Royal Doulton

Royal Doulton is one of the world's leading ceramic manufacturers of china tableware and collectable giftware. While it is best known today for its decorative figures, character jugs and nurseryware, its long and distinguished history reveals an even wider range of pottery production. The company was founded in 1815 in Lambeth, South-East London, by John Doulton. Under the control of his son, Sir Henry Doulton, it became the foremost manufacturer of drainpipes and sanitary ware in Victorian times. In the 1860s, Doulton established one of the country's first art studios, the Lambeth Art Pottery, whose salt-glazed stonewares became universally known as 'Doulton Ware'. In 1877, Doulton came to Burslem, 'mother town' of the North Staffordshire Potteries, and commenced manufacture of earthenware and, from 1884, bone china. Its early twentieth-century experimental glazed wares, particularly Rouge Flambe, are regarded as some of the best examples ever produced. The prolific output of the Burslem Studio's many talented artists, like that of their colleagues at Lambeth, earned a reputation for quality, diversity and technical innovation. This book is a concise outline of Royal Doulton's varied history and offers a general introduction to the wide range of Lambeth and Burslem wares.