Toilet Pot c. 1770

This toilet pot was produced by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company. It exemplifies how the decorative arts in England reflected the social and economic structures of its time. The blue and gold lattice work surrounding the floral cartouches speaks to the influence of French Rococo design, while the very existence of the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company reflects England's burgeoning Industrial Revolution and its colonial reach. Such delicate objects signal not only the refined tastes, but also the disposable income of the upper classes. To fully appreciate this toilet pot, one might examine company records, period inventories, and design pattern books. The meaning of art objects is never fixed, but always reliant on the social conditions of their making.