The Doulton factory was established in 1815 in Lambeth, South London by John Doulton (1793 - 1873), who had previously been employed at the nearby Fulham Pottery. He initially had two partners, Martha Jones and John Watts, the former of who left the company in 1820, and the latter in 1854.
He began by producing practical and decorative stoneware, such as bottles and sewer pipes from his small pottery
John's son Henry (1820 - 1897) joined the company in 1835 and the production of stoneware items was expanded to include laboratory articles, sanitary ware and drainpipes, which were sold worldwide.
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the mid 1850s John Doulton began experimenting with a more decorative pottery items. Many glazes and decorative effects were developed including faience, impasto, silicon, carrara, marqueterie, chine, and rouge flambe.
From about 1860, Doulton began to revive earlier types of stoneware, such as copies of 18th-century vessels. The famous salt-glazed wares with blue decoration first appeared in 1862.
Through Henry Doulton, the pottery became associated with the Lambeth School of Art directed by John Sparkes from about 1866.
He trained the sculptor George Tinworth who joined Doulton as the first resident sculptor in 1867. Tinworth enjoyed a long career at the Lambeth studio, producing a wide range of figures, vases, jugs, tankards and reliefs, as well as fountains and monumental sculptures.
The international popularity of the art pottery produced at Lambeth led to the number of art potters increasing from six in 1873 to 345 in 1890, including such famous names as Frank Butler, Eliza Simmance, Arthur Barlow and his sisters Hannah and Florence Barlow.
In 1877, Henry Doulton invested in Pinder, Bourne & Co., a pottery on Nile Street, Burslem, Staffordshire, to manufacture tableware and ornamental ware.
When Henry Doulton died in 1897, Henry's son Henry Lewis Doulton took over control of the company. The company continued to hire talented artists including the next art director Charles Noke, Harry Tittensor, Joseph Hancock, and many others.
The company was granted the Royal Warrant by Edward VII in 1901. Production continued at the Lambeth factory until 1956, after which Doulton concentrated on their activities at Burslem.
In the 1960s, the company made a series of acquisitions. In 1968 it purchased Minton China, a company founded in 1793, and Dunn Bennett, a company founded in 1876 manufacturing hotel ware. These were followed by Webb Corbett and Beswick in 1969.
In 1972 Pearson PLC purchased Doulton & Co. Pearson had a controlling interest in Allied English Potteries and combined the two tableware groups under the Royal Doulton Tableware name, but in 1993 Pearson returned the Doulton group to public ownership, and it was listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The company made further acquisitions in the 1990s but sales were stagnant and in 1997 the company was forced to restructure, cutting its workforce and range of products.
Losses continued despite further attempts to cut costs, including closing the Nile Street Burslem factory in 2005, and the company went administration in 2009.
It is now part of WWRD Holdings Ltd., the name being an acronym for the main components of the business: Waterford, Wedgwood and Royal Doulton
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Flambe glazes, termed "sang-de-boeuf" (ox blood) were in use by the Chinese from the 11th century, and the effect was achieved by using copper oxide as a colouring agent and firing the object in a reducing atmosphere.
The Chinese continued using these glazes; in the 18th century the red glaze was often slightly streaked, or included blue bleeds and these wares were prized by collectors in the 19th century.
European potters were not able to master the technique until the early 20th century. The Royal Doulton company employed the potter Bernard Moore, who had been experimenting with flambe
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glazes for many years, as a consultant.
In 1904 the company was able to produce its first flambe wares, and they were exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair in that year. As well as vases and bowls, around 1908 Doulton commenced producing animal figures with a flambe glaze and production of flambe wares continued during the 20th century. Over 2,000 different animal figures were produced over the years.
In 1920 Doulton under designer and artist Charles Noke, introduced "Sung" wares, which used a flambe glaze together with painted and gilt decoration. Various sized vases and bowls were painted with fish, birds or pixies over a background streaked with blue , yellow and green. Most of these pieces are signed by the artists of the time such as Harry Nixon and Arthur Eaton.
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