1.
Stoke-on-Trent
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Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles. Together with the boroughs of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands, it is part of North Staffordshire. Stoke is polycentric, having formed by a federation of six towns in the early 20th century. It took its name from Stoke-upon-Trent, where the town hall, Hanley is the primary commercial centre. The four other towns are Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent is the home of the pottery industry in England and is commonly known as the Potteries. Formerly a primarily industrial conurbation, it is now a centre for service industries, the name Stoke is taken from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent, the original ancient parish, with other settlements being chapelries. Stoke derives from the Old English stoc, a word that at first meant little more than place and these variant meanings included dairy farm, secondary or dependent place or farm, summer pasture, crossing place, meeting place and place of worship. It is not known which of these was intended here, because Stoke was such a common name for a settlement, some kind of distinguishing affix was usually added later, in this case the name of the river. The motto of Stoke-on-Trent is Vis Unita Fortior which can be translated as, United Strength is Stronger, or Strength United is the More Powerful and it was not until 1 April 1910 that the Six Towns were brought together. The county borough of Hanley, the boroughs of Burslem, Longton. The combined borough took the town of Stoke. In 1919, the borough proposed to further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. This never took place, due to objections from Newcastle Corporation. A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of the Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill, ultimately, Wolstanton was instead added to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1932. The borough was granted city status in 1925, with a Lord Mayor from 1928. The decision was overturned, however, when an approach was made to King George V. The public announcement of the elevation to city status was made by the King during a visit to Stoke on 4 June 1925, the county borough was abolished in 1974, and Stoke became a non-metropolitan district of Staffordshire. Its status as a unitary authority was restored on 1 April 1997, for Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region
2.
Henry Doulton
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Sir Henry Doulton was an English businessman, inventor and manufacturer of pottery, instrumental in developing the firm of Royal Doulton. Born in Vauxhall, Henry was the second of the eight children of John Doulton, a manufacturer, and his wife, Jane Duneau. His brother, Frederick Doulton, became Member of Parliament for Lambeth from 1862 until 1868 and his father had become a partner in a pottery business in 1815 but Henry was the most academic of his children. Henry spent two years at the University College School where he developed a love of literature. His father had thought Henry the least likely to join the business, perhaps being destined for a profession. One of the first results of his experiments was the production of good enamel glazes. In 1846 he initiated in Lambeth the pipe works, in which he superintended the manufacture of the drainage, in 1870 the manufacture of Art pottery was begun at Lambeth, using the skills of students from the Lambeth School of Art. The company exhibited at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, in 1877 works were opened at Burslem, where almost every variety of porcelain and earthenware has been produced. Works have since opened at Rowley Regis, Smethwick, St Helens, Paisley. After the Paris exhibition of 1878, Henry Doulton was made a Chevalier of the Légion dhonneur, on 12 August 1887, Doulton received the honour of a knighthood, a few years after he was awarded the Albert Medal by the Royal Society of Arts in 1885. He died at his residence,10 Queens Gate Gardens, London, on 17 November 1897, the business was turned into a joint-stock company in 1899. In 1849 he married Sarah, the daughter of Elizabeth and James Lewis Kennaby and they had three children, Sarah Lillian, Henry Lewis, and Katherine Duneau. His wife Sarah died in 1888, Sir Henry Doulton took an active interest, as almoner, in St Thomas Hospital. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Seccombe. Dictionary of National Biography,1901 supplement and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Doulton, Sir Henry. Sir Henry Doulton, Encyclopædia Britannica Clement, Alexander James, Royal Doulton, 1815–1965, The Rise and Expansion of the Royal Doulton Potteries. Royal Doulton Figures, Produced at Burslem, Staffordshire, c1890-1994, Sir Henry Doulton, The Man of Business as a Man of Imagination. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
3.
