Vintage Royal Worcester Coffee Set in 'Bournemouth' Pattern, 1960s
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A boxed Royal Worcester coffee set, Royal Worcester printed marks, circa 1960, the complete set comprising six coffee cans with matching saucers in 'Bournemouth' pattern, in their original presentation box inscribed 'Royal Worcester bone china' and with Drummonds Melbourne retailer label, each piece stamped to the underside. Height 6 cm, (cup) diameter: 12 cm, (saucer)
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- Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
- Coffee Can - A coffee can is a cup for holding coffee, but of a cylindrical shape rather than the waisted shape of traditional cups. They were in use at the end of the 18th century and in the early 19th century.
- Bone China - Bone china, Also called 'English china", is one of the three types of porcelain, the other two being soft paste porcelain and hard paste porcelain.
Porcelain is an ancient ceramic material, first made in China, hence the common name "china", and the introduction of bone china was to counter the imports of Chinese porcelain.
The initial development of bone china is credited to Josiah Spode, who introduced it around 1800 and it was soon after copied by other manufacturers including Minton, Coalport, Davenport, Derby, Worcester, Wedgwood and Rockingham and the Herculaneum factory at Liverpool.
Spode's bone china was made by mixing ash from cattle bones with feldspar and kaolin, which created a material that was stronger, more translucent, and whiter than traditional porcelain. He began to produce this new type of porcelain in 1796 and it quickly became very popular.
At the time, the process and ingredients were kept secret and were only known to a few manufacturers and were protected by patents.
In the 19th century, bone china became increasingly popular and was widely produced by many manufacturers in England. During this time, it was considered a luxury item and was often used to create fine dining sets and other decorative items.
Bone china is still used in the production of fine porcelain wares, such as tea sets, figurines, and other decorative pieces. His basic formula of six parts bone ash, four parts china stone, and three and a half parts china clay remains the standard English body. It is still considered a luxury item due to its strength, translucency, and whiteness, and is often used for high-end and high-quality porcelain. China.
This item has been included into following indexes:
- Royal Worcester (England), item types