Royal Worcester is a
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
brand based in
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by
Royal Crown Derby
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England (disputed by Royal Worcester, who claim 1751 as their year of establishment). The company, particularly known ...
, which claims 1750 as its year of establishment. Part of the
Portmeirion Group since 2009, Royal Worcester remains in the luxury tableware and giftware market, although production in
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
itself has ended.
Technically, the Worcester Royal Porcelain Co. Ltd. (known as Royal Worcester) was formed in 1862, and although the company had a
royal warrant of appointment
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of ...
from 1788, wares produced before that time, as well as those produced at two other factories in Worcester, are known as Worcester porcelain. The enterprise has followed the pattern of other leading English porcelain brands, with increasing success during the 18th and 19th centuries, then a gradual decline during the 20th century, especially the latter half.
Early history
Prior to 1751,
John Wall
Johnathan Hildred Wall Jr. (born September 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Wall was chosen with the List of firs ...
, a physician, and William Davis, an
apothecary
''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...
, attempted to develop a method of making
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
that could then be used to boost prosperity and employment in Worcester. The success of their early experimentation is unknown, but they clearly came into contact around 1750–1751 with the
Bristol porcelain
Bristol porcelain covers porcelain made in Bristol, England by several companies in the 18th and 19th centuries. The plain term "Bristol porcelain" is most likely to refer to the factory moved from Plymouth in 1770, the second Bristol factory. Th ...
manufactory of Lund and Miller, who were using soaprock (
steatite
Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...
) as a prime raw material in their porcelain production. This appears to be a then-unique method for producing porcelain.
In 1751, Wall and Davis persuaded a group of 13 businessmen to invest in a new factory at Warmstry House,
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
, England, on the banks of the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
, but whether the business plan put forward to the prospective partners was based on the future buy out of Lund's
Bristol porcelain
Bristol porcelain covers porcelain made in Bristol, England by several companies in the 18th and 19th centuries. The plain term "Bristol porcelain" is most likely to refer to the factory moved from Plymouth in 1770, the second Bristol factory. Th ...
factory is uncertain. Wall and Davis secured the sum of £4500 from the partners to establish the factory, known then as "''The Worcester Tonquin Manufactory''"; the original partnership deeds are still housed in the Museum of Worcester Porcelain.
Richard Holdship, a Quaker and major shareholder, was prominent in the process of the subsequent ‘buy out’ of the Bristol manufactory in early 1752. Holdship personally bought from Benjamin Lund, a fellow Quaker, the soaprock licence that ensured the mining of 20 tons p.a. of soaprock from Cornwall.
[‘The Origins of Worcester Porcelain’, Ray Jones, 2018, Parkbarn, ]
The early wares were
soft-paste porcelain
Soft-paste porcelain (sometimes simply "soft paste", or "artificial porcelain") is a type of ceramic material in pottery, usually accepted as a type of porcelain. It is weaker than "true" hard-paste porcelain, and does not require either the high ...
with bodies that contained soaprock, commonly called in most ceramic circles as
soapstone
Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...
. The chemical analyses of these wares closely correlates to those of the Bristol manufactory.
This places Worcester in a group of early English potteries including Caughley and factories in Liverpool.
The Flight and Barr partnerships
![Plate Duke of Clarence BM 1887 0307 V 83](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Plate_Duke_of_Clarence_BM_1887_0307_V_83.jpg)
In 1783, the factory was purchased by Thomas Flight—the former London sales agent for the concern—for £3,000. He let his two sons run the concern, with John Flight taking the lead role till his death in 1791. In 1788
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, following a visit to the company, granted it a
royal warrant, and it became known as the "Royal Porcelain Works". Knowledge of this period is largely a result of the excellent diary that John Flight kept from 1785 to 1791. This is discussed in detail in Appendix III of ''Flight & Barr Worcester Porcelain'' by
Henry Sandon.
During this period, the factory was in poor repair. Production was limited to low-end patterns of mostly Blue and White porcelains after
Chinese porcelain
Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from construc ...
designs of the period. It was also pressured by competition from inexpensive
Chinese export porcelain
Chinese export porcelain includes a wide range of Chinese porcelain that was made (almost) exclusively for export to Europe and later to North America between the 16th and the 20th century. Whether wares made for non-Western markets are covered ...
