Royal Albert Gossamer 1950

Generally I'm not a lover of Royal Albert China as I find the patterns too fussy as are many of the shapes- which is what attracts many collectors to it in the first place. Its quality is undoubted though - it is incredibly hard bone china that never seems to crack or craze. Most of the designs have a very English "cottage garden" or "romantic" quality to them. The designs however do change with the times, and  have been adapted and updated through periods of fashion from 1896 until the present day.

There are two Royal Albert patterns which I like for their simplicity and finesse. One is "Safari" and the other "Gossamer".  The Gossamer pattern was introduced by Royal Albert in 1950. The simple "smooth" shape suits the design and it all works well. Another of the shapes in this pattern "Lyric" I find too Baroque and fussy. Gossamer continued on into the 1970's in various shapes, and there is quite a nice mug design in Gossamer from the 1970's.

The photographs here are of Cup, Saucer and Plate trios all from the 1950's, in the "simple" shape. The design was produced in 6 colours - Blue, Grey, Green, Pink, Yellow, Orange. I quite like it when the pieces are interchanged to make it more interesting.