Royal Worcester Porcelain
By Marion Aston
The Royal Worcester factory was founded in 1751 and is the only porcelain factory established in the mid-18th century that has been in continuous production until the present day. The founders were Dr John Wall, a doctor of medicine and William Davies, an apothecary. They started with soft-past porcelain functional wares, particularly tea services. Their soft-paste porcelain had a unique property that made them famous around the world - it could withstand hot liquid. This meant that their teapots and cups could have hot tea poured into them without cracking. Early pieces were in the Chinese style, sometimes using blue and white on shapes copied from English silver.
The first Worcester figurine was made in 1757 - 'Cupid at Vulcan's Forge', which is thought to be modelled by Chelsea modeller John Toulouse. Worcester excels in figurines to this day. During the 1760s and 1770s Worcester porcelain was influenced by Meissen with colours such as the very deep blue being introduced. By this time some of Worcester's porcelain was being painted in London under their London agent, Thomas Flight, who took over the business with his sons John and Joseph, when Dr John walled died in 1776. They were later joined by Martin Barr and the factory went under the name Flight and Barr, and other combinations of the names until 1840.
During the Regency period Royal Worcester porcelain looked lavish and colourful and exhibited some wonderful gilding and painting. During this time Flight and Barr merged with the 'Chamberlain factory and the 'Grainger' factory, who were both originally rivals of Worcester. In 1862 the 'Worcester Royal Porcelain Co' was established and wares were to become known as 'Royal Worcester'.
In the mid 19th century 'Parian' was introduced and made a huge difference to their production. Parian is a durable material with a high feldspar content and is perfect for detailed modelling. This meant that figures could be produced with the finest of detail and quality. The material is also perfect for gilding and enamelling, which meant that pieces could be produced with lavish detail.
Worcester continued to keep up with the fashionable trends during the Victorian period. They excelled in 'pierced' porcelain and reproduced ivory images in porcelain. Figurines were very popular at this time and the majority of the work was being done by modellers such as Charles Toft and James Hadley.
During the 20th century Worcester had fierce competition from Royal Doulton and as figurines were hugely popular Worcester and Doulton fought for market share. Worcester produced a range of animals, starting with a tortoise in 1910. It was modelled by George Evans and was a massive success. This encouraged Worcester to produce further animals which included birds, fish, a rabbit and a mouse, which were being produced until the 1950s.
During the early 20th century Worcester artists specialised in hand painting. This was put onto vases, urns, and traditional tea and coffee services and they are highly collectable. The pieces by the Stinton family and Harry Davies are some of England's finest porcelain of all time and Highland cattle and fruit are particularly famous subjects.
During the first World War Worcester produced figurines similar to those made in Germany in previous years. They also tried a cheaper production of figurines in a high-fired earthenware instead of 'Parian' ware, although this was not successful. The company tried to branch out in a new direction by making items such as Toby Jugs and ashtrays, although Worcester did not excel at this.
Going back to their roots Worcester had ninety new figurines modelled, to keep pace with Doulton. New modellers were brought in from London and the next few years were profitable. The most notable of these new modellers was Freda Doughty, whose contribution to the success of Royal Worcester figurines has been unrivalled since.
Worcester are still going strong and their output is varied, including tableware, giftware and the special 'Prestige' range. Current ranges include 'Nine lives character cats' which is widely available. As with all Royal Worcester, each piece is made by hand and skilfully painted by artists. Prices are between £15 - £25. A new Noddy set has recently been launched, including favourite characters from the book, Noddy, Big Ears, Mr Plod and Tessie Bear are all in the collection. Each figure is £25, while the whole set can be had for the bargain price of £100. Worcester also do a giftware range for children, consisting of bowls, mugs and plates as well as gift sets in a tin, with prices starting from £10.
A very popular range from Worcester is the Cicely Mary Barker flower fairy range, the famous images from Barker have been put onto plates and dishes and there are also twelve wall plates to collect, each featuring a different flower fairy from Cicely Mary Barker's collection.
Worcester try to keep ahead of the competition by constantly introducing modern lines. Currently a Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen design range of mugs is available and Jamie Oliver tableware is also very popular. This does not mean that Royal Worcester neglect the traditional. Currently, in the Prestige range, Clive Christian is behind a lavish and sophisticated service. This is described as being 'rendered in raised gold on a cream ground with rich burnished gold, accentuating the whiteness of the fine bone china'.
The company still produce the old pattern, such as the fruit and highland cattle. These works are inspired by John and Harry Stinton and are produced in enamels in the same way they were 100 years ago. Royal Worcester have been at the forefront of the ceramics industry for over 250 years and still produce innovative and original pieces that entice buyers of tableware, giftware and collectors' markets.
Marion Aston' blog at http://www.favouritecollectables.com has lots of information on antiques and collectables
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