Why do some Bow references mention scientific testing and recipe groups?

Bow’s history includes several body recipes spanning different phases, and visual clues are not always helpful in determining which group a piece belongs to. Museum researchers used analytical techniques to distinguish phosphatic bone ash bodies from other compositions related to other Bow’s tests. Specialized research pages describe the work done in the museum’s laboratories and cite tools such as X-ray diffraction to identify minerals. This laboratory viewpoint is important to collectors and curators because it confirms attributions, helps detect later forgeries, and explains why two objects painted in a similar style may feel different in the hand.