July, 1918 
29 
LOWESTOFT —A CHINA PRIZED by EARLY AMERICANS 
IIozv It Came to this Country and How Its Manufacture was Ultimately Stopped 
by the Napoleonic Invasion of Holland 
I n the early part of the 19 th 
Century there was pro¬ 
duced in China a porcelain 
known as Lowestoft or Chi¬ 
nese Lowestoft. It was 
brought into this country 
from the far East in sailing 
vessels of the East India 
Company. 
These imported sets varied 
in size, some having as many 
as 600 pieces. They were 
usually made to order for 
bridal or other gifts. The 
decoration often showed a 
monogram, crest, or small 
landscape. 
There is a variety of opin¬ 
ion as to its origin. Many be¬ 
lieve Chinese Lowestoft to 
have been made in England 
and sent to China to be deco¬ 
rated. Others claim that it 
was imported from China 
and decorated at Lowestoft, 
England. In England it is 
commonly called “Chinese or 
Wine coolers of this un¬ 
usual design are considered 
very rare 
The large bowl in 
gold and white is of 
Chinese Lowestoft 
and was probably 
the gift of an em¬ 
ployee to a corpora¬ 
tion. It was dec¬ 
orated in China 
A r moral Lowestoft”; in 
France it is known as “Con- 
pagnie des Indes.” 
In the little fishing village 
of Lowestoft on the east coast 
of England, opposite Hol¬ 
land, china was made be¬ 
tween the years 1756 and 
1803. The factories dealt 
largely not only with Eng¬ 
land, but with Holland and 
the Continent. These facto¬ 
ries closed in 1804 mainly 
because of the invasion of Na¬ 
poleon into Holland, where 
great quantities of this china 
were destroyed and the trade 
stopped. 
Between this English prod¬ 
uct and the Chinese is a 
great difference. The Chi¬ 
nese is of hard paste and 
often irregular in design, 
whereas English Lowestoft 
is of soft paste and regular 
in shape. Examples of both 
are shown here. 
These wine coolers bear 
evidences of having been 
decorated in China 
Northend 
English Lowestoft 
candlesticks, a 
placque and saucer 
with coats of arms. 
From the collection, 
as are all these 
pieces, of Amos 
Lowell, Esq. 
The pair of Lowestoft vases, unusual in shape and decoration, are in blue and 
gold and their history shows them to have been made for a French family. The 
center piece with flower handles is not an uncommon design. It is in gold and 
blue with black bands 
msm 
Each piece of this Chinese Lowestoft tea set is dated December 21, 1781, and monogramed “A. W.” Sets of this 
kind were usually made for bridal gifts. This set, which carries a green and gold border, consists of 34 pieces 
