Royal
Doulton Company - (en)
The Royal Doulton Company is one of the world-renowned English
companies producing tableware and collectables, with a history dating
back to 1815. Operating originally in London, its reputation grew in
the area known as The Potteries, where it was a relative latecomer
compared to other leading names such as Spode, Wedgwood and Minton.
Today, its products include dinnerware, giftware, cookware, porcelain,
glassware, collectables, jewellery, linens, curtains, and lighting,
among other items.
Its three key brands are Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, and Minton.
Together, the three brands make up Doulton Home, which is now part of
the Waterford Wedgwood group. Most of the pieces in these three brands
are manufactured outside the United Kingdom, in the Far East and
Indonesia.
The Royal Doulton Company began as a partnership between John Doulton,
Martha Jones, and John Watts, with a factory at Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth,
and London. The business specialized in making stoneware articles,
including decorative bottles and salt glaze sewer pipes. The company
took the name Doulton in 1853.
By 1871, Henry Doulton, John’s son, had launched a studio at the
Lambeth pottery, and offered work to designers and artists from a
local art school. Their names included the Barlow family (Florence,
Hannah, and Arthur), Frank Butler, Mark Marshall, Eliza Simmance, and
George Tinworth. Then in 1882, Doulton purchased the small factory of
Pinder, Bourne & Co, at Nile Street in Burslem, Staffordshire,
which placed Doulton in the region known as The Potteries.
By this time Doulton had become one of the most popular brands of
stoneware and ceramics, under the artistic direction of John Slater,
who worked across a wide variety of figurines, vases, character jugs,
and decorative pieces. Doulton products also came to the attention of
the Royal family. In 1901 King Edward VII granted the Burslem factory
the Royal Warrant, which allowed the business to adopt new markings
and a new name, Royal Doulton. The company continued to add products
during the first half of the 20th century while retaining its
reputation as a prime manufacturer of fashionable and high-quality
bone china.
The Lambeth factory closed in 1956 due to new clean air regulations
that prevented the production of saltglaze in the urban environment.
Following closure, all work was transferred to The Potteries.
On September 30, 2005, the Nile Street factory closed after being sold
to developers. Higher-quality items are now made at the home of parent
company Waterford Wedgwood in Barlaston, in the countryside south of
the Potteries Conurbation. Almost all other Doulton pieces are made in
Indonesia, although there is a move to return production to England.
