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Royal Copenhagen is launching a new children's service with roots in an exciting world of porcelain described in a new children's book.

What happens when we turn our backs on our possessions? Does porcelain have a secret life when we’re not looking? Shane Brox has spun a tale based on this idea in his book Masquerade, which introduces a new service from Royal Copenhagen for children and the young at heart.

In Masquerade well-known characters from Royal Copenhagen are brought to life as soon as granny leaves her cottage to go to a party. The gallant little seahorse from the Seagull service is the principal character and is surrounded by a cast that includes the dreamy polar bear, the motherly Blue Fluted plate and the cunning sneaking cat. They are all figurines and icons from Royal Copenhagen's 232-year-old treasury that have been brought to life by author and designer Shane Brox.

In granny’s absence the porcelain decides to hold a fancy dress party and the hunt for the best costume is on. The towers and spires of Copenhagen, swirling Royal Copenhagen patterns and beautiful, varied colours also make an appearance in Shane’s clever illustrations.

A children’s service with history

The book, which is published by Politikens Forlag, is accompanied by a children’s service in two versions, which Shane Brox has developed for Royal Copenhagen.

“The story is unique to Royal Copenhagen because only they have the heritage to provide strong personalities that can be fantasised about when the service is being used. Everyone has an opinion about the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory and its figurines, so it was great fun to be allowed to play about with the notion, give the porcelain human characteristics and make it all relevant to children,” Shane Brox explains.

Shane Brox has written other children’s books, including “Den Magiske Kogebog” (The Magic Cookbook) and “Lille Bussers Strabadser” (The Terrible Woes of Little Bogey), which was nominated for the 2007 Orla Prize in the children’s book category. He trained in design at the Kolding School of Arts and Crafts and worked as a designer for Levi Strauss Europe before concentrating full time on art and culture for children.

The children’s service is made up of three pieces: a plate, a deep plate and a cup in two different versions, one for boys and one for girls. It comes in beautiful packaging to match the book, which is published in both Danish and English

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For more details visit the Royal Copenhagen web site.