made without handles in imitation of the oriental practice, but large,
two-handled covered cups for caudle, broth and chocolate were also made
during the early period. Many of these larger cups bore an embossed
pattern resembling a pine-cone, possibly imitated from a shape produced
at St Cloud; while openwork dishes, plates and fruit baskets were also
made in imitation of a popular Meissen fashion.

The method of decorating porcelain with transfer prints was introduced
at Worcester as early as 1756, when Robert Hancock, an engraver, came
from York House, Battersea, where the process was first employed for the
decoration of the Battersea enamels. The early Worcester prints
comprised portraits of celebrities of the time (the Frederick the Great
mug), or adaptations of the works of great artists such as Gainsborough
and Watteau, or copies of current engravings or sporting prints. The
first printing was done in black or purple, and transferred on to the
fired glaze, and it was not until about 1770 that the process of
printing in blue under the glaze was perfected. It is interesting to
note that for many years this process of transfer printing was developed
side by side with the older method of porcelain painting, and until the
end of the 18th century the processes appear to have been used at
Worcester quite independently. The closing of the Chelsea factory in
1770 led to the migration of some of the Chelsea painters to Worcester,
and from about that date a considerable amount of Worcester porcelain
was decorated on the glaze with enamel colours and gilding after the
styles that had been rendered popular at Chelsea and Bow. It is only
fair to remark, however, that the Worcester patterns are always
distinguished by a certain English character both in the style and the
workmanship (see example, Plate X.). The first and most artistic period
of Worcester porcelain came to an end before 1783, when, after the death
of Dr Wall, the works passed under the control of Thomas Flight and his
two sons, who had been jewellers. The Flight influence was soon
noticeable from the fact that the new shapes were more and more based on
those of Sevres and Meissen, while the decoration became more mechanical
and precise as befitted the work of jewellers rather than potters. King
George III. and Queen Charlotte visited the works in 1788 and bestowed
upon the firm the privilege of styling themselves "China Manufacturers
to Their Majesties," since wh