The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-28
THE QUEENS CHINA CLOSET
The Ceramic Treasury of the Late
English Sovereign.
Plates. Tea Sets, md Oriental Spcci-
mems Worth Fnr More Than Their
Weight in GoId-A Dinner Service
Valued Mt Ten Thousand Pounds.

| To attempt to pass In review all the fine
china and porcelain that her late Ma jesty
| possessad would be to compile a cata-
| logue, for the beautiful specimens she in
herited, or bought to please her own taste
and from the laudable desire to patronizs
manufactures so closely akin to fine art
or received as presents are simply legion
ard her various residences were full OF
them. Mrny. especially at Windsor Cas-
tie and Buckingham Palace, are heir
| looms, and belong to the sovereign of
| these realms for the time being but
| quantities of others are offerings and
keepsakes which accumulated during the
! Queens long life and reign, and they fill
ma ny a great cupboard and cabinet, the
contents of any one of which would be
sufficient to decorate a large country
house whose chateIaine had pretty taste
I in ceramics and aspired to the reputation
| of china maniac. At Windsor there is a
I large. light china and glass room fitted
with wide Shelves protected from dust
! by glass doors. II contains services for
| domestic use, such as dinner, dessert and
| tea and coffee. many of which are price
| less and in other establishments would be
! reserved for ornament alone. Every room
and gallery In the castle is, moreover,
adorned with magnificent porcelain over
and above that stored in the china room
The Queen personally had a connois-
seur's knowledge of china and OCCASION
ally showed a fine isolated piece to a Wis
itor imbued with similar tastes. A story
Is told of an occasion not very long ago
when her Majesty sent for a plate with a
good deal of green in il that she wished
to show. The messenger returned, say
ing that no such plate could be seen
Look again. said the Queen, and de-
scribed not only the shelf. but the juxta-
position of the desired plate among other
pieces of china, and, with her directions
in mind it was Immediately found.
The Guelph sovereigns have all been
fond of china, and when they first came
to rule over England it was the fashion
for every German prince to have some
special ceramic mandatory under his
royal protection. The Kings of France
and Naples followed suit, and, of course
the King of England could not be behind
hand. George II devoted himself to the
Chelsea factory, then in the zenith of it's
prosperity, and magnificent dinner SER
vice of old Chelsea, painted with birds
and butterflies. is In the china room at
Windsor Castle: it is hardly ever taken
from its place on the shelves This Is so
valuable as to be absolutely precious. and
1t closely resembles one that George III
and his Queen presented to the Duke of
Wurtemberg and gave e1,2o0 for.
GLORY OF CHANTILLY.
A large, complete, and lovely dinner
service of Chantilly is also one of the
treasures. The output of Chantilly ceased
when the French revolution broke out, so
this china must be at least 115 years old
Most delicately painted birds occupy the
centre of every plate and dish. and the
borders are royal blue with a little gold
on them. The plates are valued at 10
guineas each. and it is believed that none
has ever been broken. a very fine Dres-
den service dates from the latter part of
the eighteenth century. A Worcester
harlequin service Is curious. and regarded
entirely in that light, as it rarely left its
appointed place; but a modern Worcester
service. made especially FOR the Queen
from the designs of Sir NJ. Digby Wyatt
was sometimes brought out. The dessert
services are numerous, and the most IA
nous and intrinsically valuable is the
wonderful Sevres originally made for
Louis XVI, and bought by George ",
who, on account of the prevalence of a
very delicate green in its coloring, placed
II in the green drawing room, from
whence it was taken when the Queen and
Prince Albert rearranged their household
gods, quite early in their married life.
Her Majesty frequently used the plates.
and the service occasionally made its ap-
pearance in the household dining room. 1t
is valued at EI0.0o0. A service of Furs-
full landscapes, is interesting from its con-
nection with the House of Brunswick. The
Furstenberg factory owed its existence to
that Duke Of Brunswick who, in 1871. mar
ried Princess Augusta, the daughter of
Frederic. Prince of Wales. whose rhym-
ing epitdph was:
Here lies Fred,
Who was alive, and is dead,
and sister of George III. He engaged Ben
graf, the skillful potter, 10 whose infiu-
ence the Mayence factory was due but the
mans former employer arrested and near
ly starved him to death lest he should
larry the secrets o. porcelatn-making
away However. he divuiged them and
the establishment OF the Furstenberg
works, which were then taken up by
Baron Won Lang. famous chemist Of the
day under whom her Majesty's service
was made An Etruscan service in black
and red is distinguished by the classic
shapes OF the principal pieces. but the
Queen had no great liking for 1t; and vast
ly preferred most beautiful dessert set
made to her own order by Minton about
twenty years ago. The fruit dishes. of
which there are many. are peculiarly
handsome. In the center of each piece is
a blue medallion with the monogram
". r." on IT in raised gold. and all-have
blue borders relieved by medallions paint
ed a la Sevres with the rose, thistle and
shamrock This beautiful service graced
the royal table at all the Jubilee festivi-
ties, and though 1t Travelled about great
deal between OSBORNE ana BalInUrdl, only
one plate has ever been broken.
A MOTHER OF PEARL APPEARING SERVICE. |
Among the modern china that Queen |
Victoria admired and priced is a Belleek |
tea service from the Irish factory of that |
name. II is mother-o -pearl-like and lus-
trous, and the bases of the larger pieces, |
such as basin, which is one OF the choic-
est pieces of the set, are formed of coral !
branches and adorned with few small |
sea shells Every make of fine china is |
among her Majestys tea serv-
ices, but the pride of them all Is one of |
the most delicate Sevres, with a claret-
colOred ground, on which are heads in
medallions and landscapes in panels. A
remarkable modern afternoon tea set is
Of the wonderful Burmese china, brought
out a few years ago when Burma was
opened up. 1t is a sort of pale primrose
color shading to pink at the edges. much
decorated with gold, and so thin that it
seems like inviting disaster when hot tea
S poured into the cups.
Occasionally the Queen lent very vaIu-
able little specimens of the noted Sevres
pate tendTe. soft paste, to ceramic eX-
A beautiful soup basin. with a
over in pate dure, standing about four |
md one-half inches high has green |
and is embellished with fine
y painted flowers and much gliding. and
his is great treasure A splendid
5evres vase with a cover has the cele-
)rated Rose du Barri ground and two
oval medallions. one on each side One |
IF them contains a flower painting and
he other two cherubs resting on clouds,
md playing with white doves. 1t stands |
ourteen and one-half inches high, and
he knob of the cover is a delicateIy !
nodded flower. Her Majesty also owned
me of the curious old Sevres vaisseauX a
nat with birds painted on the body. Ii is
n the collection at buckingham Palace, |
md has several times been lent to Min
on's. that they might copy it. The late