Are Worcester vases usually signed by the painter?

Signed appears in 93 of the 536 titles, and 'artist signed' in another fourteen, so a signature is common without being the rule. Where a name is given it tends to be a fruit painter or one of the Stinton family. Plenty of other listings say only 'hand painted', with no painter recorded.

What subjects were painted on them?

Fruit still life is the largest group, named in a fifth of titles: apples, pears, grapes and blackberries. Highland cattle comes next, named in 34 titles. Sheep, pheasants, storks, swans and roses all turn up throughout. Blush ivory grounds with painted flowers form their own sizeable group.

How old are most of them?

The dated field runs from 1800 to 1960, and 400 of the listings carry a clean year rather than a period label. The 1910s, 1920s and 1900s are the heaviest decades. The 1960s is fourth-busiest, ahead of the 1930s, so a large slice of this category was made well within living memory. Vaguer labels sit alongside the years: '19th Century' on 32 listings, Edwardian on 27, Victorian on 20.

Do they come in pairs?

Pairs are common enough to count as a category of their own, named in 113 titles, around a fifth of the archive. Sampled pairs sit well above comparable singles in the range. A garniture of three appears once in the whole archive.

What does pot pourri mean on a Worcester vase?

It means a covered vase made to hold scented petals, and the term is used in 85 titles. The better ones are three-piece, with a pierced inner cover under the outer one. Covers in general are specified in the title rather than taken for granted, appearing in 84 listings.

Which Worcester factories other than Royal Worcester appear?

Royal Worcester carries nine titles in ten, so everything earlier is hiding in the small remainder. That remainder includes Flight Barr & Barr, Chamberlain, Grainger, Hadley, Locke & Co and Royal China Works, with Georgian, Regency and a few First Period pieces of about 1760 and 1770.

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Antique Worcester Vases

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Porcelain vases made in Worcester for display rather than use, from small spill and bud vases to large covered pot pourri vases and pairs, most of them hand-painted and many signed by the painter.