The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-05-06
.AFAMOUS PORCELAIN.

esting industries in England is the
manufacture of porcelain in the ancient
city Of Worcester. There is no special
local reason for the establishment Of
such works there, but Worcester has
been notcd as the home of the famous
porcelain for more than 4 century. 1t
was in 1851 that DR.. Wall. a chemist
and artist, compl,tcd his experiments =
in the combination of various elements.
and produced Il porcelain more like the
true or natural Chinese porcelain than
any ever devised This was the more
remarkable because kaolin had not then
been discovered in England The in
ventor set up his factory in Worcester,
close to the cathedral, and for long
time he produced his eggshell and Ton
1uin porcelain in various forms. chief
ly, however. those of table services
Transfer-printing was introduced later,
and was executed with much of the ar
fists spirit by experts who attached
themselves to the Worcester works af-
ter the closing of the enamel works at
Dattcrsca. 1t was 4 remarkable cen
tury in its devotion to ceramic art:
and it was characteristic OF the ruling
princes of the continent that they
should patronizc lavishly various pot
teries of more or less rcputc. Towards
the end of the century the first sign of
this royal favor was vouchsafcd to
Worcester. George III visited the
factories, and, under the impetus given
by his patronage, the wares Of the city
advanced so much in popularity that
in the early part of this century, it is
said, there were few noble families
which had not in their china closets an
elaborate service OF Worcester, bearing
the family arms and motto in appro-
pirate emblazonmcnt. In 1911, George
" being then prince regent, several
splendid services of Worcester porcc-
lain were ordered to equip his table for
the new social duties cntailcd hy his
regency, and one of these alone cost
"a 900. In the museums at the Wor-
ccster works there are specimens Of
many beautiful services. designed in
accordance with the contemporary
ideas Of pomp and statclincss The
porcelain artists in those days must
have been we'll ycrsed i'm heraldry, for
their chief duties seem to have been
the reproduction of crest and coat>-of-
arms. Some of the services have
interesting stores. There is one of
deep royal blue, beautifully decorated
and bearing in the centre an cmbcmat
cial figure of Hope.
The story ran that It was ordered
by Nelson for pcscntation to the duke
of Cumberland, and that that figure of
Hope was really II portrait OF Lady
Hamilton. This. however. was an
error: the service was ordered by Che
duke himself in the ordinary way, and,
though Lord Nelson did order a
service of Worcester porcelain. he died
before it was completed, and it was
afterwards dispersed. Another Story
li,>'hrS to plate adorned with pic
tarc "I II ship in full sail approac.lin.
harbor.
The imaum of Musclt seat many pre-
sents to the prince regent. and hinted
that he would like ship of war in re-
turn. The English authorities. how
ever, did not see ft to give attention
to this request, and sent him, instead
many beautiful things, including Il
service of Worcester ware, bearing on
each piece showing the royal yacht
which bore the gifts, entering the cove
of Muscat. When the potcntatc heard
however, that his dearest wish had
been thwarted in this way, he refused
to allow the vessel to enter the harbor
and all the presents had to he brought
hack again. The picture ON the plate
therefore, is more imaginative than
accurate.
The Worcester porcelain began to
develop in fresh directions soon after
the Great Exhibition of 1881, which
gave IN impulse to the efforts of the
artists. and the decorative side of the
work was brought into Il much more
prominent position. For instance, the
"WOrcestcr enamel, in the STYLE of
those of Limoges, were introduced,
and an illustration of this work is to
be seen in 4 pair of remarkable vases,
hearing enamel reproductions Of
Maclise'S drawings. founded on the
BavcuX tapestries. About this time.
too, after several years OF experiment.
the ivory warc-an idea inspired hy
the lovely ivory sculptures in the cN-
hibition-was brought to perfection.
1t is 4 beautiful, creamy, translucent
porcelain, Sin"ulary fitted for artistic
treatment. and il is now the most
characteristic of the later develop
ments of the Worcester work In fact
the art directors Of the enterprise, will
not issue now any new wares in the
style of those which found favor at an
earlier period. for they know that they
would instantly he palmcd OIL on the
nnwary rs the genuine products Of the
hNGOnc times.
TO trace the process of the manu-
taciurr from the mixing Of the in@re-