Plymouth Porcelain

Plymouth porcelain, first hard-paste, or true, porcelain made in England, produced at a factory in Plymouth, Devon, from 1768 to 1770. Formulated by a chemist, William Cookworthy, it is distinguishable from the Bristol porcelain that he produced later by its imperfections.

Cookworthy found deposits of kaolin (a soft, white clay, also called china clay) and china stone (or petuntse, a partly decomposed granite) near St. Austell in Cornwall and began experimenting. His first porcelain was coarse, with many faults, and it was liable to smoke staining during firing. Later, both body and decoration were improved. Chinese motifs were copied from Worcester porcelain, and the shapes of the wares generally were inspired by silver work or shells, mainly from early Bow wares. Plymouth porcelain is marked in underglaze blue, blue enamel, red, or gold, with the alchemical sign for tin.