12 Cauldon Gold Greek Key Dessert Plates. Marked on bottom. 

Size: (each) 6 in round. 

#4004 . 

In 1802 the china and earthenware manufacturer Cauldon Place Works was founded by Job Ridgway in Stoke-on-Trent, England, after dissolving a partnership with his brother George at the nearby Bell Works and taking over the company (previously named Cauldon, Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co.). In 1920 the company was placed in receivership following difficulties during World War I and was taken over by Harold Taylor Robinson, who renamed it Cauldon Potteries Limited. J.A. Robinson & Sons was merged into the company after the acquisition of Coalport China Limited in 1924. Shelton, Hanley became a major source of chinaware going forward, although when the Great Depression happened the company went out of business and was bought by Harrison & Son (Hanley) Limited. In 1935 the Harrisons consolidated their pottery interests at their George Jones & Sons Limited Works in Stoke, and the three continued to operate as a group while maintaining separate identities to capitalize on their original popularity. In 1958 the fine china operations of the group (primarily Coalport but parts of the Cauldon Potteries Ltd and George Jones businesses) were sold to E. Brain & Co. Ltd. By 1962 the remaining earthenware business trading as Cauldon Potteries Ltd was in liquidation and the name was acquired by Pountney & Co. Ltd of Bristol, which continues to use their name to this day. The name “Royal Cauldon” found on pieces between 1930 and 1962 is a fascinating insight into the company’s history, alluding to Job’s son John Ridgway’s appointment as “Royal Potter” to Queen Victoria after the Great Exhibition of 1851. However, since there was no Cauldon Factory in 1774, the use of this date on pieces from the 1930s onward indicates how fond English potters were of working back to find the earliest possible date they could incorporate on their stamps, to lend credibility and superiority to their work in a crowded market. It likely refers to Job’s father, Ralph Ridgway, who was a potter before him and possibly began working in 1774, even though Job was not even connected to the company or facility that created this stamp until 1802.