Information on the histories of UK potters and pottery manufacturers  from 1900 to the present day

Copyright © Michael Perry 2010

Royal Doulton

Doulton & Co. (Ltd), Lambeth

Doulton & Co. (Ltd), Burslem

Doulton Fine China Ltd

Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd)

Royal Doulton plc (1993–2005)

Company History

In 1815, John Doulton and John Watts became partners in a pottery at Vauxhall Walk, London, owned by a Mrs Martha Jones. Mrs Jones withdrew from the partnership in 1820 and the business continued as Doulton & Watts manufacturing domestic and industrial stoneware. The business moved to Lambeth High Street in 1826. John Doulton’s five sons joined the business and two, Henry and John Doulton II, also established separate businesses making sanitary ware and earthenware pipes. The business of Henry Doulton was established in 1846 adjacent to the Doulton & Watts business, but such was the demand for sanitary wares that he soon established factories in the English Midland at Dudley, Smethwick and Rowley Regis.

John Watts retired from the partnership in 1853 and the Doulton family consolidated their interests in Doulton & Watts, Henry Doulton’s glazed sanitary pipes and fittings business ‘Henry Doulton & Co.’ and the pipe-making business of John Doulton II. The new partnership was named Doulton & Co.

Doulton & Co. (Ltd), (1854–1993?)

Lambeth

Established in 1854, Doulton & Co. was first and foremost a manufacturer of industrial ceramics, including water filters, drainage pipes and sanitary fittings. In the early 1860s, however, the company began the manufacture of domestic and ornamental salt glazed stoneware that became known as 'Doulton Ware'. The nearby Lambeth School of Art became associated with the Doulton business from about the same time and Henry Doulton joined the Board of the School in 1863. Doulton & Co.'s decorative stoneware produced in association with the School of Art had enormous success at International Exhibitions in the 1860s and 1870s, culminating in acclaim at the Philadelphia Exhibition in 1886, and also at Chicago in 1893. By 1890, demand for the decorative stoneware had become so great that 350 designers and artists were employed in the Doulton & Co. Lambeth studios.

Demand for the intricately ornamented stoneware declined in the early 20th Century and, following the end of the First World War, Lambeth produced decorative stoneware reflecting more contemporary tastes. The studio was briefly revived in the 1950s under the direction of Agnet Hoy, but was closed in 1956. Lambeth remained the headquarters of Doulton & Co. Ltd until 1971 and the buildings were demolished in 1976.

Burslem

Henry and James Doulton purchased an interest in Pinder, Bourne & Co., manufacturers of domestic earthenware, sanitary fittings and electrical insulators at Nile St, Burslem, in 1877. The purchase following an approach from Shadford Pinder, the principle of the business, however, the partnership was not a success and in 1882 Pinder left the business which was then reconstituted under the name Doulton & Co., Burslem. Henry Doulton’s  only son, Henry Lewis Doulton entered the partnership in the same year.

Sir Henry Doulton died November 1897 and the business continued under the leadership of Henry Lewis Doulton. The business was incorporated in 1899 as Doulton & Co. Ltd with Henry Lewis Doulton as both the Chairman and Managing Director. The other founding Directors of Doulton & Co. Ltd were Ronald Duneau Doulton (a cousin), Benjamin Hannen, a builder, and William Turnbull, a china merchant.

Doulton was granted a Royal Warrant and right to use ‘Royal’ in the name of its products by King Edward VII  in 1901.

Henry Lewis Doulton remained as Managing Director until 1919 and as Chairman until 1925. He was succeeded in both positions by his nephew Lewis John Eric Hooper, who remained Chairman until 1955.

See Doulton’s proprietors for more information on the role of Sir Henry Doulton’s decendants in the management of the business.

Doulton Fine China Ltd (1956–1973?)

In January 1956 Doulton reorganised its operations into four subsidiaries, manufacturing sanitary wares, industrial porcelains, drainage pipes, and earthenware and fine china. The latter, the non-industrial ceramics business, became the responsibility of a new subsidiary company 'Doulton Fine China Ltd' registered in October 1955. The main products of the company were tableware, Doulton figurines and Doulton character jugs marketed under the Royal Doulton name.

Doulton was at the forefront of the consolidation of the UK ceramics industry during the 1960s taking over the businesses of Mintons Ltd and Dunn Bennett & Co. Ltd in 1968, and Webb Corbett Ltd (glass) and John Beswick Ltd in 1969. In November 1971 S. Pearson & Son Ltd, a member of the Pearson Group, and already owner of Allied English Potteries Ltd, acquired Doulton & Co. Ltd, merging the two groups under the Doulton name. Allied English Potteries Ltd was renamed Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd and became a subsidiary of Doulton & Co. Ltd responsible for the tableware and giftware businesses of both groups. Doulton & Co. Ltd continued to operate as the holding company for Pearson's ceramics interests until the float of Royal Doulton plc in 1993.

Following the merger with Allied English Potteries Ltd in November 1971 the Doulton Fine China Ltd business became part of Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd. Use of the Doulton Fine China Ltd name continued to c.1973.

