The history of Bovano of Cheshire began in 1952, when working alone in the basement of his home in Cheshire, Connecticut, artist Jim Bower began experimenting with powdered glass fused to small copper plates. His playful approach resulted in early designs applied to small glass enamel plates, which were sold under the name Bower Enamels. It wasn't long before Jim met John Bonsignor who realized the potential of developing a wider array of glass enameled products. John moved the studio to an upper floor of an old foundry building in Cheshire and began a passionate pursuit of copper enameling.
The name "Bovano" was coined from the first two letters of the last name of each of the three original owners: Bonsignor, Van Leight and Noden. In 1964, David Flood partnered with John to continue the growth of Bovano of Cheshire. Dave and John collaborated together through the 1960's. It was also during this time that the company made a dramatic change away from copper enameled plates and trays, turning instead to the creation of simple little copper enameled flowers. Later designs were extended to larger tabletop flowers, with a growing choice of flowers, bonsai and maple trees, birds and butterflies.
In 1975, David became owner of Bovano of Cheshire. Hotel based trade shows became his regular destinations. He carried products and displays to markets in New York, Boston and Chicago. Growth of the company continued for decades as an ever-widening range of high quality wall and table sculptures were crafted by hand.
Today, Bovano artisans continue to use many of the techniques developed in the early days of the company. By combining modern technology and old world craftsmanship, the highly skilled Bovano artisans continue to create quality sculptures using the knowledge acquired through decades of experience.
