COL L EC T ORS’ DEPARTMENT 
mt EDITOR OF THIS DEPARTMENT WILL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY 
LETTERS OH ENQUIRY FROM ITS READERS ON ANY SUBJECT CONNECTED 
WITH OLD FURNITURE. POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. GLASS. MINIATURES. 
TEXTILES. PRINTS AND ENGRAVINGS. BOOKS AND BINDINGS. COINS AND 
MEDALS. AND OTHER SUBJECTS OF INTEREST TO COLLECTORS. LETTERS 
OF ENQUIRY SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY STAMPS FOR RETURN POSTAGE 
Lowestoft 
By Mary H. Northend 
Photographs by the Author 
134 
April, 1914 
K majority of specimens found in Lowe- 
stoft collections in this country are not all 
genuine. d’hey are rather pieces of 
Chinese porcelain, painted by Chinese 
artists, and have no connection with the 
fragile bits manufactured in the little 
hmglish factory that closed its doors and ceased its output 
over one hundred years ago. 
Of the several wares that have been labeled Lowestoft, 
there seem to be four distinct \'arieties: Soft paste Lowestoft 
china, made and decorated in the town of Lowestoft; so- 
called Lowestoft that is purely Oriental, made and deco- 
rated in China; ware made in China and decorated in Lowe- 
stoft; ware made in Holland and decorated m Lowestoft. 
All of these bear the printed name of the town, since mem- 
bers of the company who traded with them resided in that 
place. 
In the last half of the eighteenth century a factory existed 
at Lowestoft, a small one, employing at its best but seventy 
hands, and having but one oven and one kiln. It Is im- 
possible when you come to think of it, the great quantities 
of hard laid porcelain should have been brought over the 
seas to be deco- 
rated and then 
bred at this one 
small kiln. If 
the whole output 
charged up to 
Lowestoft 
had really been 
here the factory 
must needs have 
been the largest 
in England, which 
it was not. 
The first at- 
tempt at pottery 
making in Lowe- 
stoft seemed to 
ha\e been a 
rough imitation 
Delft ware. 
These included 
tea s e iM- i c e s , 
Monogram Lowestoft dish punch bowls, 
dishes, and mugs of various sizes. They were painted in 
well-known landscapes, or in simple designs, generally with 
an underglazed blue that was inclined to run and did not 
make a neat clear outline. In some of these pieces a Bight 
of birds was introduced with a crescent moon in open imita- 
tion of the Worcestershire ware. 
The ware itself is of a dingy white, coarse, and semi- 
opaque. The glaze was slightly "blued” with cobalt, and 
speckled with bubbles and minute black spots which seem 
to show careless firing. When viewed by transmitted light, 
the pieces have a distinctly yellowish tinge. There was 
never any distinctive mark as in the case of crown derby. 
In 179Q a change for the better took place in the char- 
acter of the output. Certain French refugees, driven from 
their old country by the lawlessness of the great Revolu- 
tion, began to come into England. One of these men, who 
was named Rose, obtained employment at the Lowestoft 
works. He soon became head decorator and Introduced 
taste as well as delicacy of touch into the product. Under- 
neath many Lowestoft handles will be found a small rose 
which denotes that the work was done by him. The rose 
is as marked, but before this was known people supposed 
that it merely 
represented the 
coat of arms for 
Lowestoft bor- 
ough. which was 
a Tudor rose. 
Roses set back 
to back, appear 
o n the highest 
grade of Lowes- 
toft china, and at 
its best the ware 
w a s finer than 
any sent out by 
Bow and Chel- 
sea. T'he Lowe- 
stoft red is of a 
peculiar quality, 
varying from 
carmine to ashes 
of roses, and of- 
ten approaching 
a plum-color. 
Lowestoft tea-caddy 