WWRD Group Holdings
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Waterford Wedgwood plc is the former holding entity for a group of companies, headquartered in Ireland, which specialized in the manufacture of high quality china, porcelain, and glass. The group was dominated by Tony OReilly and his family, and the family of Mr. OReillys second wife, Chryss. Its financial record had been mixed, and significant cost-cutting had been ongoing for many years, in 2009, parts of the Group, including the main Irish and UK operations, were placed in receivership and were acquired by the New York-based private equity firm KPS Capital Partners. Waterford Crystal, along with Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, and other brands, were transferred to the new company WWRD Holdings Ltd, the company was founded in 1987 through the merger of Waterford Crystal and Wedgwood, to create an Ireland-based luxury brands group. The firm traced its heritage to the 1780s, the group also licensed its brands to other companies. Sales for the year to 5 April 2008 were €671.8 million, losses were €231.1 million, up from €71.3 million in the previous year. On 2 April 2008, the CEO, Peter Cameron, resigned, operational costs were reduced, with around 4,000 jobs removed or in the process of being removed between early 2005 and late 2008. In October 2008, the fell to.001 euro cent. Union members organized and occupied the Dublin offices lobby and the Kilbarry Plant protesting the withdrawal of credit lines by The Bank of America and threatened 480 redundancies. Their aim, according to blogger, Fiona Harrington to either have the company nationalised,176 out of the threatened 480 jobs were saved, although the deal did not include the Waterford site. All resigning directors have also resigned from subsidiary boards, in a move that had begun under the previous owners, some 1,500 jobs were cut in the UK, leaving 800 workers in the UK producing only the high-end Wedgwood products. KPS Capital Partners has placed Wedgwood into a group of known as WWRD. The Fiskars Corporation, a Finnish maker of products, agreed to buy 100% of the holdings of WWRD May 11,2015 in a deal expected to close July 2015. On 2 July 2015 the acquisition of WWRD by Fiskars Corporation was completed including brands Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, the acquisition was approved by the US antitrust authorities. Waterford Goes Into Receivership as No Buyer Emerges
4.
Fiskars Corporation
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The Fiskars Corporation is a consumer goods company founded in 1649 in Fiskars Bruk, a locality now in the town of Raseborg, Finland, about 100 kilometres west of Helsinki. Fiskars global headquarters are located in the Arabianranta district of Helsinki, Fiskars is best known for its orange handled scissors, created in 1967. The company operates as a consumer goods company and has two strategic business units, SBU Living and SBU Functional. The Fiskars Corporation was formed in 1649 when a Dutch merchant named Peter Thorwöste was given a charter to establish a blast furnace, the furnace produced pig iron that was shingled to wrought iron in the finery forges powered by water wheels. In the early years, Fiskars made nails, wire, hoes, in the late eighteenth century, copper was discovered in nearby Orijärvi and thus the focus of production shifted to processing copper from the Orijärvi mine. For almost 80 years, Fiskars main source of business came from copper however, in 1822 the apothecary Johan Jacob Julin from Turku acquired the Fiskars ironworks and village. During this time the ironworks were actively developed and production focused on processing iron, in 1832 the first cutlery mill in Finland was founded in Fiskars with the production range increasing from knives to include forks and scissors. In 1915 Fiskars was listed at Helsinki Stock Exchange, in September 2015, Fiskars celebrated 100 years of being listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange along with Nokia, Wärtsilä and UPM. Fiskars is perhaps best known for its scissors and their distinct orange colored handles, the first pair was manufactured in 1967 and had prototypes with handles in black, red, green and orange. After an internal vote at Fiskars, the color was chosen. That same orange color, Fiskars Orange, was registered as a trademark in Finland in 2003. In 1977, Fiskars founded a factory in the United States to provide a basis for international trade. In 2007 Fiskars acquired both Iittala and Leborgne which strengthened the position in the kitchenware and table top categories as well as the garden tools business. The acquisition of Royal Copenhagen in 2013 complemented Fiskars tableware offering with hand-painted porcelain and strengthened the company in the Nordic countries and in Asia. In 2015, Fiskars acquired the WWRD group of companies and its portfolio of home and lifestyle brands. Fiskars Corporation is made up of two business units, SBU Living and SBU Functional. Fiskars’ three primary reporting segments are Living, Functional and Other, Fiskars Other-segment contains the Group’s investment portfolio, the real estate unit, corporate headquarters and shared services. In addition, Fiskars reports group-level net sales for three secondary reporting segments, Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, SBU Functional creates tools for use in and around the house and outdoors under brands such as Fiskars, Gerber, Gilmour and Leborgne
5.
