First Period Worcester Saucer in Hibiscus or Honeysuckle pattern, c.1758-62

Finely-potted, soft paste porcelain Worcester saucer painted in the Chinese idiom with a pattern of large, intricately trailing flowers and Daoist sacred scroll in the Hibiscus or Honeysuckle pattern.

Condition is excellent with no cracks or restoration, just a minor glazing anomaly to the underside rim and some kiln dust. The painted yellow, green and red enamels are in excellent order.

Worcester was established in 1751 when John Wall, a physician, and William Davis, an apothecary, persuaded a group of 13 businessmen to invest in a new factory at Warmstry House, Worcester, on the banks of the River Severn. They bought out the Bristol manufactory and the soaprock licence that ensured the mining of 20 tons per annum of soaprock from Cornwall, enabling them to manufacture soft-paste porcelain. The company enjoyed a royal warrant from 1788 and became known as Royal Worcester in 1862.