298 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
In July, 1921, Mr. Aubrey Toppin, from personal enquiry,
determined the site of Bell & Black's factory as being some
250 yards east of Bow Bridge,1 and recorded that at the date of
his investigation it was occupied by the following firms : Frank
How & Co. (Nos. 77 to 87, High Street), Poth, Hille & Co.,
and the Tin Box Metal Co. He also visited, in June of that
year, excavations then in progress in Messrs. Wilmer & Sons'
Iron Foundry opposite (Nos. 52 to 62, High Street), and from
both these sites he obtained many moulds, wasters and biscuit
ware.
In May, 1936, I visited Messrs. Wilmer's foundry and obtained
from them various broken sherds, rejected wasters and biscuit
ware, which are now in the Stratford museum.
The above facts seem to suggest that the Bow Porcelain
works may have extended over both sides of the main road ;
or, possibly, Messrs. Wilmer's site may then have been waste
ground whereon "wasters" and broken sherds were dumped
to get rid of them.
Bow Porcelain has the distinction of being the first native
ware to merit the name of porcelain or "china," the earlier
pottery produced in this country having been coarse, thick,
brown or yellow glazed ware, or else, in the attempt to obtain
a whitish surface, a bluish-white tin-glazed ware, none of these
being translucent. Bow china is also notable by reason of the
fact that in its composition bone-ash was first employed, a
material since commonly used.
Its manufacture began in 1744-45, when Heylyn and Frye's
patent was obtained for "a new method of manufacturing a
certain material, whereby a ware might be made of the same
nature or kind, and equal to, if not exceeding in goodness and
beauty, China or Porcelain Ware imported from abroad."
A second patent was taken out by Thomas Frye alone in
1748-49 for a phosphatic (bone ash) porcelain.
There followed a period of great productive activity, the
peak being reached in 1757-1761, when some three hundred
employees were at work ; but monetary difficulties ensued and
finally the entire plant, stock, etc., were removed to Derby in
1775-76.
The pieces of Bow Porcelain already presented by Mr. Crow,
or by others at his suggestion, are :—
Bowl and Cover by Tebo, circa 1755 : diameter of bowl 63/4
inches ; a figure of a bagpiper crowning the cover ; all with
1 "Bell and Black's match factory" is so marked on the Ordnance Map of West Ham
surveyed in 1848-1851, a little more than 250 yards north-east of Bow Bridge.