PARAGON CHINA
(12/11/2002) © Mister Find IT
Paragon
China was first produced in 1903 by Star China, (established in
1897)
by Herbert James Aynsley and William Illingworth. The plant being
located
in Longton, Staffordshire, England. They were among over 1500 (since
1700)
potters from the Stoke on Trent area. Illingworth retired in
1910,
and Hugh Irving (Aynsley's son in law) joined as a partner in Star
China.
By 1919 Paragon China had become so popular that they, changed their
name
to The Paragon China Company in 1920. Hugh Irving became the sole
proprietor in 1927. And in 1928 Leslie Irving joined his father,
in 1930 the company became Paragon China Limited. In 1933 Guy
Irving
also joined his father. Starting with tea and breakfast wares in
their early days, they quickly expanded in the 1930's to enter the
china
dinnerware field, as they entered the USA, Canada, & South America
markets.
As producers of almost
every type of line in fine bone china, Paragon had earned a reputation
of excellent and artistic qualities. This strong family bond, and
commitment
to quality craftsmanship, helped lay the foundations of their
success.
In 1926 they received their first royal purchase, after HRH the Duchess
of York, had seen the "Two for Joy" pattern at the christening of HRH
Princess
Elizabeth. The "Two for Joy" pattern had been design to
commemorate
the birth of the princess. During the late 20's Paragon had
started
to label some of their finer lines as "Royal Paragon". With authorities
getting upset with the use of "Royal" in their labeling, Paragon
discontinued
it's use about 1934. Their success with the dinnerware field,
(which
they didn't make until the 30's) caused them to increase their
lines
every year. Since 1933 they were appointed (and given Warrants)
the
honor to make (and sell to) china for many Royalties, including Her
Majesty
The Queen (See Mark), Her Majesty Queen Mary - The Queen Mother, Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth -The Queen Mother, Her Majesty The Queen (Elizabeth
II).
The Warrants gave them the right to display the Royal Coat of Arms, and
to use the legend "'By Appointment" on their products, but didn't
include
the use of the word "Royal".
In 1936 they were
among the first to began the process of becoming a smoke less
factory.
In 1953 a clean air act, forced many of the other potteries to also
change
over to electric operations. The firm was ran by the Irvings
until
1960 when it was taken over by Thomas C. Wild & Sons Limited.
Thomas C. Wild & Sons were manufactures of Royal Albert bone
china.
In 1964 they merged with Lawley Group Limited. In 1972 Paragon
became
part of Royal Doulton. By 1989 the Paragon name and patters had
been
placed in to the Royal Albert China. Some of these patterns
continued
until 1992 when Doulton discontinued the Paragon name.
Paragon had produced
many commemorative pieces the first piece was to commemorate the
coronation of George V in 1911, and the last was in 1986, for the
wedding
of Prince Andrew and Lady Sarah Ferguson. Many of these
commemorative
pieces can bring $1900 to $4300. Of the most commonly collected
Paragon
item is their cup and saucers, as there were 20,000 patterns, and over
50 shapes. About 1950 Paragon produced several decorative and
figurine and plaques, many are still found on Ebay's UK auctions and
all
are very rare.
© 2002 Mister
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