The Chelsea factory, opened in London in 1745 by the French refugee goldsmith Nicholas Sprimont, was the first commercially successful porcelain factory in England, which produced work that rivaled in quality and craftsmanship its continental predecessors. The floral motifs on a deep blue ground of this vase reflect the influence of the porcelain made by the Sevres factory in France.

 Josiah Wedgwood, an early leader of the Industrial Revolution in England, was a pioneer of technological innovation and the mass distribution of ceramic wares.  Although originally producing traditional pottery for the middle classes, in the 1760s he developed a process for making high quality, expensive pottery sold to the well-to-do.  This black basalt earthenware vase made at Wedgwood's Etruria manufactory is an example of his most sophisticated early creations:  black stoneware imitating the forms and colors of the Greek vases uncovered and made fashionable by the archaeological excavations in Italy in the third quarter of the 18th century.

The Derby factory, founded in 1749, specialized in the production of ornamental wares and porcelain figures in the tradition of Meissen and Chelsea.  This figure of Venus, who in Greek myth sprang from the foam, is particularly interesting.  the delicate, intricately modeled and arranged objects signal her origin in the sea.  This piece exemplifies the final stage of the Rococo in English porcelain.

The need to import armorial porcelain service from China ended with the production of equally fine wares in late 18th-century England. This plate is part of the famous Hope Service, made in 1792 for the Duke of Clarence, son of George III.  A classical figure symbolizing Hope painted in grisaille is surrounded by a gilt blue border.

Staffordshire and nearby counties in the north of England became the center of the mass production of attractive pottery, an industry of international significance from 1750.  This lead-glazed cream-colored earthenware resembled porcelain in its light weight and variety of colors. As it was much less expensive to produce, vast numbers of ornamental objects and dinner services were made for a broad domestic and foreign market;.  Josiah Wedgwood led the way in this important development, although rival factories were soon established. 

This large blue and white jug is an example of some of the interesting pieces produced in the Staffordshire potteries.  Inscribed Tracey for ever at Ombersly Court, it was produced as a political advertisement to galvanize support among the estate workers at Ombersley Court near Worcester for the election of Robert Tracey to Parliament in 1761.  The effort proved futile, however, as Tracey lost the election.

This plate made in China for the European market was painted with "The Judgment of Paris" from Greek mythology, the most popular motif on Chinese porcelain derived from a European work of art.  The image is based on a painting by the 17th-century Fleming Peter Paul Rubens, whose work was highly regarded in 18th-century England, where he had worked for a time early in the previous century..

Although unmarked, this covered jar slip-decorated with dogwood blooms is typical of the work of the Nonconnah Pottery of Walter and Nellie Stephen in rural Shelby County, Tennessee at the beginning of the 20th century.  The attribution is supported by its having been acquired from the grandaughter of a close friend of Nellie Stephen, who was presented to her as a birthday gift the Nonconnah teapot that the Decorative Arts Trust purchased at the same time as this piece.

 Around 1896, Walter B. Stephen (187501961) moved with his parents from Nebraska to a farm south of Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, where he worked as a mason and stonecutter.  His mother Nellie (1857-1910), was a successful artist who had drawn illustrations for The Youth's Companion, and exhibited paintings at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897.

A neighbor who visited the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904 told the Stephen family about seeng fascinating demonstrations by a craftsman, probably George Ohr, throwing pots using a wheel.  Inspired by these accounts, Walter and his mother began to experiment with interesting multicolored clays recently discovered near the farm.  Walter Stephen made pieces using both molds and a wheel, and his mother decorated them with slip-painted botanical designs, animals, birds, and nostalgic scenes of covered wagons and Native Americans.  They soon developed a modest commercial operation, selling their pottery largely to friends and neighbors.  The Stephens adopted the Native American name of the nearby Nonconnah Creek for their ceramic enterprise.

Practically unrecognized until recently, the small body of surviving examples of Nonconnah pottery made between 1904 and 1910 is typical of the distinctive work of the Arts and Crafts movement in early-20th-century America.  Molded by Walter Stephen, this attractive teapot was decorated by Nellie Stephen with a light blue matt ground typical of her work.  White frost daisies with green leaves on brown stems are slip-painted on this ground in various levels of relief.  This naturalistic floral decoration circles the entire body of the teapot and extends onto the top and handle, unifying its different structural elements.

After his parents' deaths in 1910, Walter Stephen settled in North Carolina, where he established and operated the well-known Pisgah Forest Pottery until his death in 1961.

 Both tea and porcelain tea services were imported from China throughout the 18th century.  These pieces are part of a large and relatively complete porcelain service made in China for export to Europe in the last quarter of the 18th century.  Among the more than thirty pieces included are a teapot, cream pitcher, sugar bowl, milk pitcher, waste bowl, tea canister, spoon dish, and saurcers and cups in both the typical Chinese form without handles and the form with handles preferred in Europe.  Each piece is intricately handpainted with a central panel of colorful figures in a domestic setting surrounded by a vividly patterned contrasting frame.

This dish illustrates the scene from Vergil's Aeneid etc. etc.