All the way to Derby

The original lid was replaced by the Crown Derby Porcelain Factory, using metal and porcelain. Around 25 ceramic factories were active in late seventeenth-century England, from Liverpool to Lowestoft. Derby was not the most convenient choice for the Ladies of Llangollen in terms of distance, as North Wales is a hundred miles away from Derbyshire. However, the Derby factory reflected their aesthetic taste and identity as aristocrats. A contemporary nobleman described the porcelain produced at Derby as follows: “much of this china can only have been bought by the very wealthy”. Derby was even identified by the royal family as “Crown Derby” in the 1770s, and was famous for producing fine china and for landscape paintings on porcelain, especially in the closing decades of the eighteenth century (fig. 11). As a result, when some parts of the set were in need of replacement , the Ladies probably made a conscious choice for the Derby factory. The replacement lid was well-glazed, painted, and gilded. Choosing “Crown Derby” for their customized porcelain thus reflects the Ladies’ wealth, their taste in art, and their identity as upper-class aristocrats.