Anyone who knows anything at all about glassware has heard the name Royal Doulton, Royal Albert and knows the beautiful china and glassware, as well as the quality that goes along with the name.

Most of us however aren’t aware that the company has been in existence for nearly 200 years and that there are still some breathtaking, albeit expensive tokens of that pre-Royal Doulton company left to be collected.

Doulton served an apprenticeship in Lambeth, on the south bank of the Thames River, in a pottery business that was owned by Martha Jones. In 1815, Jones asked Doulton and another employee, John Watts, to become her partner and the three people founded a business called Jones, Watts and Doulton.

They produced what was then largely utilitarian salt glazed and stoneware ceramics but in time expanded what they made to include mugs and jugs modeled in the shape of people, most noteably  Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington.
They also produced bottles for beer, pots for ointments and it is said that as a child laborer Charles Dickens pasted labels on them.

The most central product of  Royal Doulton, one which made the company what it became,  was the Toby jug, or beverage mug, first produced in the early 18th century.

This jug was designed to represent a male figure who was seated and smiling, with the spouts  that were placed on either side of the mug’s rim making up the points on the character’s tricorn hat.

Doulton then became well known for its attention to detail when it produced figurines and  Doulton became known for the quality and attention to detail of its figurines and John Doulton
made a flask depicting Queen Caroline around 1820.

In the Exhibition of 1851, John Doultons glassware won a medal and has since won more than 200 awards for the beauty and quality of their glassware, pottery and china.

Pieces that were made by the Doultonware company include salt glaze pieces, terra cotta plaques which were fashioned by George Tinworth, as well as figurines which are prized collectibles today. They are highly prized by collectors and are quite expensive when you do find them.

You are advised to check carefully when or if you do find a piece of original Doultonware to be sure that what you have is original.