Royal Worcester

Is thought to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence and it vies with Royal Crown Derby which claims a founding date of 1750 as opposed to the 1751 start date for Royal Worcester.

Dr John Wall and William Davis developed a unique porcelain production method and managed to persuade a group of 13 businessmen to invest in a new factory in Worcester, England.

Thomas Flight bought the factory in 1783 and his sons ran it for him. They were granted a Royal Warrant in 1788 by George III following a visit and it became the ‘Royal Porcelain Works’.

At this time the factory was in poor repair and production was limited to poor copies of the Blue and White Chinese designs of the time. They also suffered from the competition from inexpensive imports from China and from Thomas Turner’s factory.

In 1792 Martin Barr became a partner and in 1800 Thomas Flight died leaving his son Joseph and Martin Barr to run the firm, with Martin’s sons: Martin Barr Jr. and George Barr waiting in the wings.

Further Royal Warrants were granted by the Prince of Wales in 1807 and the Princess of Wales in 1808 and the factory flourished throughout the 19th and 20th centuries attracting some of the best artists and designers to keep their wares in line with current trends.

The firm merged with Spode in 1976 and production moved to Stoke and overseas. Due to financial pressures Royal Worcester went into administration in November 2008 and The Portmeirion Pottery Group purchased the brand name and intellectual property in April 2009. The purchase did not include the factories as the Portmeirion Group already had their own factory in Stoke.