Plymouth porcelain project

Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery is currently working on a project to explore its Plymouth porcelain collection in more depth.

The museum holds the largest public collection of Plymouth porcelain, the first factory to produce hard-paste porcelain in England. William Cookworthy of Kingsbridge, Devon discovered China clay in Cornwall in 1748. Twenty years later he obtained a patent for the manufacture of porcelain and started his factory in 1768. The factory ran for two years, until 1770, producing a wide range of porcelain from domestic tablewares to decorative centrepieces. In 1770, the factory was transferred to Bristol under the leadership of Richard Champion, eventually closing in 1781.

Find out more

To find out more about Plymouth porcelain why not visit our MP3 free downloads page, or download the free information sheets below?

An introduction to Cookworthy and Plymouth Porcelain [2MB]

Plymouth Porcelain collection overview [81KB]

Key Plymouth Porcelain pieces [638KB]

Identifying Plymouth Porcelain [1MB]