Royal Doulton

The Royal Doulton Company is one of the most renowned English companies. They produce dinnerware, giftware, cookware, porcelain, glassware, collectables, jewellery, linens, curtains, and lighting, among other items. The company's three key brands are Royal Doulton, Royal Albert and Minton. Together, the three brands make up Doulton Home, which is now part of the Waterford Wedgwood group.

In 1815 John Doulton invested in a stoneware factory in Lambeth, London. John worked with his son Henry to develop the business. By 1871, Henry had launched the Lambeth Studio with local designers and artists who experimented with a variety of materials and glazes in an industrial setting. Their names included the Barlow family, Frank Butler, Mark Marshall, Eliza Simmance, and George Tinworth. Today their pioneering work commands increasingly high prices.

In 1901 King Edward VII granted the Burslem factory the Royal Warrant, which allowed the business to adopt new markings and a new name, Royal Doulton.

Introduced in 1934, Bunnykins tableware depicted Mr. and Mrs. Bunnykins and other rabbits dressed in human clothing, in colourful rural and small-town English scenes. The china was used by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret and thus became a popular present given as christening and birthday gifts in middle-class English homes.