(2) Royal Crown Derby Bone China Imari Bottlenose Dolphin Paperweights.  Features a cobalt blue body lavishly decorated with 22-carat hand-painted gold scrolls and detailing, shown mounted leaping over a stylized white and blue wave base. Both marked on the undersides. 

Size: 3 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 7 in. 

The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is one of England’s oldest porcelain manufacturers, tracing its origins to soft-paste porcelain production in Derby around 1750 by Huguenot immigrant André Planché. In 1756 Planché partnered with William Duesbury, who expanded the firm by introducing bone ash into the porcelain paste, hiring famed decorators, and acquiring major competitors like Chelsea and Bow. Duesbury’s operations earned a royal warrant from King George III in 1773, though the Duesbury family lineage ultimately departed the business in 1815 when it was leased to Robert Bloor, who popularized bright Japanese Imari patterns. Following the closure of the original Cockpit Works in 1848, former employees preserved the company’s patterns and molds at a new facility, eventually constructing a major mechanized factory on Osmaston Road. Queen Victoria granted a royal warrant in 1890, officially establishing the modern name “The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Factory.” Despite late 20th Century corporate mergers, Royal Crown Derby re-emerged as an independent enterprise in the 2000s and continues to manufacture fine bone china in Derby today. 

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