Covered Vase c. 1770

This covered vase was crafted by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company, a British institution with a global reach. The vase speaks volumes about the era of empire. Blue and gold lattice-work mimics contemporaneous Chinese porcelain. The vase is embellished with a riot of flowers and what might be a bird of paradise. These exotic images carry associations with the far-flung places that were being plundered for resources and incorporated into Britain’s colonial territories. The Worcester Royal Porcelain Company was itself a product of its time, catering to an expanding middle class with aspirations to nobility. An object such as this would have been purely decorative. When we look at this vase, we might research the history of trade with China and the cultural appropriation that went along with it. We might investigate the social history of British manufacturing, and the lives of the artisans who actually made it.