Doulton (Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd) (1973–1993)

S. Pearson & Son Ltd, a subsidiary of the Pearson industrial conglomerate led by Lord Cowdray, acquired Doulton & Co. Ltd (Royal Doulton) in November 1971. Pearson was already the owner of Allied English Potteries Ltd and the two groups merged their operations from July 1972. A note in Tableware International in August 1972 (Vol 2, page 66) states that "Allied English Potteries will become a subsidiary of Doulton and its name will be changed to Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd".

From January 1973 Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd became custodian of the tableware and giftware assets of the two groups including the Royal Doulton, Minton, Beswick, Dunn Bennett, Booths, Colclough, Royal Albert, Royal Crown Derby, Paragon, Ridgway, Queen Anne, Royal Adderley and Royal Adderley Floral names, and their vast manufacturing operations. The company also held the 50 Lawleys china and glass retail stores inherited from Allied English Potteries. Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd was a subsidiary of Doulton & Co. Ltd, itself a subsidiary of the Pearson Group. The name was in use until at least 1983 and probably until the float of Royal Doulton plc in 1993. See the entries for the individual companies for further details.

Doulton (Royal Doulton plc) 1993-2005

The tableware manufacturing interests of Pearson plc (S. Pearson & Son Ltd pre-1984) trading under the Royal Doulton name were floated on the London Stock Exchange in December 1993 as part of a rationalisation of the Pearson Group's industrial interests. The new, independent company was named ‘Royal Doulton plc’.

The new public company, Royal Doulton plc acquired Holland Studio Craft, a maker of resin sculptures, and art glass maker Caithness Glass in 1996. However, despite these acquisitions, Royal Doulton made substantial losses in 1997, 1998 and 1999 leading to the sale of Royal Crown Derby Ltd to a management-led group in early 2000, and the sale of Caithness Glass to Royal Worcester Spode Ltd in 2001. Despite substantial rationalisation, losses continued and in March 2002 Doulton announced the closure of its historic Baddeley Green factory and the transfer of production of ‘Royal Albert’ to Indonesia. The closure of the Beswick Gold St Works in Longton was announced in September 2002 and both factories ceased production in December 2002. In March 2004 the company announced that its only remaining UK factory, the famous Nile St premises in Burslem, would also close.

Waterford Wedgwood who had purchased 15% of Doulton's shares in 1999 increased its stake to 21% in 2002 and completed a £39.9 million takeover of Royal Doulton plc in February 2005. On the 15th April 2005 production at the historic Nile Street site ceased and production of the Royal Doulton, Minton and Royal Albert brands was transferred to factories of the Waterford Wedgwood group.

See the Royal Doulton timeline for chronological view of the company’s history

Products

The products of the Doulton businesses were vast, exceptionally diverse, and are widely collected. The major products are listed below, and in most cases there are specialist publications dealing with each group.

Charles Noke joined Doulton in 1889 as a modeller and ceramic technologist and worked at the Nile St factory, acting as the company’s art director from 1914 to 1936. His contribution to Doulton’s success cannot be underestimated.

The major categories of Doulton wares are listed below and are covered in more detail here: Doulton wares

Lambeth stoneware

Burslem decorative porcelains

Art Ware

Series Ware

Commemoratives

Figurines

Character jugs/Toby jugs

Tableware

Children’s china (Bunnykins and Brambly Hedge)

English Translucent China (Fine China)

See Doulton wares a more detailed coverage these categories

Tradenames and backstamps

The 20th century Doulton mark of a lion and crown above the name Royal Doulton and '4D' symbol was introduced in late-1901 following issue of the Royal Warrant and has been used until recent times. 'Made in England' was part of the mark from about 1930. From 1922–1927 a mark lacking the crown was used although the presence of the standard mark on wares dated to this period suggest that both marks may have been used. There are numerous special Doulton marks on series ware and other special lines.

See ‘Doulton backstamps’ for more information on the Doulton backstamps

See ‘Dating Doulton Tableware’ for more information on dating Doulton wares.

Reference

Eyles, D. Royal Doulton 1815-1865. (Hutchinson of London, 1965).

Eyles, D. The Doulton Burslem Wares. Barrie & Jenkins, London, 1980).

Weblinks

royaldoulton.com / royal-doulton.com / royaldoulton.com.au

These are current (2010) Doulton websites and reflect Doulton brand positioning post-the sale of Waterford Wedgwood to new owners in early-2009.

doulton.org

A private site developed by Daniel Doulton, a member of the Doulton family. Contains links to the history of the Doulton businesses.

doultonpriceguide.com

A guide to the secondary market price of Doulton’s character and Toby jugs. There is also a book/price guide available through the site A Century of Royal Doulton Character & Toby Jugs by Stephen Mullins, David Fastenau and Louise Irvine.

royaldoultoncollectorsclub.com

Other URLs redirecting to this site include royaldoultonassociation.com, royaldoultonnews.com, royaldoultonantiques.com, royaldoultonblog.com, royaldoultonsalesdepot.com.  

The official Doulton International Collectors Club was dissolved in 2008.  Make your own judgement on the value of these sites.

 

© Mike Perry 2010