Royal Worcester

My mother loved fine china. She had a small collection of beautiful porcelain teacups and demitasse cups that she treasured. She was also a gifted decorative artist. For those reasons, she would have loved the Museum of Royal Worcester.

Founded around 1750, Royal Worcester was, in its heyday, a prestigious brand of fine porcelain and it employed highly skilled artists as decorators. As lifestyles and fashions changed, the products of Royal Worcester followed. Tea was introduced to Britain around 1650, but it wasn't until about 100 years later that it became ubiquitous. The pottery of the day tended to shatter when boiling water was met cool pots, so products were developed to withstand the heat of the water. It was also during the 18th century that dinner time moved from the afternoon to the evening and became a much more social enterprise with "promiscuous seating" adopted, meaning that diners sat alternated by gender and the host and hostess sat at opposite ends of the table. Having beautiful china was a status symbol allowing the wealthy to show off their lovely collections.

Much of early china was decorated in blue and white, in the style of Chinese porcelain, and decorators often took inspiration from folktales. The dish below was decorated with a design based on a classical poem about King Wang Mu of the Zhou dynasty, 10th century BCE. The story involves eight horses transporting the king to heaven, but all the decorator knew was that eight horses were involved, so he pictured eight horses in a field. They look a bit drunk, don't you think?

The entry ticket included an audio tour, but somewhere along the way, I think the museum must have rearranged their displays because the audio guide didn't match up to the display cases. I tried moving from case to case to find the object being referred to, but finally gave up and just decided to enjoy the pretty objects.

This extraordinary piece stands about 8 inches tall. The delicacy of the fruits and vines is incredible.

Throughout the museum are pieces rightly described as "showstoppers."

There was so much beautiful artistry in evidence in every case. Here are some pieces I particularly admired.

This bowl was a tribute to A Midsummer Night's Dream:

Porcelain false teeth!

I was happy to see that display space was given in praise of some of the people who worked at Royal Worcester, particularly the artists.

A film narrated by Henry Sandon & his son, both experts on china who appear on the British version of Antiques Roadshow, is a wonderful feature of the museum. One item featured in that film was possibly my favorite piece in the museum.

Look closely at these pieces. Each of those tiny dots is a separate bit of porcelain that was attached individually before being painted and glazed. These two pieces took months to complete.

As many lovely pieces as there were on display, I found the Museum of Royal Worcester website far more informative and interesting. If you're a lover of China, you might want to check it out at https://www.museumofroyalworcester.org/discover-learn/