Royal Worcester manufactures bone china and in particular porcelain.
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Early history
Founded in Worcester, England in 1751, the factory was established on the banks of the River Severn by a group of local businessmen, with the guidance of Dr John Wall, an eminent physician. Dr. Wall along with another of the group, apothecary William Davis, developed their method for producing porcelain. Dr. Wall secured the sum of £4500 from the partners to establish the factory in Worcester and those original partnership deeds are still housed in the Museum of Worcester Porcelain.
The Flight and Barr partnerships
In 1783, the Worcester porcelain factory was purchased by Thomas Flight, the former London sales agent for the concern. He purchased the factory for £3000 from the former owners. Largely, he let his two sons run the concern, with John Flight taking the lead role till his father's death in 1792. Knowledge of this period is largely a result of the excellent diary that John Flight kept from 1785-1791. This is discussed in detail in Appendix III of “Flight & Barr Worcester Porcelain” by Henry Sandon.
During this period, the factory was in comparatively poor repair. Production was limited to low-end patterns of mostly Blue & White porcelains after Chinese Porcelain designs of the period. It was also pressured by competition from inexpensive Chinese export porcelains, and from Thomas Turner’s Caughley (pronounced “Calf-ley”) Factory.
Martin Barr joins 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 dies 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 are being prepared at this time to eventually run the factory.
The Worcester factory always prided itself on its quality Worcester Porcelain. It received a royal warrant from King George III in 1789 during his visit to the city. Others followed, including a Royal Warrant by the Prince of Wales in 1807, another granted by the Princess of Wales in 1808. The factory is still in service to the crown, currently by appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Modern history
At its height, the firm employed nearly 1,000 people, but after the 2006 merger with Spode,[1] and heavy competition from overseas, the production was gradually switched to factories in Stoke and abroad. 100 staff were made redundant in 2003 and another 100 went in 2005. 15 porcelain painters left the Severn Street factory on Friday 29 September 2006, together with 100 other workers.[2] The last trading date for Royal Worcester was June 14 2009, and since there are no current employees of the firm.
The company went into administration on 6 November 2008.[1]
On 23 April 2009 Portmeirion Pottery purchased the rival Royal Worcester and Spode brands, together with some of the stock, after their parent company had been placed into administration the previous November. The purchase does not include Royal Worcester and Spode's manufacturing facilities.[3] The Worcester site eventually closed on June 14 2009 after the staff thanked all the customers for their loyalty over the 258 years of trade.[4]
The factory's former site includes a visitor centre and the independent Worcester Porcelain Museum (formerly known as the Dyson Perrins Museum) owned by the Dyson Perrins Museum Trust.[5] 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. The museum remains open Monday to Saturday from 10.00am till 5.00pm.
The modern era has produced many new styles of porcelain. In particular, branding with well known celebrity chefs. This is a very popular way of increasing the product base and provides the modern family with quality porcelain that reflects their lifestyle. A popular design is the Jamie Oliver Collection, including the 'cheeky' range, of which there are a number of different styles.
References
- ^ a b "Porcelain maker Royal Worcester & Spode goes bust". Associated Press. 2008-11-07. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j_58aS33kO03ThEwwtbMxbUSigkAD949KK680. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ BBC NEWS | England | Hereford/Worcs | China firm quits after 250 years
- ^ "Stoke kilns fired up for Spode again". Staffordshire Sentinel (Northcliffe). 2009-04-24. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Stoke-kilns-fired-Spode/article-936167-detail/article.html. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
- ^ "Royal Worcester willl close this month". Worcester News (Newsquest). 2009-04-11. http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/local/4283560.Royal_Worcester_site_will_close_this_month/. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
- ^ Dyson Perrins Museum Trust, Registered Charity no. 223753 at the Charity Commission
External links
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