Royal Doulton
The Royal Doulton Company was an English stoneware company set up in 1815 and is still in existence today producing tableware, giftware, porcelain, jewellery, glassware, collectables, linens, curtains and lighting.
The company started as a partnership between John Doulton, John Watts and Martha Jones who set up a pottery factory in Vauxhall, London. At this stage they specialised in making salt glazed sewer pipes and decorative bottles. Martha Jones left in 1820 and the company became Doulton & Co after John Watts retired in 1853.
Henry Doulton expanded the company and by 1877 had set up three factories in St. Helens, Rowley Regis and Smethwick to make industrial, sanitary and architectural products. He then went on to invest in Pinder, Bourne & Co, an earthenware factory in Burslem in The Potteries which produced medium-quality wares. In the next ten years he enlarged the factory three times including building a china works and employed the largest and most talented group of artists in the Potteries, which had Doulton develop the reputation for artistry and craftsmanship that Royal Doulton still enjoys today.
It was also during this time under the artistic direction of John Slater that they extended their range to figurines, character jugs, vases and other decorative pieces designed by Leslie Harradine. This brought them to the attention of the Royal family and in 1901 they were awarded a Royal Warrant enabling them to become ‘Royal Doulton’ and adopt new markings.
The company flourished and it was taken over in 1971 by the Pearson industrial conglomerate, who also owned Allied English Potteries. These two firms were merged and all their brands were consolidated under a subsidiary of Doulton & Co. They became a public company in 1993 and were then taken over by Waterford Wedgwood in 2005.
Things got difficult in 2009 and some of the Waterford Wedgwood companies went into administration. Royal Doulton survived and in 2015 Fiskars, a Finnish maker of home products acquired 100% of Royal Doulton’s parent company WWRD. Fiskars now own the brands of Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Royal Albert and Rogaska.