Royal Worcester Blush Ivory vase and cover

Royal Worcester - 1902
 
Dating from 1902, with its delicate floral painting to designs by Edward Raby and elegant gilt top, this vase blends the Art Nouveau roots of the decoration with the new neo classical taste of Edwardian Britain. The slender neck with gilt detailisng and the foliate handles echo classical vases from Ancient Greece and Rome.
 
At the turn of the 20th century, Blush Ivory had become so popular Royal Worcester expanded its range of shapes featuring the decoration to include classical style vases. Royal Worcester were so proud of Blush decoration, originally created to look like the surface of ivory or shells, they took imitators to court in order to protect their creation.

Blush decoration was very expensive to produce and required a mixture of tinted glazes, apricot ground colours and 22 ct gold. In total any blush piece has been fired at least 5 times! 
Royal Worcester ceased making blush ware around 1914 making it a particularly special and short lived decorative technique.