, and from Thomas Turner's Caughley (pronounced "Calf-ley") Factory.
![Binns - Aesthetic teapot CPLH 2004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Binns_-_Aesthetic_teapot_CPLH_2004.113a-b.JPG)
Martin Barr joined the firm as a partner in 1792; porcelains of this period are often identified by an incised capital "B" and, later, by more elaborate printed and impressed marks.
Thomas Flight died in 1800, leaving the factory in the hands of his son Joseph Flight and Martin Barr. Barr's sons Martin Barr Jr. and George Barr were being prepared at that time to run the factory. In addition to the warrant granted by George III, royal warrants were also issued by the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
in 1807, and the
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton).
The title was firs ...
in 1808.
Chamberlain and Grainger factories
"Worcester porcelain" also includes the
hard-paste porcelain
Hard-paste porcelain, sometimes "true porcelain", is a ceramic material that was originally made from a compound of the feldspathic rock petuntse and kaolin fired at very high temperature, usually around 1400 °C. It was first made in China a ...
wares made in Chamberlain's Factory and Grainger's Factory, as they tend to be referred to in catalogues and museum descriptions. Both of these began as decorating shops in Worcester, painting "blanks" made by other factories, but after a few years began to make their own porcelain. Chamberlain's Factory, which was very high quality and in 1811 received its own royal warrant from the
Prince Regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...
, had begun to manufacture by 1791. In 1840, at a time when both businesses were having difficulties keeping up with a changing market, it merged with the main Flight and Barr concern as "Chamberlain & Company.
Grainger's Factory was making porcelain from 1807, though not of quite the highest quality. Under a succession of partnership and company names the Grainger family retained significant shares until the death of the last member in 1889, when Royal Worcester took them over. As Grainger & Co the factory and name were used until 1902, when a full transfer to the main factory took place. Some Grainger moulds remained in use in the 21st century. The factory site at St Martin’s Gate was used from 1809 to 1902.
Worcester Porcelain Museum
The factory's former site includes the independent
Museum of Royal Worcester
The Museum of Royal Worcester (formerly ''Worcester Porcelain Museum'' and ''Dyson Perrins Museum'') is a ceramics museum located in the Royal Worcester porcelain factory's former site in Worcester, England.
Overview
The museum houses the wo ...
(formerly known as the 'Dyson Perrins Museum' and 'Worcester Porcelain Museum') owned by the Dyson Perrins Museum Trust. The Museum houses the world’s largest collection of Worcester porcelain. The collections date back to 1751 and the
Victorian gallery, the ceramic collections, archives and records of factory production, form the primary resource for the study of Worcester porcelain and its history.
Porcelain painters
Artists and designers who worked for the factory included
Thomas Baxter,
William Billingsley,
John Stinton,
David Bates,
James Hadley,
Christopher Dresser
Christopher Dresser (4 July 1834 – 24 November 1904) was a British designer and design theorist, now widely known as one of the first and most important, independent designers. He was a pivotal figure in the Aesthetic Movement and a major cont ...
, Charles Baldwin, Harry Davis and Peter Ewence. A number of
Royal Worcester fruit painters
The Royal Worcester fruit painters were a group of painters who specialized in depicting fruits on porcelain tableware. The tradition originated with the painter Octar H. Copson, who in 1880 had also painted a plaque commissioned by a local farmer ...
from the late 19th century onwards are known to collectors.
Modern history
![Site of Worcester Porcelain Works - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Site_of_Worcester_Porcelain_Works_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1744254.jpg)
In the 20th century, Royal Worcester's most popular pattern has been "Evesham Gold", first offered in 1961, depicting the autumnal fruits of the
Vale of Evesham
A vale is a type of valley.
Vale may also refer to:
Places Georgia
* Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region
Norway
* Våle, a historic municipality
Portugal
* Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipali ...
with fine gold banding on an "oven to table" body.
After the 1976
merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
with
Spode
Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced by the company of the same name, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.
Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two extremely ...
,
and due to heavy competition from overseas, the production was switched to factories in Stoke and abroad. 100 staff were made redundant in 2003, and another 100 went in 2005. Fifteen porcelain painters left the Severn Street factory on Friday 29 September 2006, together with 100 other workers.
The last trading date for Royal Worcester was 14 June 2009.
