A documentary Bow plate, dated 1770
Of octagonal shape, painted in blue with the entwined monogram 'RC', within a dense floral cartouche, an elaborate border within the rim, the reverse inscribed 'MR ROBERT CROWTHER STOCKPORT CHESHIRE January 1770', 20.8cm wide
Footnotes:
Provenance
With Simon Spero, 1994
Gordon & Sue Guy-Jones Collection

Robert Crowther was a Stockport silk merchant and a presumed relative of John Crowther, a partner in the Bow manufactory. Two policies issued to Robert Crowther by the Sun Assurance Company in September 1767 show that he, together with his partner Thomas Venables, then owned a house and an unfurnished silk mill valued at £1,200, see Elizabeth Adams, 'Ceramic insurances in the Sun company archives 1766-74', ECC Trans, Vol.10, Pt.1 (1976), pp.3-4 and 26. By 1774 they had been declared bankrupt, see Nancy Valpy, 'Extracts from 18th Century London Newspapers and Additional Manuscripts, British Library', ECC Trans, Vol.13, Pt.1 (1987), pp.83-4.

The Crowther plates appear to form a set, perhaps originally a dozen, with examples in public collections including the British Museum (inv. no.1886,0705.2), the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.C.59-1938) and the Fitzwilliam Museum (inv. no.EC.8-1946). Another example was sold by Bonhams on 30 November 2022, lot 240.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com