Coalport

Coalport China now part of the Wedgwood Group since 1967 has a history spanning over 200 years. The Coalport manufactory was founded by John Rose in 1795. In 1820 Rose received the gold medal of the Society of Arts for his feldspar porcelain and an improved, lead-free glaze, with which the enamel colours fused in firing.During the 1830s the factory initiated the practice of applying a light transfer printed blue outline, to guide the painters. This preserved some of the freedom of hand-painted decoration, while it enabled Rose to keep up the pace of production. The technique was widely adopted by other manufactories during the 19th century.

John Rose died in 1841; the enterprise was continued under the former name "John Rose & Co." by his nephew W.F. Rose and William Pugh. William Pugh continued the production as sole proprietor from 1862 until his death in 1875, after which the company was put in receivership by his heirs. It was then reinstated by the Coalport China Company, by whom an extensive export trade to the United States and Canada was initiated in the 1890s.

The original manufactory building is now a Youth Hostel, cafe, artists' studios and a handmade arts & crafts shop.Production later moved across the canal to the buildings which now house the Coalport China Museum. In 1926 production moved to Staffordshire, the traditional centre of the ceramics industry in Britain, and, although the Coalport name was retained as a brand, in 1967 the company became part of the Wedgwood group.

AVON

 Avon:

In 1886 David H. McConnell founded the 'California Perfume Company' which was to later become Avon. Prior to this he was a door to door salesman, selling used books which did not sell well. So to entice sales, he gave away free perfume samples with each book bought. Many of his customers were ladies who were much more interested in the perfumes than the books. So David decided to quit selling books
 and set up a small perfume business.


Avon Necklace

The 'California Perfume Company' began in a small office at 126 Chambers Street ,Lower Manhattan, New York City in 1892. On June 3, 1932, the California Perfume Company, filed their first trademark application for Avon which was granted later that same year. The description of goods to be sold was perfumes, toilet waters, powder and rouge compacts, lipsticks, and other toiletry products.

From the onset, David primarily used housewives to distribute his products. This proved very popular and sales steadily grew and continued to increase during the years he was active. At the time of his death he had around 30,000 agents selling his products and the volume of sales was measured in the millions.

 Most of the vintage jewellery pieces by Avon were signed Avon with initials such as S.P, O.S, W.N. and so forth. The initials were not the designers initials but a code to identify the purveyor who manufactured the pieces on behalf of Avon!



Avon Necklace