Royal Doulton Cobalt

The redoubtable British ceramics maker Royal Doulton has long embraced popular tastes and enjoys a devoted following among aficionados of English pottery. Some are drawn to the company’s intricately decorated bone china dinner services; others are passionate collectors of Royal Doulton’s artfully hand-painted figurines, vases and bowls.

When founded by John Doulton, Martha Jones and John Watts in 1815, in the Lambeth section of suburban London, the manufacturer produced bottles and other storage containers and even sewer pipes in stoneware, a cheap but durable cousin of porcelain. Amid the Victorian era’s rising concern for hygiene, food safety and sanitation, the company flourished. During the late 1850s — having rebranded as Doulton & Watts and then Doulton and Co. — the firm was colloquially referred to as Doulton Ware. And in the late 1870s, it expanded its business into the applied arts.

The firm took over a factory in Staffordshire, in northern England — the traditional home of British ceramics manufacturing — to produce tableware. Around the same time, Doulton opened an art pottery studio in Lambeth, where vases, urns and other forms were decorated with painted scenic images, flowers or historical motifs. 

Taking a cue from the venerable Meissen porcelain workshops in Germany, Doulton artisans began crafting figurines modeled on characters from literature and theater. The firm also helped popularize Toby Jugs and other “character mugs” — handled cups shaped as the heads of figures from folklore and popular culture. Doulton purchased a factory in Burslem in 1882, and King Edward VII granted the factory his Royal Warrant in 1901.

Royal Doulton china will always make an elegant yet not-too-formal appearance in a traditional table setting. Prices for dinner services vary according to size, age and condition, but generally range from $2,000 to $15,000. 

Authentic Royal Doulton art pottery might be used by some as a bright decorative note; others collect the company’s figurines with the same interest and dedication as stamp and coin enthusiasts. A typical Toby Jug might fetch $50, while very rare figurines can sell for $7,000. Most of the finest Royal Doulton art pottery pieces sell for around $500. 

As you will see on these pages, few decorative-arts companies are as aesthetically and stylistically diverse as Royal Doulton. The firm truly offers something for everyone.

Find Royal Doulton figurines, plates, vases and other collectibles for sale on 1stDibs.

Set the mood when you’re setting the table. The right antique and vintage dinner plates for the meals in your home can truly elevate the dining experience.

We haven’t had our own plate at dinner for very long. It wasn’t until the middle of the 19th century in Europe that individual dinner plates had become the norm, replacing the platters that diners had shared before them. Innovations at the dining table are believed to have been introduced by Italian noblewoman Catherine de’ Medici, who, when she married King Henry II of France in 1533, brought with her decorative table adornments for meals and fine tableware such as silver forks, replacing the fingers and knives utilized during dinner before her arrival. Italy was a bit faster on table settings, and, thanks to Catherine, tableware such as dinner plates would also replace the wooden trenchers and flat slabs of days-old bread that preceded them.

Today, while enthusiasts of mid-century modern furnishings might pine for vintage mismatched dinner plates — a mix of old and new can be refreshing — presenting ceramic vessels, glassware and decorative centerpieces that matched was once actually part of the point as setting the table became more refined during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And as Fornasetti dinner plates and Chinese porcelain tableware have long held weight as collector’s items and status symbols, your dinner dishes haven’t ever really been merely functional. From antique metal dishes and ornamental earthenware designed by celebrated English ceramics makers Wedgwood, dinner plates are statement-making works that bring elegance and likely stir conversation at your table.

Entertaining is an art form, and the kitchen bar island and dining room table in your space are cherished gathering places where families and friends convene and grow closer over good meals. Browse an extensive collection of antique and vintage dinner plates to pair with these important events today on 1stDibs.