18th Century Antique English Worcester Porcelain
Worcester
Worcester was not perhaps the most obvious location for a major British porcelain manufacturer to be established because there were no local deposits of clay or coal; these had to be brought in by river. Nonetheless, it was there in 1751 that Dr John Wall and William Davis invested in a new porcelain factory.
1751-70
The new factory suffered heavy kiln losses, and in 1752 the partners bought up Benjamin Lund’s factory in Bristol and with it Lund’s secret porcelain formula that included Cornish soapstone. The use of soapstone gave Worcester porcelain increased durability, enabling its teapots to withstand hot liquids – those of most other British makers tended to crack in contact with boiling water. During the 1750s and 1760s Worcester specialized in teawares, sauceboats, pots for pate, meats and tarts, and pickle-dishes.
Early blue-and-white Worcester shows the influence of the Bristol factory, with shapes derived from British silver. Worcester’s coloured patterns were in the factory’s Unique form of chinoiserie that combined elements from China, Japan, Meissen, early Staffordshire, stoneware, and glass. This proved popular in the 1750s and is highly sought after by collectors today. By 1755 Worcester had perfected its blue-and-white wares by eliminating heavy blurring,
and was making fine tea services. Worcester can claim the credit for
the invention of printing on porcelain, and it used this technique extensively to produce overglaze black enamel and underglaze-blue printed decoration.
blue ground and also invented its famous “scale blue” (in which the underglaze blue ground was painted using a tiny fish-scale pattern) and developed other coloured grounds previously made famous by Sevres and Chelsea. The reserved panels on the coloured grounds were decorated with flowers and exotic “fancy birds”.
In the 1780s, with competition from Derby and imported French porcelain, and the influx of inexpensive Chinese wares, Worcester lost its premier position. Its recovery was slow, because the success of blueand-white printed pottery led to the decline of other, more expensive wares. In 1783 Davis, who had managed the firm since 1774, was bought out by
Thomas Flight, whose son, John
Flight, was to reverse Worcester’s ailing fortunes.
• BODY soft-paste porcelain with grey-blue cast
• GLAZE fully glazed inside the foot-rims and under the rims of lids
• FORMS teawares, sauceboats, and pickle-dishes
• DECORATION blue-and-white copies of Chinese wares; polychrome chinoiseries; overglaze black transfer-printing and underglaze-blue printing introduced
Marks
Most blue-and-white wares bear a workman’s mark, usually a simple sign of uncertain meaning
• GLAZE evenly controlled with slight yellow-green cast; under-rims of covers unglazed; to avoid glaze running down onto the kiln during firing it was wiped away from the inside of feet c.1758-83 in a technique known as “pegging”
• FORMS teawares, plates, dishes, and vases
• DECORATION blue-and-white printing, much of it for export; Chinese decoration less important; in London Giles decorated many pieces in Meissen or Sevres style
Marks
Mark used on printed wares (1758-85)
Mark used on blue-ground wares (c.1762-85)
“Pseudo-Meissen” mark used on some coloured wares in a European style (c.1760-70)
1774-92
• BODY paste declined in quality; a more straw-coloured or yellowish cast; not well controlled
• FORMS traditional styles continued to be made, but were not so well executed
• DECORATION very bright-blue printing, prone to blurring; slow transition from Rococo to Neo-classical decoration; greater French influence
Marks
Crescent mark still used in addition to this
cursive “W” printed in blue (c.1770-75)