Rockingham Pottery

The Rockingham Pottery was a 19th century manufacturer of porcelain of international repute, supplying fine wares and ornamental pieces to royalty and the aristocracy in Britain and overseas, as well as manufacturing porcelain and earthenware items for ordinary use.

It is best-known for its finely decorated and, to modern tastes, somewhat gaudy rococo style of porcelain; indeed its name has almost come to classify such a style and as such pieces by other factories are regularly and incorrectly attributed to Rockingham.

History of the pottery

The factory was located in Swinton, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, and for the later part of its lifetime existed under the patronage of the Earls Fitzwilliam, indirect descendants of the Marquesses of Rockingham, who were the major landowners in the area, and whose stately home and extensive park was located several miles away in Wentworth.

Records show that a potworks making utilitarian earthenware for the local market existed on the site in 1745. This passed through the hands of several owners including being linked for some time with the Leeds Pottery, until ownership eventually passed into the hands of the local Brameld family in 1806. After this time the Pottery was barely profitable and continued through considerable assistance from the Earl. Experiments with the manufacture of porcelain began in 1820. By 1826 the pottery was...
Read More