof. Chittenden especially established the fact that the average
person consumes more protein than is necessary to maintain a
nitrogenous balance. It was formerly held that the average daily
metabolism and excretion of nitrogen through the kidneys was 16
grams, or about 100 grams of protein or albuminoid food. Prof.
Chittenden’s tests, covering a period of six months, show an average
daily excretion of 5.86 grams of nitrogen, or a little less than one-
third of that formerly accepted as necessary; 5.86 grams of nitrogen
corresponds to 36.62 grams of protein or albuminoid food.
Prof. Chittenden’s experiments of the foodstuffs actually required
by three groups of men, one group of United States soldiers, a group
from the Yale College athletic team, and a group of college
professors, all showed that the men retained full strength, with a
higher degree of physical and mental efficiency, when the body was
not supplied with more protein than was liberated by metabolic
activity, and when the quantity of carbonaceous food was regulated
to the actual requirement to retain body heat and furnish energy.
It may be well to call attention here to the fact that the food
elements, called upon for work, are not from those foods just
consumed or digested, but from those eaten a day or two previous,
which have been assimilated in the muscular tissues.
In selecting a diet, the individual must be considered as to age,
sex and physical condition, also whether active in indoor or outdoor
work, and whether he or she breathes deeply, so as to take plenty of
fresh air into the lungs.
The following tables, published through the courtesy of Dr. W. S.
Hall, give the rations for different conditions.
TABLE XI.
Rations for Different Conditions.
Proteins Carbohydrates
Energy in
Conditions Low High Fats Low High
Calories
Man at light indoor work 60 100 60 390 450 2764
Man at light outdoor work 60 100 100 400 460 2940
Man at moderate outdoor work 75 125 125 450 500 3475
Man at hard outdoor work 100 150 150 500 550 4000
Man at very hard outdoor winter
125 180 200 600 650 4592
work
U. S. Army rations 64 106 280 460 540 4896-5032
U. S. Navy rations 143 292 557 5545
Football team (old regime) 181 292 557 5697
College football team (new) 125 125 125 500 3675
TABLE XII.
Rations Varied for Sex and Age.
Proteins Carbohydrates
Variations of Sex and Age Low High Fats Low High Energy in Calories
Children, two to six 36 70 40 250 325 1520-1956
Children, six to fifteen 50 75 45 325 350 1923-2123
Women, with light exercise 50 80 80 300 330 2272
Women, at moderate work 60 92 80 400 432 2720
Aged women 50 80 50 270 300 1870
Aged men 50 100 400 300 350 2258