I Need A Bit Of Advice Please?

[Crocus]

Hi, I've got a lovely bowl, semi-porcelain it says on the bottom, made in England. I decided to put some of our wild flowers in and this morning when I wanted to throw it out, I noticed that there's a brown streaky substance on the sides of the bowl as well as on the bottom. The motif is brownish in colour which I noticed on the sides and bottom of the bowl.

What do you think this can be? I had this bowl with flowers on the one and only Irish Linen tablecloth I got from my gran, and she did an filet crochet edge. I treasure this tablecloth and the bowl too, but now this cloth got stained by this brownish substance which I don't know what it can be.

I washed the bowl and it doesn't seem as the colour faded at all, so what can it be? Thanks! XX

[Gentian]

I would say it has probably become porous and you should perhaps use it with a liner, another dish to hold the water.
Burslem is in the Potteries, part of the conurbation which makes up Stoke on Trent.

[Crocus]

Oh, thanks Gen, that's quite interesting to know where it comes from. Do you think the brownish colour stuff was from the motif painted on it? It doesn't look as if it faded in any way. I'm quite puzzled by this. It really was a dark reddish brown substance. It does seem as if the stain from the cloth will be coming out. x

There is a small number 2 in black on the underside. xx

[Gentian]

Look at this link Crocus, if you scroll down you will see the globe symbol
http://www.thepotteries.org/mark/b/burgess.html
could be worth a fortune!

[Gentian]

This one will show you photos of where it was made, usually in blue and white.http://www.thepotteries.org/photos/burgess_leigh/index.htm

[Crocus]

Thanks for the link Gen, will have a look later. I did manage to get the stain out, so now I'm even more baffled. I thought it was the colouring of the motif which caused the staining, but surely it would've been a problem to get it out? x

[Catriona]

Could the staining be something to do with the wild flowers, Crocus?

[Crocus]

I was wondering about that too Catriona, but use these flowers quite a lot in different vases. The bowl is semi-porcelain so perhaps it seeped through from the inside, but thinking about it, the water wasn't that reddish brown colour - it's quite strange actually. I'll keep your suggestion in mind. Thanks Catriona. X

[jazzactivist]

Could it be that the outside of the bowl was wet and the colour on the tablecloth was from polish on the table underneath that seeped upwards when wet, crocus?

[Crocus]

Hi Jazz, that's the thing, I dried the bowl very well - a few times actually - because I didn't want water or moist on the table. So it really is a riddle to me because it was kind of a syrupy substance. x

[dragonfly]

I agree with Gentian that the bowl has probably become porus and the brown stains could be clay seeping through.

[Crocus]

6534

This is the mark on the bottom of the bowl - there's a small no. 2 s well but it's not on the photo.

[Crocus]

Does anyone know anything about the William Lowe pottery mark? Apparently there's a certain Wong Lee producing fakes, using the same kind of marking than William Lowe.