A pair of bone china commemorative vases, each of tapering decagonal form, surmounted by a cover with a crown finial. Each vase bears the emblems of the Commonwealth countries at the top, with a lower row of gilded niches housing the Queen's Beasts, with an inscription below. Each vase has a wooden base.

The modelling of the body of the vase took five months by Alan Moore, modeller at Mintons. Despite his 19 years of experience, the shape notoriously buckled in the kiln for many of the trials. The mould was made by George Heath of Mintons in plaster of Paris. There was difficulty extracting the vase from the mould because of the quantity of niches. The potted clay was dried slowly in room temperature. Three circular saggars were used to house each vase. The first biscuit firing was undertaken by Fred Arrowsmith, of over 50 years service at Mintons. Wedgwood specialists were brought in to advise on the distortion occuring to the shape.After two more firings and the spray application of the ivory ground glaze, floral emblems and coats-of-arms were printed from copperplates by the Mintons head engraver Frederick Ridgway, 48 years service. He spent an average of two days per week working on the individual emblems and described the creation of the United Kingdom and Scottish coats of arms as 'the most complicated task I have undertaken during my 48 years at Mintons'. The inscription on the base took six days to engrave and was applied by transfer printing. Gilding of the body was by William Key, 53 years service at Mintons.

John Wadsworth, designer, stated 'The idea came to me within ten minutes and the first drawing took only a week, but the vase itself is probably the most complicated design ever created in the history of bone china...This has been a wonderful opportunity to show the world that craftsmanship and craftsmen are still very much alive in the Potteries.' Other designers' work was considered, but Wadsworth as the art director and designer at Mintons, had the winning entry. The intention was to showcase the importance of the ceramics industry in England, both its history and its continuing importance both domestically and internationally.

From Pottery and Glass, July 1954, pp. 195-203.