NORTH CAROLINA CHEROKEE CLAY AND EARLY ENGLISH PORCELAIN DR

 CEDAR DRIVE THRAPSTON NORTHAMPTONSHIRE NN14 4LZ TELEPHONE 01832
PREFACE NORTH AMERICAN NUMBERING COUNCIL (NANC) FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION
CENTRE MANAGER – NORTH MANCHESTER JOB TYPE FULLTIME

MAIN DECÍA DEBE DECIR NORTH AMERICAN CHAPTER OF
+ MINUTES NORTHERN IRELAND BOARD NIB 09 DATE MONDAY
1 1TH NORTH AMERICAN FT MS CONFERENCE FORMAT BELOW



North Carolina Cherokee Clay and Early English Porcelain

 Dr. W. R. H. Ramsay (Lecturer, Southern Institute of Technology, New Zealand)

 E. G. Ramsay ( Director, Southland Museum and Art Gallery, New Zealand)

Abstract of invited paper to be given in San Francisco December 20th 2009

Of late our understanding of early English porcelains has been undergoing significant change. It is now apparent that William Cookworthy was not the first to fire hard-paste porcelains, that the 1744 patent of Heylyn and Frye based on American Cherokee "Unaker" was not unworkable, that the Bow porcelain manufactory was the most important concern from the 1730s, and that Bow, not Chelsea, first produced porcelains which could compare with the Saxon.  Moreover the belief that Bow made phosphatic wares alone has been shown to be incorrect. In fact Bow  manufactured a variety of compositions including hard-paste bodies  and a multiplicity of phosphatic compositions and these recipe types can now be related to the chronology of that factory’s output. 

The authors successful search of the Appalachians for cherokee clay and subsequent firing of a 1744 patent analogue resembling in detail "A" marked Bow porcelain has proven that Cherokee clay, mined from far western North Carolina and/or the Tugaloo region of Georgia, was the critical component in the production of England’s earliest commercial hard-paste porcelains dating to the early to mid 1740s. The earliest documented eyewitness to the experimental use of this clay at Bow in the 1730s was John Campbell of Bertie County, North Carolina. The involvement of the Savannah potter, Andrew Duchè, and the grounds to conclude that further shipments were utilised at other English concerns from the mid 1750s to the 1760s including Josiah Wedgwood in his jasper wares will be discussed.  



Dr W. Ross H. Ramsay gained his BSc and MSc Hons from the University of Auckland and his PhD from the University of New England, where he researched the geological evolution of an ensimatic island arc, Solomon Islands, Pacific Ocean. Subsequently he has worked in industry throughout Australia, with the Victorian Government, and with several Australian Universities. He currently is lecturing at the Southern Institute of Technology, NZ, in Environmental Management.


E. Gael Ramsay is the Director of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, NZ. She gained her MSc from the University of Auckland, a BSc Hons (equivalent) from the University of New England, and a Masters in Museum Studies from Monash University. Gael has worked in numerous museums, art galleries, and universities in Australia. She and her husband, Ross, for the last eight years have been jointly researching the early years of the Bow porcelain manufactory. This research has taken them to North Carolina in search of Cherokee clay, to London, Ireland, Cornwall, and Australia. They have now settled in Southland, New Zealand.


100 NORTH SENATE AVENUE ROOM N642 INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA 46204
11 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT WILMINGTON SCHOOL OF
113 NORTHERN CENTRAL AMERICAN CERAMIC UNITS AND THE LAND


Tags: carolina cherokee, north carolina, early, porcelain, carolina, cherokee, english, north