Group    From 1815  To 2009

Royal Doulton / Doulton Potteries

Categories: Craft / Design, Industry

Ceramic manufacturing company. Began with a factory at Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth. Initially a partnership of John Doulton, Martha Jones, and John Watts, Jones left in 1820 leaving the company name as Doulton & Watts. John Watts retired and in 1853 the company became Doulton & Co. It was Henry Doulton who introduced art ceramics into the business.

In 1907/8 Mary Watts asked Royal Doulton to make tiles for the Postman's Park memorial. We wondered if this indicated that John Watts was related to G. F. Watts and that explained the commission but we think not. By this time G. F. Watts was dead and Mary Watts was forced to find another maker because De Morgan had ceased making tiles. She never liked Doulton's tiles nor, apparently, her husband's family so it seems unlikely that she chose Doultons for any familial reason.

The brand still exists, owned by a conglomerate, but the company folded in 2009.

We cannot discover whether the John Watts of Doulton & Watts was related in any way to G. F. Watts.

Other work in London includes: A corridor in St Thomas's Hospital is decorated with a number of lovely large Doulton panels depicting nursery rhymes, presumably saved when a children's ward was demolished. Some of the decorative elements on the nearby Beaufoy Institute are probably by Doulton.

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Royal Doulton / Doulton Potteries

Creations i

Apollo Inn

An information board near an entrance to the gardens informs: "Euterpe the M...

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Doulton drinking fountain - Henry Fawcett

{It's highly probable that the fountain had a plaque commemorating Henry Fawc...

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Henry Doulton's pottery

Vauxhall History gives: "Doulton worked closely with the renowned Lambeth Sch...

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PP - 2A - Smith

This is a lovely plaque but the fireman's helmet on a plaque for a police con...

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PP - 2E - Ricketts

PC Harold Frank Ricketts, Metropolitan Police, drowned at Teignmouth whilst t...

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Other Subjects

Sulloniacae

Sulloniacae

Roman pottery, also called Sulloniacis. It is known only from an entry in the 'Antonine Itinerary', (a listing of routes and facilities in the Roman Empire). There is some doubt as to the authentic...

Place, Craft / Design, Romans

1 memorial
Omar Ramsden

Omar Ramsden

Silversmith.  Born Sheffield but spent some of his childhood in America.  Had studios in Chelsea and then Fulham, with a staff of up to 20.  He was a designer and businessman.  There's a suggestion...

Person, Craft / Design, Sculpture, USA

1 memorial
Mary Lowndes

Mary Lowndes

Artist, suffragette and founder of Artist Suffrage League in 1909. Born Dorset. Trained in stained-glass work. Lived and worked in Chelsea. The photo shows Lowndes in 1890.

Person, Art, Craft / Design, Gender Issues

1 memorial
Bernard Schmidt

Bernard Schmidt

Organ builder. Born Germany. Came to England in about 1660. Known as Father Smith.

Person, Craft / Design, Music / songs, Germany

1 memorial
Roger Payne
1 memorial