The history of the site of the Olympic Park is remembered in a new ceramic installation by contemporary artist Bouke de Vries, commissioned to mark the 300th anniversary of the historic Queen Anne townhouse that forms one half of Pallant House Gallery.
Lining the walls of the carved wooden staircase in the eighteenth century house, Bow Selector has been constructed by De Vries from the Geoffrey Freeman Collection of Bow porcelain, which was bequeathed to the Gallery in 1999. Consisting of nearly 300 pieces, it is one of the most comprehensive records of the output of the Bow factory between the years 1747 and its closure in 1776.
Originally situated in the Lea Valley in East London, on what is now the site of the 2012 London Olympic Park, the Bow factory was the largest in England and the first to produce porcelain wares that incorporated bone ash, a precursor of bone china.
The installation therefore simultaneously marks the 300-year anniversary of the building of Pallant House and the 2012 Olympics.
Please download the press release for full details.