Royal Albert | Old English Rose-Style | Tea Trio | Bone China | England | Mid-20th Century

Royal Albert | Old English Rose-Style | Tea Trio | Bone China | England | Mid-20th Century

The roses are large enough to fill the cup before the tea does — which is, in a way, the entire point.

Royal Albert grew from Thomas C. Wild's Longton pottery business; the Royal Albert name was in use by around 1904, and the firm is associated with the Albert Works and later the St Mary's Works. The black crown backstamp reads "Royal Albert Bone China England", a wording used from about 1935; with the Avon shape and the style of decoration, this points to a mid-twentieth-century date. The Avon shape is distinguished by its generous, rounded bowl, scalloped rim and scrolled gilt handle. The heavily gilded treatment, with brushed gold applied across the full border of the cup, saucer and tea plate, is characteristic of the more opulent decorative register of Royal Albert's mid-century production. The decoration is closely related in style to Royal Albert’s Old English Rose pattern, with large-headed roses in deep crimson and soft pink, green foliage and a continuous floral garland. The pattern name does not appear on this example’s backstamp.

The cup is of the Avon form, with a broad, well-balanced bowl, a deeply scalloped gilt rim, and a fully gilded handle. A wide brushed gilt band defines the upper exterior and continues along the interior rim. The saucer and tea plate mirror this treatment, each carrying the same rose garland set within broad, fully brushed gilt borders that extend across the entire rim. The three pieces present as a cohesive and richly decorated set.

The trio is in very good condition. The cup has a small nick with material loss to the outer edge of the foot rim, consistent with age and handling. The tea plate shows slight rubbing to the gilt at the rim, detectable on close inspection. The cup and saucer are otherwise free from chips, cracks, or crazing, and the gilding is sound throughout both.

Collector Appeal

The Avon shape, the black crown mark and the broad brushed gilt borders across all three pieces give this trio a particularly decorative finish.

Key Details

• Maker: Royal Albert
• Pattern: Old English Rose-style (pattern name absent from backstamp)
• Form: Tea trio — cup, saucer and tea plate
• Shape: Avon
• Material: Bone china
• Weight: 417 g
• Backstamp: Black crown — Royal Albert Bone China England (wording used from c.1935)
• Condition: Very good; small nick to foot rim of cup; slight gilt rubbing to tea plate rim on close inspection

An Avon shape, a heavy hand with the gold, and roses that have not faded in seventy years — the things that distinguish a piece are rarely the things it was made to show off.