Doulton’s 1933 tribute to William Wordsworth (1770-1850), produced to commemorate his being made poet laureate, is among the most rare of the Loving Cups and Jugs first produced by Doulton in the 1930’s. The range of Loving Cups and Jugs was the brainchild of Charles Noke, Doulton’s famous Art Director at their Nile Street studios.

The enduring popularity of Doulton’s Limited Edition Loving Cups and Jugs lies in the quality and decoration afforded to each by Doulton’s leading artists. No attention to detail was spared and even the bases of these jugs are an art work in themselves! 

  
The Wordsworth Loving Cup was modelled by Noke himself and it bears his signature to the body. The cup features a portrait of the poet below a view of Grasmere Church, his final resting place, around the rim and on the other side a portrait of his sister Dorothy below Dove cottage, her home that he once shared. Both locations can be found in Grasmere in the Lake District in the UK. 

  
Wordsworth is forever remembered for his beautiful poetry and among his admirers was one Henry Doulton, who after meeting Wordsworth commented that the latter was the most ‘…potent force in the poetry of the 19th Century…’.