Doulton Lambeth

The Royal Doulton Company was an English manufacturer of tableware and collectibles. As the company was based in Lambeth, it is often inappropriately referred to as Doulton Lambeth.

The Royal Doulton Company traces it's roots to 1815, when the company began as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones and John Watts, with the starting of a factory at Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth, London. Doulton Lambeth was dedicated towards the production of stoneware articles like decorative bottles and salt glaze sewer pipes. In 1853, the company adopted the name Doulton. Doulton’s foray into chinaware began in the early 1870s. In 1871, Henry Doulton, John’s son, launched a studio at the Doulton Lambeth pottery, and started offering work to designers and artists from a local art school. In 1882, the company purchased the factory of Pinder, Bourne & Co, at Nile Street in Burslem, Staffordshire. This region was in those days referred to as "The Potteries". By the mid 1880s, Doulton had become one of the most popular brands of pottery, ceramics and stoneware. In 1901, King Edward VII granted the Burslem factory the Royal Warrant, and the company adopted the name Royal Doulton. The company’s Lambeth factory shut production in 1956, after which all production of Doulton Lambeth wares was transferred to the Nile Street factory, which also ceased production in 2005. The "Royal Doulton" brand is currently part of the Waterford Wedgwood group.