This book describes a holistic study of the porcelain manufactured at Nantgarw and Swansea in
the first quarter of the 19th Century using both scientific analytical data and historical
provenancing. This porcelain is acclaimed as some of the finest and most translucent porcelain
ever produced. These two porcelain factories are linked through the artistic and creative
activities of the enigmatic William Billingsley and had a strictly limited production over only
three or four years during the period 1812-1820. The earliest chemical analysis of these
porcelains were undertaken almost 100 years ago and are compared with the results of more
recent analyses The chemical composition of these porcelains their artistic decoration and the
struggle to maintain quality production is reviewed. Scientific explanations are proposed for
the characteristic Swansea duck-egg porcelain translucency and for the Nantgarw iridescence.
The book is well illustrated throughout and affords a good basis for the further in-depth study
of Swansea and Nantgarw porcelains.
