Large Royal Worcester Vitreous China Lidded Soup Tureen & Stand Blue Willow pattern B735 with gilded elephant & bird head handles antique circa 1904

A large, very stylish, highly useable, good quality decorative antique Royal Worcester Vitreous China lidded soup tureen and stand. All three items have been transfer printed in a light coloured blue with the Willow pattern number B735, as painted on the base of the tureen and lid in iron red enamel.

The footed rounded rectangular shaped tureen has gilded elephant head handles to the ends and the lid has an unusual Chinese inspired gilded bird foot and duck head central handle. There is a manufactured slot in the side of the lid for a soup ladle.  It was possibly modelled by James Hadley and based on examples from the Oriental ceramics collection of the Art Director Richard William Binns of the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company. 

This is an extremely decorative and very attractive antique example of Aesthetic movement pottery, in the Japonesque taste of the late mid 19th century Victorian period. From the famous Worcester Royal Porcelain Company manufactory, in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. The company is more often known as Royal Worcester. The base of the stand is marked with their standard printed crowned mark. The tureen and lid have the dotted mark date codes for 1904. The stand which may be a later replacement has a date code for 1909.

We presume that this was either supplied to a large house, restaurant or hotel.The tureen has a maximum capacity of six pints or 3.4 litres enough for about 12 average servings.

The stand and soup tureen base are in excellent antique condition, the lid has a large chip to the locating lip, which does not affect its use nor is it visible when it is in place, there is also a tight crack to the left stem of the lid handle.  There is some wear to the gilding on all the handles from use and some minor fritting to the glaze on the lid. The well in the stand is an oval shape which differs slightly from the shape of the foot of the tureen. Please see the images. 

A great example for a collector of antique Royal Worcester ceramics, blue and white transferware, willow pattern, oriental inspired ceramics or for those who would like to use a large and impressive looking soup tureen. The stand could also be used as a meat platter.

Stand or Platter date code 1908
Overall Height 1 1/8 inches ( 2.8 cm)
Length 16 1/8 inches ( 41 cm)
Width 12 1/4 inches ( 31.0 cm)
Weight 1.306 kg unpacked

Tureen and Lid date code 1904
Overall Height on stand 10 inches ( 25.4 cm)
Overall Height 9 7/16 inches ( 24 cm)
Length 15 5/8 inches ( 39.6 cm)
Width 8 1/4 inches ( 20.9 cm)
Weight 3.577 kg unpacked

Total Weight 4.883 kg unpacked