The company went into administration on 6 November 2008 and on 23 April 2009, the brand name and intellectual property were acquired by
Portmeirion Pottery
Portmeirion is a British pottery company based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.
History
Portmeirion Pottery began in 1960 when pottery designer Susan Williams-Ellis (daughter of Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, who created the Italian-style Portmeirion Vi ...
Group – a pottery and homewares company based in
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
. As Portmeirion Group has a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, the purchase did not include the Royal Worcester and Spode manufacturing facilities.
References
*
Battie, David, ed., ''Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain'', 1990, Conran Octopus,
Further reading
*Richard William Binns.
A century of potting in the city of Worcester: being the history of the Royal Porcelain Works, from 1751 to 1851' (B. Quaritch, 1865).
*Royal Porcelain Works.
A guide through the Royal Porcelain Work' (1895).
*
Henry Sandon. ''The Illustrated Guide to Worcester Porcelain 1751–1793''. Praeger, New York. 1969.
* Lawrence Branyan, Neal French,
John Sandon. ''Worcester Blue & White Porcelain 1751–1790''. Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group). 1981.
* Gerald Coke. ''In Search of James Giles''. Micawber. Saint Paul. 1983.
* Simon Spero. ''Worcester Porcelain: The Klepser Collection''. Alan Wofsy Fine Arts. .
* Franklin Allen Barrett. ''Worcester Porcelain & Lund's Bristol''. Faber & Faber. 1966.
* Geoffrey A. Godden. ''Caughley & Worcester Porcelains 1775–1800''. Barrie & Jenkins, 1969. .
* F. Severne Mackenna. ''Worcester Porcelain, The Wall Period and its Antecedents''. F. Lewis, 1950.
* H. Rissik Marshall. ''Coloured Worcester Porcelain of the First Period 1751–1783''. Ceramic Book Company, 1954.
* Dinah Reynolds. ''Worcester Porcelain: Marshall Collection (Ashmolean Handbooks)''.
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...
, 2006.
* Simon Spero, John Sandon. ''Worcester Porcelain 1751–1790, The Zorensky Collection''. Antique Collectors Club Dist A/C, 2007.
* Geoffrey A. Godden. ''Chamberlain-Worcester Porcelain: 1788–1852''. First Glance Books, 1996.
* Henry Sandon. ''Flight and Barr Worcester Porcelain 1783–1840''. ACC Distribution, 1993.
* Peter Woodger. ''James Hadley & Sons Artist Potters Worcester''. Woodger-Great Britain, 2003.
* Henry Sandon, John Sandon. ''Grainger's Worcester Porcelain''. David & Charles, 1990.
* Harris & Willis. ''An Exhibition of Porcelain Manufactured by E. Locke & Co. Worcester''. 1989.
* Henry Sandon. ''Royal Worcester Porcelain 1862 to the Present Day''. Clarkson N. Potter, 1973.
* H. J., David Sandon. ''The Sandon guide to Royal Worcester figures: 1900–1970''. Alderman Press, 1987.
* Richard William Binns. ''Worcester China: A Record of the Work of Forty-five Years, 1852–1897''. Adamant Media Corporation, 1897.
* Derek Shirley. ''A Guide to the Dating of Royal Worcester — Porcelain Marks from 1862''. Mid Wales Litho Ltd., Griffithstown, 1987.
* John Edwards. ''The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Royal Worcester Figurines''. The Charlton Press, 2005.
* Harry Frost. ''Royal Worcester Porcelain and the Dyson Perrins Collection''. Pitkin, 1993.
* Aileen Dawson. ''The Art of Worcester Porcelain, 1751–1788: Masterpieces from the British Museum Collection''. UPNE, 2009.
* Ray Jones. ''Porcelain in Worcester 1751–1951, An Illustrated Social History''. Parkbarn, 1993.
* S. Fisher. ''Worcester Porcelain''. 1968.
* Tony Horsley. ''Distinguished Extinguishers''. 1999.
External links
Official websiteWorcester Porcelain Museum website
{{Authority control
1751 establishments in England
Companies based in Stoke-on-Trent
Ceramics manufacturers of England
English pottery
History of Worcester, England
British porcelain
Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court
British Royal Warrant holders
British companies established in 1751
Manufacturing companies established in 1751