Royal Albert "Gossamer" Bone China Trio Set for 6

Royal Albert began in 1896, when Thomas Clark Wild bought a small factory in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, called the Albert Works. Within a year the young company had already made its name producing commemorative bone china for Queen Victoria's 1897 Diamond Jubilee — a strong first outing for a business barely twelve months old.

Gossamer, produced from 1983 to 1986, is a marbleised, mottled finish that's a world away from the florals the brand became famous for — proof the company was still willing to experiment nearly a century after Wild first opened the doors. This complete 18-piece trio set for six, in the soft grey/blue colourway, is a genuinely harder find than the odd surviving cup or saucer.