The presence of coats of arms upon genuine known pieces of Lowestoft may have caused some confusion, which has continued to the present day. At the end of the last century a great deal of Oriental china was made having coats of arms of English families upon it. Although Lowestoft bore no resemblance in its body to Oriental ware, people came to suppose that, in some way or another, the ware was brought in its unfinished state from the East, and then decorated and re-fired at Lowestoft. With the exception of Plymouth and Bristol, Lowestoft is the only factory in England which is credited with producing the true hard-paste porcelain, as made in the East; all other old English chinas are of soft paste, and a great deal of our wares are earthenware, for instance, Wedgwood. But the claim that Lowestoft made hard paste has never been substantiated by facts. Lowestoft may be divided into two parts, the first dealing with the early period when blue and white ware was made, and the second period, when a finer and higher class of goods, with heraldic designs and floral intricacies, were introduced. At one period of its history the paste of Lowestoft appears to have been harder than that of Bow or Chelsea. Roughly, just a half of a century saw the rise and fall of Lowestoft. It was established from 1756, and in 1802 the factory had ceased. Many families in the Eastern Counties to this day possess specimens of the Lowestoft china with names and dates painted on them. This china with names or initials upon it, or bearing a date, in addition to its personal value is of historic interest in determining periods of manufacture. We give a highly interesting and very rare pair of dated cups and saucers, with unusual decorations, vine leaves in gold, clusters of grapes in red, and tablet in centre with inscription, “M. and E. Calder, Norwich, 1776,” rich blue glaze and gold bands. Among other dated specimens of Lowestoft white and blue ware is a fine bowl, with Chinese figures of mandarins painted in blue, and inscribed at the bottom with the name, “Elizabeth Buckle, 1768.” This Elizabeth Buckle is known to have been an eccentric old dame, and the service, of which this bowl is a remnant, was made for her by her nephew, Robert Allen. This Allen was one of the worthies of Lowestoft. In 1819, in his seventy-fourth year, he executed a design for the East window of the Parish Church (we know not whether it is still in existence at Lowestoft). In acknowledgment of this service, a silver cup was presented to him, with the inscription: “A token of respect to Mr. Robert Allen from his fellow-townsmen of Lowestoft, for having, at the advanced age of seventy-four, gratuitously and elegantly ornamented the East window of their Parish Church. Ann. Dom. 1819.” [Illustration: _By courtesy of Mr. F. U. Yallop, Lowestoft._ OLD LOWESTOFT CUPS AND SAUCERS. Red and gold decoration. (Dated 1776.)]