Tableware
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Tableware is the dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining. It includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of objects according to culture, religion, number of diners, cuisine. For example, Middle Eastern, Indian or Polynesian food culture and cuisine sometimes limits tableware to serving dishes, special occasions are usually reflected in higher quality tableware. Sets of dishes are referred to as a service, dinner service or service set. Table settings or place settings are the dishes, cutlery and glassware used for formal and informal dining, in Ireland such items are normally referred to as delph, the word being an English language phonetic spelling of the word delft, the town from which so much delftware came. Silver service or butler service are methods for a butler or waiter to serve a meal, Setting the table refers to arranging the tableware, including individual place settings for each diner at the table as well as decorating the table itself in a manner suitable for the occasion. Tableware and table decoration is more elaborate for special occasions. Unusual dining locations demand tableware be adapted, dishes are usually made of ceramic materials such as earthenware, stoneware, faience, bone china or porcelain. However, they can be made of materials such as wood, pewter, silver, gold, glass. Before it was possible to purchase mass-produced tableware, it was fashioned from available materials, industrialisation and developments in ceramic manufacture made inexpensive washable tableware available. It is sold either by the piece or as a set for a number of diners, normally four, six, eight. Large quantities are purchased for use in restaurants, individual pieces, such as those needed as replacement pieces for broken dishes, can be procured from open stock inventory at shops, or from antique dealers if the pattern is no longer in production. Possession of tableware has to a large extent been determined by individual wealth, the greater the means, the higher was the quality of tableware that was owned and the more numerous its pieces. In the London of the 13th century, the more affluent citizens owned fine furniture and silver, while those of straiter means possessed only the simplest pottery and kitchen utensils. By the later 16th century, even the poorer citizens dined off pewter rather than wood and had plate, jars, the nobility often used their arms on heraldic china. Table decoration may be ephemeral and consist of items made from confectionery or wax - substances commonly employed in Roman banqueting tables of the 17th century, in modern times, ephemeral table decorations continue to be made from sugar or carved from ice. In wealthy countries such as 17th century France, table decorations for the aristocracy were made of silver
6.
Royal Crown Derby
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The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and it was known as Derby Porcelain until 1773, when it became Crown Derby, the Royal being added in 1890. The factory closed down in the past under Royal Doulton ownership, in 1745 André Planché, a Huguenot immigrant from Saxony, settled in Derby, where between 1747 and 1755 he made soft-paste porcelain vases and figurines. At the beginning of 1756 he formed a partnership with William Duesbury, a porcelain painter formerly at Chelsea porcelain factory and Longton Hall. Planché disappeared from the scene almost at once, and the business was developed by Duesbury and Heath, a talented entrepreneur, Duesbury developed a new body which contained glass frit, soapstone and calcined bone. This enabled the factory to begin producing high-quality tableware and he quickly established Derby as a leading manufacturer of dinner services and figurines by employing the best talents available for modelling and painting. Figure painting was done by Richard Askew, particularly skilled at painting cupids, zachariah Boreman and John Brewer painted landscapes, still lifes, and pastorals. Intricate floral patterns were designed and painted by William Billingsley, in 1770, Duesbury further increased the already high reputation of Derby by his acquisition of the famous Chelsea porcelain factory in London. He operated it on its site until 1784, when he demolished the buildings and transferred the assets, including the stock, patterns and moulds. Again, in 1776, he acquired the remainder of the formerly prestigious Bow porcelain factory and he seems not to have enjoyed good relations with