English Porcelain

Click photo to enlarge Photo: Left - 2 rim sherds, Right - base of a tea bowl

• Type: Porcelain
• Date range: C. 1745-1795
• Median date: 1770
• Place of origin: England

The primary difference between Chinese and English porcelain is body composition. Early English porcelains generally have softer bodies and are not as tightly grained as Chinese wares. English wares are often decorated in transfer-printed underglaze blue or overglaze enamel patterns. Transfer printing on porcelain was an English innovation, dating back to approximately 1753. The majority of early English porcelains were soft paste, although some production of hard paste wares occurred later in the 18th century.

Common vessel types were tea bowls, tea cups, saucers and plates. Much of this ware was produced in Bow, Worcester, Liverpool and Caughley, England.

See Noel Hume 1976: 137, and South 1977: 210

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