Royal Crown Derby is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer (disputed by Royal Worcester, which claims 1751 as its year of establishment). Based in Derby, England, the company is particularly noted for its high-quality bone china, having produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750. It was known as 'Derby Porcelain' until 1773, when it became 'Crown Derby', with the 'Royal' appellation being added in 1890.
The Derby Porcelain article covers the earliest history of this and other porcelain producers in 18th-century Derby.
History
William Duesbury I and II
In 1745, André Planché, a Huguenot immigrant from Saxony, settled in Derby, where he made soft-paste porcelain vases and figurines between 1747 and 1755. At the beginning of 1756, he formed a business partnership with William Duesbury (1725–1786), a porcelain painter formerly at Chelsea porcelain factory and Longton Hall, and the banker John Heath.[2]