Object of the Day: Parian Busts of King George V and Queen Mary, 1911

Two years ago, I showed you a new addition to my collection of Royal memorabilia.  The pair of sculptures is still particularly exciting to me. I found these beautiful parian busts commemorating the 1911 coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.  Since I purchased these century-old busts as my way of commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1911 coronation, I thought today, I'd show them to you again on the day after the 102nd anniversary.

The King and Queen are beautifully rendered in parian by the Arcadian China Co. They rest on bases which have been glazed and enameled in the colors of the Union Jack. Each base bears the birth date of the respective Royal and the reverse of the King’s base states the date of his accession.

The likenesses are uncannily good—difficult to do in soft-paste porcelain. And, in short, I just love them.