The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-01-14
Lowest Oft
Porcelain
War RACES
Four Schools of Opinion
Disagree on Origin
of Ware.


we all cherish the snooty trappingS
Of aristocracy and nobility and
reckon among our most precious
possessions any testimony of our
own noble heritage, such as family
crest, coat of-arms or insignia.
1t is perhaps this latent snohbery
in the American people which ac-
counts for the tremendous popular
ity of old Lowestoft porcelain, so
much of which was embellished with
heraldic emblems.
1t is nice to own old and valuable
china, but if the ware is enhanced
by the monogram or crest of your
family, it becomes virtually price
less-the combination of age,
quality, beauty, aristocratic tradi-
tions and personal associations
uniting to give it a significance
unavailable in any other division of
antiques.
Experts Differ on Origin
There has been of recent years
considerable controversy as to the
true origin of this delicate branch
of the porcelain family.
There are four schools of opinion
on the matter. The first group be-
lieves that the war was made and
decorated in the town of Lowestoft,
England. Another holds that it was
made and decorated in China 4
third group believes that it was
made in Lowestoft and decorated
elsewhere, and the fourth opinion is
exactly the reverse, insisting that it
was made elsewhere and decorated
at Lowestoft.
1t is doubtful whether any of the
four theories is entirely correct, and
very possible that there is genuine
Lowestoft in each category.
Some Is Chinese
1t is known that on the site of the
town of Lowestoft, in Suffolk, Eng
land, there were at one time extern
Sive pottery works.
The fragments which have been
dug up, however, are neither par
ticularly beautiful nor distinctive,
and are very different from the ex-
quisite ware we know as LoWeStoft
today.
A good deal of the old armoriaI
china was brought back to America
by sea captains from their voy-
ages to the Orient.
This ware, although it bears Eng
lish crestS, is definitely Chinese ir
decoration and material, even bear
ing Chinese marks.
Another group of Lowestoft Just i.
as Enthusiastically English, not only
because of it's characteristically Brit
1sh paste and glaze, but because o.
the fact that the Latin notices Sc
frequently printed on the pieces are
entirely correct, rather than in the
Chinese Latin" most of the orienta.
pieces bore.
Interesting to Collector
The battling history of the ware
only serves to make it more inter.
esting to the collector, however.
LoWestoft porcelain is among the
most beautiful antique pottery ex.
tant. 1t is of fine pearly tint, no
unlike Chinese porcelain, and it,
decoration possesses certain char.
acteriStics which are soon mastered
by the amateur collector.
Among the most familiar of the
decorative patterns are a dark blue
border of dots, stars Or other small
figures heavily overlaid with gold
and an elaborate crest.
Sometimes tiny landscapes sprigs
of flowers, or figures are used, with
a border of gold.
These Are English
The pieces bearing a tiny rose are
undoubtedly English in origin, first
because the flower represented the
signature Of an English painter
Rose, employed at the Lowestoft
plant, and second, because the Tudor
or full-blown rose, represented the
arms of the borough in which the
town is located.
One of the loveliest collections Of
Lowestoft in America is the set OF
thirty pieces in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.
These bear the well-known blue
border starred with gold and an in
tricate escutcheon with entwined
initials in gold.