"Bone china" lampje

‘Bone China’ is one of the noblest porcelains. It’s a bright white, extremely thin yet practically unbreakable. Its most surprising property is perhaps the way it lets through the light – shimmering like satin and with a warm glow. The secret Chinese recipe for making bone china was cracked by a stone factory in England in the middle of the 18th century – the addition of bone ash in the firing process. This, and other ingredients like quartz-sand, render the whole production process far from easy. Mass-production is impossible, and the number of firms that have the necessary manufacturing skills is limited. We’ve found such a firm in England that possesses real ‘craftsman skills!

Lamps made by BTC (= British Timeless Classics), in the vicinity of Oxford, have attained the status of timeless classics. The creative spirit and driving force behind the firm is Peter Bowles, who pursues his very clear idea and just as clearly realises his agenda. The process starts with the manufacture: Bowles wants to produce lamps that are British down to the level of detail. For example, the bone china-lamp shades come from a pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, known as the "the Potteries" because of the almost 500 potteries that used to be located there. Almost all are gone today and the firm, which also belongs to Bowles, would not exist except for BTC. He took it over when it was on the brink of bankruptcy and has restructured it while keeping all the employees. The hand-blown glass domes come from a glass blowing shop in Worcestershire which Bowles also bought. In addition to domes for lamps, the shop produces coloured glass windows for historical buildings and churches. A handful of glass blowers with their two small smelting furnaces practice the methods of glass blowing and uphold the once famous English tradition of this trade. The British manufacture of the lamps extends to the cables, too. Bowles was dissatisfied with the plastic wrapped cables on his first lamp, so he used a locally produced cloth wrapped cable from a clothes iron for his exhibition piece. The reaction was so positive that he has used cloth cable since. They are locally produced near the firm in home-based work.

The angle of the lamp can be changed: but the operation of the angling screw is so simple that both shade and light fixture can fall out if you go to work too enthusiastically. So: be careful and above all gentle when adjusting the angle!

Lamps made by BTC (= British Timeless Classics), in the vicinity of Oxford, have attained the status of timeless classics. The creative spirit and driving force behind the firm is Peter Bowles, who pursues his very clear idea and just as clearly realises his agenda. The process starts with the manufacture: Bowles wants to produce lamps that are British down to the level of detail. For example, the bone china-lamp shades come from a pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, known as the "the Potteries" because of the almost 500 potteries that used to be located there. Almost all are gone today and the firm, which also belongs to Bowles, would not exist except for BTC. He took it over when it was on the brink of bankruptcy and has restructured it while keeping all the employees. The hand-blown glass domes come from a glass blowing shop in Worcestershire which Bowles also bought. In addition to domes for lamps, the shop produces coloured glass windows for historical buildings and churches. A handful of glass blowers with their two small smelting furnaces practice the methods of glass blowing and uphold the once famous English tradition of this trade. The British manufacture of the lamps extends to the cables, too. Bowles was dissatisfied with the plastic wrapped cables on his first lamp, so he used a locally produced cloth wrapped cable from a clothes iron for his exhibition piece. The reaction was so positive that he has used cloth cable since. They are locally produced near the firm in home-based work