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The Museum cares for over 8,000 ceramic objects and a unique factory and design archive including artist drawings, pattern books, photographs and factory records. Browse a wide selection of digitised collections below - filter by Factory, Craftsperson, Materials or Subject, or type a specific topic to search.

Factory

Craftsperson

Material

Subject

Highlights

Princess Elizabeth on Tommy

Wigornia cream boat

Chamberlain factory vase

Shakespeare service fruit cooler

Dudley Service

Octar Copson painted fruit

The Norman conquest vases

Nelson teapot

Factories

Flight etc. Periods

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Royal Worcester

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Dr Wall

Porcelain production in Worcester started in 1751 and by 1755 Worcester was making the best English blue and white tea wares that money could buy. Dr John Wall perfected a recipe for porcelain that could withstand boiling water and this discovery led to the fame of the factory. The Museum has a floor plan amongst its archives that shows ‘the secret recipe room’ where the recipe was kept under lock and key.

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Flight and Barr

Flight and Barr began when Thomas Flight purchased the Worcester Warmstry house factory for his two sons in 1783. After struggling with technical problems in the early years and following John Flight’s travels in France they introduced new spiral fluted shapes and French sprig patterns at Worcester. This period also saw the introduction of views of English country properties and grounds and in the 1830s the Neo-Rococo style became popular with up and coming industrialists.

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Chamberlain

The Chamberlain factory quickly established an enviable reputation for the production of finely painted porcelain. Customers would choose the decoration for individual ‘cabinet’ pieces. Admiral Lord Nelson and his mistress Lady Hamilton visited Chamberlain’s factory in August 1802 and ordered an extravagant breakfast, dinner and dessert service in ‘Fine Old Japan’ pattern. Views of country houses and figure subjects taken from prints of well-known paintings were very made fashionable by Chamberlain.

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Grainger

Grainger was an apprentice at Chamberlain’s Worcester factory and established a rival porcelain company with his partner John Wood in 1801. The Grainger factory gained a reputation for both useful and ornamental wares. Rich patterns such as Japanese style Imari and fine tea wares posed serious competition for the Chamberlain and Barr, Flight & Barr factories in the city.

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Kerr and Binns

In 1852 Richard William Binns and William Henry Kerr took over the management of Chamberlains & Co. The factory had been ravaged by fire and an extensive rebuilding programme took place, modern machinery and working methods improved the quality of the product in every department. The first public display of the new company products was at the Exhibition of Art & Industry, Dublin in 1853.

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Hadley and Sons

James Hadley was apprenticed in the 1850s to Kerr & Binns of Worcester and by 1870 he became the company’s principal modeller. However, in 1875 he decided to leave and set up his own modelling studio. Hadley and Sons wares were made using coloured clay mouldings in dark blue, green and brown which distinguish them from similar objects made by the Royal Worcester Factory.

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19th Century Royal Worcester

19th Century Royal Worcester kept pace with public demand for novelty in design with the development of a wide range of new materials and glazes, including glazed and underglazed Parian earthenware, majolica and bone china. The firm concentrated on the production of figures and vases.

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20th Century Royal Worcester

At the beginning of the 20th century Royal Worcester allowed the painters to sign their work and china patterns were named from the 1920s onwards. Lifestyles changed dramatically after World War One and new styles were tried with varying degrees of success. Traditional skills were maintained and developed at Royal Worcester and bespoke dinner and tea services and ornamental items of the highest quality were made for individual customers.

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Subjects

'Limoges Enamels'

Thomas Bott, the great enameller, born in Kidderminster and worked for Richardsons glass works at Wordsley 1848, exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Mr Binns encouraged him to come to Royal Worcester in 1853 where he was employed on the Shakespeare Service and he developed his speciality ‘Limoges Enamels’. He is said to have died from poisoning from licking his brushes. His son Thomas John Bott continued the ‘Limoges Enamels’ process.

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Showstopper

We are launching our first Showstopper Trail in September 2022, telling our story through 22 glorious and significant objects which span over 250 years of Royal Worcester porcelain history.

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Fancy Birds

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Blush Ivory

Blush Ivory was made of Parian clay, a cream coloured porcelain. A gloss ivory glaze was added to the inside of the piece and it was dipped into a matt straw-coloured glaze to cover the outside. The pieces was finished with areas of soft apricot glazed, sprayed onto the piece.

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Candle Snuffers

Candle snuffers or extinguishers were first manufactured in the 1850s. They were sold in large numbers, singly or as pairs, with a matching single or double extinguisher stand, which was also made of porcelain.

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Doris Lindner

The first models for Royal Worcester from Doris Lindner were of dogs, other small animals and Art Deco figure studies, followed by a series of zoo babies. In 1935 she started a number of house group models that proved to be very successful.

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Dorothy Doughty

Dorothy Doughty designed a series of birds for the American market in 1933. In the 1930s china models of this complexity had never been made before. Technical innovations and new skills were developed in mould-making, casting, propping and decorating to reproduce the birds. Dorothy also designed a series of British birds and a series of desert plates illustrating her American birds.

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Freda Doughty

In the early 1930s Royal Worcester was on the brink of ruin. But a rescue package was at hand and Charles Dyson Perrins bought the company, supplementing the worker’s wages out of his own pocket until the business was out of danger. A new group of modellers– nearly all of them women – were brought in to enliven Royal Worcester’s range. One of the Directors of Royal Worcester was staying with a cousin of Freda Doughty and on seeing examples of Freda’s work he asked her to make something to submit to Worcester. Her first four models of children were an immediate success and led to a long and fruitful partnership. Learn more about Freda Doughty and other factory workers.

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Giles

In the 1760s independent firms such as James Giles of London, decorated some Worcester Porcelain. Giles decorated and sold fashionable porcelain in Meissen, Sevres and Chinese styles. Porcelain decorated in the Giles’s studio is difficult to distinguish from pieces decorated at Dr Wall’s Worcester factory.

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Harry Davis

Harry Davis painted a large range of subjects; landscapes with sheep, cattle, pings, fish snow scenes, London scenes, polar bears, places and gardens.

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Painted Fruit

The painted fruit style with a mossy background and locally grown soft fruit was firmly established by the 1920s.

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Paint Your Own Pottery

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Collections

Highlights

Princess Elizabeth on Tommy

Wigornia cream boat

Chamberlain factory vase

Shakespeare service fruit cooler

Dudley Service

Octar Copson painted fruit

The Norman conquest vases

Nelson teapot

Factories

Flight etc. Periods

Royal Worcester

Dr Wall

Flight and Barr

Chamberlain

Grainger

Kerr and Binns

Hadley and Sons

19th Century Royal Worcester

20th Century Royal Worcester

Subjects

'Limoges Enamels'

Showstopper

Fancy Birds

Blush Ivory

Candle Snuffers

Doris Lindner

Dorothy Doughty

Freda Doughty

Giles

Harry Davis

Painted Fruit

Subject: Freda Doughty

Grandmother’s Dress