Underglaze Printing on Porcelain 1750 - 1800

This section includes examples of underglaze printed porcelain from the first use of the process in England, at the Worcester factory about 1757, until the end of the century. 

In the eighteenth century underglaze printing on porcelain was in blue, as cobalt was the only color then known that would withstand the temperature of the glaze firing.   The process was quickly adopted at Bow and shortly afterwards at Derby.  By 1770, Philip Christian was printing his Liverpool porcelain in underglaze blue and the technique had even spread to John Bartlam's pottery near Charleston.

In the 1770s, underglaze blue printing was in operation at Lowestoft and Isleworth as well as the Caughley factory, which made great use of the process.  A little was even carried out on a hard-paste body at Champion's Bristol factory.  The later Liverpool factories of the 1780s and 1790s were important producers of blue printed porcelain.