Antique English Worcester Gilt Porcelain Hand Painted Vase. With Elegant Mask Handles. 

Size: 4 x 3 x 9 1/2 in. 

#3207 . 

In 1751 two British apothecaries named John Wall and William Davis bought out a Bristol porcelain company that was using steatite and soapstone as their raw material and brought the enterprise to Waterford. It is believed to be the oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although Royal Crown Derby disputes this by asserting that they first formed in 1750. In 1783 the factory was purchased by Thomas Flight, a London businessman who put his two sons in charge, with John Flight taking full control until his accidental death in 1791. In 1788 King George III visited the company, and granted it a royal warrant. Production at the time was limited to low-end patterns of mostly Blue & White porcelains that copied Chinese designs, and their main competition was from inexpensive Chinese export porcelain as well as the nearby Caughley Porcelain Factory run by Thomas Turner. Wares produced by them before that time, as well as those produced at rival Worcester manufacturers, are known simply as “Worcester porcelain” to mark this event. Martin Barr joined the firm as a partner in 1792, and when Thomas died in 1800 his son Joseph put Barr in charge. Barr’s sons Martin Barr Jr. and George Barr procured new royal warrants from the Prince of Wales in 1807, as well as the Princess of Wales in 1808. Their two biggest rivals by this time were Chamberlain’s Factory and Grainger’s Factory, which had both begun as decorating shops in the city painting “blanks” made by other factories, but by the early 1800s were making their own porcelain. Chamberlain’s Factory in particular was known for its high quality, receiving its own royal warrant from the Prince Regent in 1811, and in 1840 Flight and Barr combined with them to form Chamberlain & Company. A fire in 1850 damaged much of the facility, and the company was bought and rebuilt by William Henry Kerr and Richard William Binns. It was reformed as The Worcester Royal Porcelain Co. Ltd. in 1862 when Kerr retired and Binns partnered with porcelain maker Edward Philips. When the last living member of the Grainger family died in 1889, the factory was taken over by Royal Worcester, who continued to use their name on some popular product lines until 1902 when it was retired. Artists and designers who worked for the factory included Thomas Baxter, William Billingsley, John Stinton, David Bates, and Christopher Dresser. A number of particularly talented Royal Worcester fruit painters from the late 19th Century onwards crafted pieces that are highly sought by collectors today. James Hadley and Sons, started by a former employee of Royal Worcester, was acquired in 1905, giving Royal Worcester almost a monopoly on porcelain in the region. A gradual decline during the 20th Century amidst two World Wars and economic downturns, however, eventually led to a merger with the Stoke-on-Trent-based Spode company, in 1976. The Worcester facility was eventually shuttered as most workers were gradually transferred to Stoke or let go over the next thirty years, and the factory’s former site now houses the independent Museum of Royal Worcester owned by the Dyson Perrins Museum Trust, the world’s largest collection of Worcester porcelain. The last official trading date for Royal Worcester was June 14th, 2009, and the brand name and property were acquired by Portmeirion Pottery Group, who officially ended all production in Worcester itself as of that day, transferring all manufacturing overseas.