In the mid nineteenth century, a number of porcelain manufacturers were trying to develop a middle-class substitute for the white marble portrait busts that decorated the homes of the rich. Parian porcelain, so called after the marble from the Greek island of Paros, was the result. It became a status symbol in its time and is still highly regarded. Parian portrait busts and other depictions of personalities and events provide a mantelpiece history of the Victorian and Edwardian periods. This book relates in a concise form the details of the invention, development and manufacture of Parian and places it in a historical perspective.