Royal Crown Derby*

I am currently doing research on this company.  I have been reading parts of a book written in 1863, I think, and it took the aurthor 3 years to complete his research on this company!

Below the pictures, is the beginning of what I have written so far.
The plate below was made in 1906, as is identified by the mark and the ^^ below the mark.  It is interesting to note that the products made by this company are easily identifieable, as is the age because of their marks.

This Royal Crown Derby plate was made in England.  I will write the history about this company ASAP!  Sorry for the inconvenience!

Very nice bright white porcelain and blue!

Very nice detailing on the edge of the plate!

The Royal Crown Derby mark. This mark was used from 1891-1921. The ^^ below the mark signified this plate was made in 1906.

This is the only plate in Suzanne's collection I have noticed with an impression in the porcelain.

The city of Derby is located about 40 miles from Stoke-on-Trent.

Much of what I have read about this company was written in 1862 or 1863 and is a little hard to interpret.  The author had done a very exhaustive research on all the companies up to a certain point, and he said that researching this companies history was his greatest accomplishment and it took him 3 years to complete.  Some the spelling looks a little strange, but some spelling is different from ours even though the pronunciation is the same.

The story about Royal Crown Derby starts with a man by the name of Andrew Planche.  He was from France and came to England to escape religious persecution….  I will write  a little history of this before I am finished.   He lived in a small house in Lodge Lane and modeled and made small items, mainly animals, such as dogs, cats, sheep, etc.  This was in 1750 or earlier, the exact dates are not known.  He fired his items in a pipe-makers ovens from the neighborhood by the name of Woodward  Also about this time, there were some pot works located on Cockpit Hill, which were later (perhaps) owned by a banker by the name of Alderman Heath.

Andrew Planche’s items attracted the attention of John Heath and a man by the name of William Duesbury.  A document was written naming the three men as equal partners and the Derby China Works was established.  This document was written and established on January 1, 1856.  It names Planche as a china maker and Duesbury as an enameler.  Other websites state that Duesbury was a wealthy English merchant and doesn’t mention John Heath as a partner.  The document stated that these three men were to remain partners for 10 years.

The above mentioned document was not signed, however, and it is apparently the last mention in the companies history of Andrew Planche.  The writer of the book titled “The Ceramic Art of Great Britain from Prehistoric Times Down to…”  did exhaustive research on this company.  He seems to think that Plache, although the real inspiration of the company, was taken advantage of by the other two partners and discarded.  Since the document between the three men was not signed, the 10 year agreement was not honored.  He also stated that Planche’s morals were not that great either, and had children by his wife and also a son from another woman within 4 months of the birth of his last child by his wife.  Since his morals were not that great, perhaps his business ability wasn’t suitable to the other partners either.  He does (or did in in 1862-1963 when this book was written) have proof that Planche was in Derby for at least eight years.

William Duesbury, an enameller from Longton (1725-1786), brought the company to it’s original great success.  He also bought the Chelsea Works in 1869.  Many fine patterns were made, and after the acquisition of the Chelsea factory, he became the largest manufacturer of porcelain in the United Kingdon.  He continued operating both companies for many years and I think he also purchased a company in Bow.

In 1773, Duesbury leased a building to house inventory of his Derby and Chelsea wares.  In 1784, the Chelsea factory was torn down and what wasn’t destroyed was sent to the Derby factory.  Reading the book on the history of this company was written in 1862 or 1863.  Some of it is a little hard to interpret.  It further mentions that Duesbury purchased the Bow business and owned the pottery at Peddlar’s Acre at Lambeth.

Many of Duesbury’s wares were sent to London, and I believe he owned a retail establishment there.  He also conducted many auctions there.  One such auction on May 10, 1771 lasted 5 days and items were listed in a brochure containing 32 pages and consisted of 529 lots.

A few months before his death in November, 1786, he took in his son William as a partner.  His son had been working for the company for many years, and was very well respected in every since.  His work to continue to advance the company was very well known.  Due to his reputation, the company continued to grow and soon was the most prominent and most prosperous in the kingdom.

Very prominent people, and Royalty such as the King and Queen of England, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Devonshire, just to name a few, purchased wares from the Derby factory.

About 1795, the health of William Duesbury II was wearing thin.  His constant work and attention to detail and business was beginning to take it’s toll.  He took as a partner, Michael Kean, an Irishman, who was a very skilled miniature painter.  His skill and design added even more to the products already produced.  His work, although it was supposed to help reduce some of stress of Duesbury, only added anxiety, and his mind gradually gave way.  William Duesbury II died in 1796.  Kean then managed the company for his widow, and later hey were married.  Together, they had five children.  Kean continued manage the company until William Duesbury III (1787-) took over the company.  He was the grandson of the founder.  In September of 1808, he was married to Annabella Sheffield, the daughter of William E. Sheffield, Esq.  For a time, the company was ran under the name of “Duesbury and Sheffield”.

In 1815, William III leased the company to Robert Bloor.  Bloor had been the clerk when his father ran the company.  For the first few years, he ran the company was great judgement and skill.  During the time the company was ran by the Duesbury’s, the family paid great attention to the quality of their products.  It was their utmost desire that nothing but the finest products were to leave their factory.  SO, all the seconds, any piece with the slightest imperfection, were stored in rooms at the factory and were not to be sold to anyone.  The stockpile of these not so perfect goods had accumulated with enormous extent.  Mr. Bloor had different plans!  Apparently, he was buying the factory, in installments because he had no funds to buy the company otherwise.  He looked at the large inventory of imperfect wares as a source capital to buy the factory.  He started taking them to nearby towns and also had sales at the factory.  One of these sales, in 1822, lasted for 25 days.  With the great reputation of producing some of the finest porcelain wares in the kingdom people were eager to purchase the products…  All the seconds were sold, no matter of their great imperfections.  Although this made large sums of money for Mr. Bloor, it produced long lasting bad effects.  With the temptation to continue to make large sums of money, the company started producing products for auction…  They were not concerned about quality at all, because they had the great reputation of the company name and could sell any and everything at auction!  Robert Bloor’s brother was working with him, mainly in mixing.  The two continued to run the company in this shoddy fashion until their health begin to deteriorate.  In 1828, they turned over management to a man named Thomason.

In 1845, Robert Bloor died and in 1846, his brother Joseph died.  The company was then passed to Thomas Clarke, who had married Robert Bloor’s grand-daughter.  Clark discontinued the work, and sold most of the models to Staffordshire manufacturers with the majority being sold to a Mr. Boyle.  This Mr. Boyle was the son on John Boyle, who for a short time before his death partnered with the Wedgewoods.  (The Wedgewoods are mentioned on one of the other pages in the blog, but I can’t remember which one right now…)  The factory dissolved in 1848 when a number of workers moved to Staffordshire and Worchestershire.

Many of the old workers who had been with the company for many years, and who families had been there since the companies founding, wanted the company to continue.  They pooled together their resources, and each had something valuable to offer.  They had worked in many areas of the company and opened the “Locker and CO.” in King Street on the site of the former St. Helens Nunnery and continued making Derby China.  It is odd, but the old china factory was torn down and the St. Marie nunnery was built, while the new china factory was built on the site of the old St. Helens nunnery…

THIS STORY IS NOT OVER!  I just had to take a break, but will finish ASAP!