the highly skilled workforce, and many eminent artists left. Others however produced good work under his management, including Moses Webster, the best-known artist of this time was William Pegg, a Quaker, famed for his striking and idiosyncratic flower painting. He started in 1797 but his religious beliefs led him to the conclusion that painting was sinful and he returned in 1813, but left again in 1820. Despite much good work, the Kean period was disruptive and the company suffered financially, in 1815, the factory was leased to the firms salesman and clerk, Robert Bloor, and the Duesburys played no further part in it. These designs proved extremely and lastingly popular, and Derby continued to thrive, in 1845, however, Bloor died, and after three years under Thomas Clarke, the Cockpit Works were sold and the factory closed in 1848. No mechanical processes were used, and no two pieces produced were exactly the same, among the items preserved was the original potters wheel of the Duesburys, still owned by the present Royal Derby Company. In 1877, a new factory was built by new owners of the Crown Derby name in Osmaston Road, Derby. Crown Derby’s patterns became popular during the late Victorian era, as their romantic. In 1890, Queen Victoria appointed Crown Derby to be Manufacturers of porcelain to Her Majesty, in 1935 Royal Crown Derby acquired the King Street factory, thus reuniting the two strands of the business
7.
Royal Worcester
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Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, established in 1751. Since 2009 part of the Portmeirion Group, Royal Worcester remains in the luxury tableware and giftware market, the early wares were soft-paste porcelain with bodies that contained soapstone. This places Worcester in a group of early English potteries including Caughley, in 1783, the factory was purchased by Thomas Flight—the former London sales agent for the concern—for £3,000. He let his two sons run the concern, with John Flight taking the role till his death in 1791. In 1788 George III, following a visit to the company, granted it a royal warrant, knowledge of this period is largely a result of the excellent diary that John Flight kept from 1785–1791. This is discussed in detail in Appendix III of Flight & Barr Worcester Porcelain by Henry Sandon, during this period, the factory was in poor repair. Production was limited to low-end patterns of mostly Blue and White porcelains after Chinese porcelain designs of the period and it was also pressured by competition from inexpensive Chinese export porcelain, and from Thomas Turner’s Caughley Factory. Martin Barr joined the firm as a partner in 1792, porcelains of this period are often identified by an incised capital B and, later, Thomas Flight died in 1800, leaving the factory in the hands of his son Joseph Flight and Martin Barr. Barr’s sons Martin Barr Jr. and George Barr were being prepared at that time to run the factory, in addition to the warrant granted by George III, royal warrants were also issued by the Prince of Wales in 1807, and the Princess of Wales in 1808. The factorys former site includes the independent Museum of Royal Worcester owned by the Dyson Perrins Museum Trust, the Museum houses the world’s largest collection of Worcester porcelain. Artists and designers who worked for the factory included Thomas Baxter, William Billingsley, John Stinton, David Bates, James Hadley, after the 1976 merger with Spode, and due to heavy competition from overseas, the production was switched to factories in Stoke and abroad. 100 staff were made redundant in 2003 and another 100 went in 2005, fifteen porcelain painters left the Severn Street factory on Friday 29 September 2006, together with 100 other workers. The last trading date for Royal Worcester was 14 June 2009, as Portmeirion Group has a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, the purchase did not include Royal Worcester and Spode manufacturing facilities. A century of potting in the city of Worcester, being the history of the Royal Porcelain Works, a guide through the Royal Porcelain Work. The Illustrated Guide to Worcester Porcelain 1751–1793, lawrence Branyan, Neal French, John Sandon. Worcester Blue & White Porcelain 1751–1790, Worcester Porcelain, The Wall Period and its Antecedents. Coloured Worcester Porcelain of the First Period 1751–1783, ISBN 978-1-85444-127-0 Simon Spero, John Sandon. Worcester Porcelain 1751–1790, The Zorensky Collection, antique Collectors Club Dist A/C,2007
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