This is a stunning vase made by Royal Worcester in 1917, painted with flowers and fruits and signed by the famous porcelain artist William Hawkins.
The original Worcester factory was founded in the mid 18th Century and belongs to the group of famous pioneering potteries in Britain. It went through various changes and take overs, and in the mid 19th Century it merged with Chamberlains and Grainger, both earlier split-offs, taking the new name "Royal Worcester". The factory distinguished itself with its extremely high quality of artwork, hiring the best artists and always coming up with very vivid designs full of flowers, birds and fruits. It was in operation until the early 21st Century but eventually succumbed to the changing times.
This vase is beautifully potted in an baluster shape with two ribboned wreath handles and a square foot. It has superb gilding, a striking soft pink overglaze ground, and on the front a large reserve set in gilt "jewels" with a stunning painting of a silver Egyptian-style vase with a bouquet of mayflowers on a table, a Delft-style plate of fruits casually set beside it op top of a velvet draped cloth. The image is painted by the famous artist William Hawkins. There is a gracious gilt motif on the back of the vase and the wreathed handles have lavish gilding.
Hawkins worked for Royal Worcester from 1874 to 1928, shortly before his death in 1930. He was not only one of their top artists, but also the foreman of the men painters' department. Known to be a kind and helpful tutor, he was an excellent educator and trained generations of talented painters. In his free time he was a keen sportsman, as well as painting local landscapes on little pieces of ivory. Items painted by Hawkins are now collectors' items because of the high complexity of his use of colours and the freedom of his artistry; this was difficult to achieve given that each colour had to be fired separately at the appropriate temperature, so an artwork had to be meticulously planned and executed.
The vase carries the shape no. 2485 as well as the Royal Worcester mark with the year cipher for 1917. The image is signed by the artist on the lower left side.
CONDITION REPORT The vase is in excellent antique condition without any damage or repairs and very little wear. There is one tiny speck on the brown ground of the flower paintings and a few tiny scratches on the pink overglaze ground, as visible in the pictures. There is a 1" gilt touch-up on the joint between the foot and the body, which is hardly visible - please see last picture.
Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s and early 1900s, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker's recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.
There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Etcetera - I try to be as accurate as I can and please feel free to ask questions or request more detailed pictures!
DIMENSIONS 30cm (11.75") high, 17.5cm (7") wide incl. handles and 13.5cm (5.25") wide at narrowest side.
Royal Worcester baluster vase, pink, signed by William Hawkins, 1917
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