WORCESTER TEAPOT.
Powder blue ground with white reserves decorated in blue.
We have already given the story of old Derby china, and when Derby and Chelsea and Bow were establishing for themselves a reputation, Worcester was engaged in experimenting in the same direction in the person of one Dr. John Wall, a physician of that city. He was a man of considerable taste, and besides being a clever practitioner, he was a practical chemist, and an artist of some ability. One of his paintings hangs in the hall of Merton College, Oxford, of which he was a Fellow. He was an etcher, and designed stained-glass windows; one of his windows is at Oriel College. What William Duesbury was to Derby and the foundation of the china factory there, and what Josiah Wedgwood was to Staffordshire, that was Dr. John Wall to Worcester. His was the guiding intellect of the Worcester enterprise, which culminated in 1751, about a year after Derby had been established, in the establishment of a manufactory of porcelain in the “faithful city.”
These were restless times, very troublesome then to domestic England, and having an influence upon art. Only six years prior to this the Pretender had invaded England with an armed force, and had penetrated as far as Derby. Party feeling ran very high. It has been asserted that the industry was introduced to Worcester for political reasons, so that the Georgian party might gain votes in the county against the Jacobites, who were strong in Worcester. It seems certain enough that Dr. Wall began his experiments merely for the love of the study, but whether he was used by politicians, or whether he used them, is of no moment to us; suffice it to say that the Worcester Porcelain Company was founded in 1751, and among the prominent co-operators with Dr. Wall were William Davies, an apothecary, and Edward Cave, the founder of the Gentleman’s Magazine. This latter was of inestimable use to the factory for advertising their wares.
Old Worcester Marks.
1751-1776.
Old Worcester Marks.