Period: Late Victorian
Maker: Worcester Royal Porcelain Company Ltd. (‘Royal Worcester’)
This beautiful Royal Worcester teapot is tastefully decorated with English wildflowers in the manner of the Aesthetic Movement.
The background is a subtle repeat design of printed daffodil heads. Primroses, dandelions, forget-me-nots, anemones, rosehips and other flowers are painted over this in mellow tones, all with gilt outlines and accents. There are also two more brightly coloured butterflies.
The decorative style blends English naturalism with Japanese conventions that were highly fashionable as Japan opened up to the West. Japonisme in turn fed into the Aesthetic Movement in late 19th Century Britain, which revered artistic beauty as an antidote to ugliness and crass materialism.
The body of the teapot is spherically shaped. The handle and knop are of moulded rustic form. An intricate gilt-on-brown design encircles the rim of the lid, the lid rest, and tip of the spout.
The teapot is similar to a pair of Royal Worcester cups and saucers that we are also selling. The pattern numbers differ, however, as do the styles of flower painting.
The Royal Worcester backstamp with the date letter ‘Z’ for 1888 is printed on the base of the teapot and on the inside of the lid. The painted pattern number is partly rubbed but could be ‘W605.’
Condition Very good. The inside of the teapot is stained from use. Minor gilt rubbing to a section of the handle, and a few rubbed spots on the edge of spout and rim edge of the lid rest. Perfect otherwise.
Height: 15.1 cm; Width across spout and handle: 23.1 cm
Net weight: 661g
