Enfilade

Now on view:

Making East London Porcelain
Stratford Library, London, 1–30 June 2022

It is now over 250 years since the earliest dated pieces of Bow porcelain were produced in London. The success of the Bow Porcelain Factory reminds us that Newham was a global centre for experimentation and creativity during the middle of the eighteenth century. As part of our Making London Porcelain Project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), scientists and curators at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Ashmolean Museum have been researching 15 objects owned by Newham Borough of London. Using scientific analysis, we have been trying to better understand the materials and processes used to create such incredible works of art.

Making East London Porcelain is part of a collaborative science-led heritage project between the V&A Museum and Newham Borough of London, which has been made possible by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) Capability for Collections Fund. Focusing on the celebrated Bow Porcelain Factory, this project brings communities together to explore Newham Borough as a place of creativity, experimentation, and entrepreneurship in the mid-eighteenth century. Co-curated with sixth-form students from Chobham Academy (Newham) and Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School (Chelsea), the exhibition explores how heritage science and re-making practices can help us better understand the places we live today and inspire us to innovate and experiment tomorrow.

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Exploring Bow Porcelain
Stratford Library, London, Wednesday, 15 June 2022, 6.00pm

Join us for an object-handling workshop with local artists as we celebrate the launch of the exhibition Making East London Porcelain.

Take part in a conversation with local ceramic artist Julia Ellen Lancaster, one of the Explorer Leach 100 Artists, whose work offers a modern twist on sculptural figures and historic clay recipes, such as those made by the Bow Porcelain Factory. You will have the opportunity to handle and examine historic pieces of eighteenth-century Bow porcelain from Newham’s special collections guided by V&A Ceramics Curator, Dr Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth, and learn about how historic making processes inspire and influence ceramic artists in Newham today.