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Runnymede sets pink shells and a floral center within bands of gold and dark blue. Catherine the Great ordered her Frog Service from its maker, Wedgwood, in 1773. Read its story.
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Work on that commission was finished in 1774, and it is said that each piece carries a green frog. Wedgwood turned to nature again for Runnymede, whose shells look like keepsakes gathered on a shore.
Its character is crisp and assured, set on a clean white ground that gives each motif room to breathe. Dark blue bands and trims hold the design steady, with gold bands running beside them, and a floral center blooms at its heart. The effect is polished and formal, very much a classic English table.
Footed cups rise on neat feet beside their saucers. Laid out in English fine bone china, the full service lends the table a breath of the seaside, a cheerful warmth for long dinners with family and friends.
Wedgwood was born of one man's ambition. In 1759 Josiah Wedgwood opened his works in Burslem, in the heart of Staffordshire. He soon bought a great estate and renamed it Etruria, making it both his home and his factory, the place where English earthenware would be raised into an art.
Royalty soon took notice. After Wedgwood supplied Queen Charlotte, she gave permission to call its cream-colored ware Queen's Ware. Catherine the Great commissioned the Frog Service. The storied English house went on to create Jasperware in the spirit of ancient cameo glass.
That royal favor carried into modern times. In 1995 Queen Elizabeth II granted Wedgwood a Royal Warrant. At Barlaston, the World of Wedgwood is home to the house's treasures, in the collection of the V&A. Its wares now grace homes around the world, chosen by collectors with an eye for enduring craft. They know each piece bears a name once trusted by an empress and a queen.
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