PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



STATEN ISLAND ASSOCIATION 



OF 



ARTS AND SCIENCES 



[Formerly The Natural Science Association of Staten Island] 



Vol. II March-May, 1909 Part IV 



Lowestoft Ware 1 



By Mary Otis Willcox 



Every one of us knows and loves the pale fragile bluish-white 

 bowl or teapot which- tradition tells us "our grandmother brought 

 from home." This china is known as " Lowestoft " and is to be 

 found in quantities all" along our eastern seaboard, within easy 

 reach of the ships that brought it. Brought it — but from where? 

 That was the mooted point, and one that was hotly contested 

 by the china authorities of the last century. 



Lowestoft is a town on the east coast of England on the North 

 Sea. As early as 1756 a soft paste was made at Lowestoft in 

 imitation of Delft ware, and decorated in blue and white. Some 

 of these pieces are signed and dated and are to be found in 

 museums in England. In the year 1770 we have the following 

 advertisement, " Clark Durnford, Lowestoft China Warehouse, 

 No. 4 Great St., Thomas the Apostle, Queen St., Cheapside, 

 London, where merchants & shopkeepers may be supplied with 

 any quantity of said ware at the usual prices. N. B. Allowance 

 of twenty per cent for ready money." 



1 Presented before the Section of Art, March 10, 1909. 



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