Milk jug from the Savoy Hotel dinner service decorated with a linked fan pattern inspired by The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. Bone china by Royal Worcester

Bone china Royal Worcester milk jug from the Savoy Hotel dinner service, with a motif of linked fans around the body below the rim. The jug is stamped underglaze below with the Royal Worcester trademark and the details: 'Savoy Hotel London/ Royal Worcester Bone China/Made in England'

Bequeathed by Peter Parker

This jug would have been acquired by Peter Parker, who bequeathed to the museum, for his Gilbert and Sullivan collection that augmented the collection he inherited from his father Stanley Parker who was employed by the Savoy Hotel as a junior clerk in May 1909, straight from school. From that job, on the death of Helen D'Oyly Carte in 1913, he was chosen by Rupert D'Oyly Carte to understudy Mr George A. Richardson who managed the theatre from November 1911 to February 1915.

In 1913 Stanley Parker became Rupert D'Oyly Carte's private scretary, and later Bridget D'Oyly Carte's private secretary, also secretary of both the Savoy Theatre Ltd., and the Opera Company. He worked for the company until his death in 1960. Peter Parker, who died in 2018, continued his father's lifelong interest in the D'Oyly Carte family and the D'Oyly Carte and became president of the London Gilbert & Sullivan Society and a committee member of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Sussex.

The Savoy Hotel was opened in 1899 by the music agent, theatrical impresario and hotelier Richard D'Oyly Carte (1844-1901) on the site adjoining the Savoy Theatre that he opened in 1881. Several of the immensely popular operas written by Gilbert and Sullivan were originally produced at the theatre, so it was fitting that the Royal Worcester Savoy Hotel dinner service was decorated with characters from the operas. This plate is part of the service that would have been commissioned for use at the hotel.

Royal Worcester was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest English porcelain brand still in existence today. After a merger with Spode in 1976, production moved from Worcester to Stoke on Trent. Part of the Portmeirion Group since 2009, Royal Worcester remains in the luxury tableware and giftware market, and has produced tableware for other prestigious London hotels including The Dorchester, Claridge's Hotel and The Ritz.

S.1089-2021