What Is the History of Royal Grafton China?
Royal Grafton Fine Bone China Company, founded by Alfred Bailey Jones in 1900, was a large, family-owned pottery prominent in Staffordshire, England. Royal Grafton produced fine chinaware for 70 years. The Grafton mark is found on vintage collectible teapots, cups, plates and figurines.
Jones, a trained pottery designer and seller, started the business with his two sons and originally named the pottery A.B. Jones and Sons Ltd. They began using the business name Grafton, borrowed from a nearby school, and added the word Royal when they received a royal warrant from Queen Mary.
A warrant is the English Crown’s recognition of a company with top quality wares that have been on the market for more than five years. Royal Grafton churned out tea sets, figurines and other pieces of chinaware throughout the first half of the twentieth century.
After A.B. Jones died in 1940, the company remained in the family with his son, A.B. Jones Jr., in charge until 1956. He was succeeded by his son, Alfred Leslie Jones. However, in post-war England, the company was slow to modernize, and sales fell compared to competitive potteries.
The pottery was eventually sold to Crown House Glass Ltd. in 1966, and a few years later it was sold yet again to Crown Lynn Potteries Ltd. of New Zealand.