| Biography/History: |
The ceramic manufacturing company, now known as Royal Doulton, was founded in 1815 in Vauxhall, London, first making utilitarian storage jars and tankards of salt glaze stoneware, then adding ceramic sewage pipes during Queen Victoria’s revolution in personal sanitation, and later producing bathroom ceramics. The company took the name Doulton & Co. in 1854, under John Doulton (1793-1873) and son Henry (1820-1897). In 1882 they opened a factory in the major English pottery center of Staffordshire at Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, that primarily produced fine bone china tableware and figurines. One of the first British makers of art pottery, Doulton began employing young London artists from the Lambeth School of Art in 1863; the artist(s) often incised their initials (and sometimes dates) on the bases of these unique pre-1882 pieces. 1870-1900 were the great years of Doulton’s art stoneware. The company also made architectural terracotta. Now expanded its production to include bone china tableware and figurines, in competition with Royal Crown Derby, Royal Worcester, Wedgewood, Spode and Minton. In 1901 King Edward VII awarded the Burslem factory the Royal Warrant, and the company mark changed to Royal Doulton. The Lambeth factory closed in 1956 due to clean air regulations prohibiting salt glaze production. Parts of the business were sold off at different times. Significant changes in corporate ownership occurred after 1971, with a Waterford Wedgewood takeover in 2005 and purchase by the Finnish company Fiskars Corp. in 2015. However, the brand is still in use. |