Vintage Crown English fine bone china Rose and Sweet Pea Blossom brooch

Here we have a beautiful vintage Crown Staffordshire fine bone china Rose and Sweet Pea Blossom brooch.

This delightful hand made brooch is mid 20th century and comes in its original box. It is made from fine bone china by Crown of Staffordshire. The brooch is 4cm diameter and 2.5cm deep including the pin and weighs 15g. It is fashioned in an English rose sweet pea posy bloom of mixed colours pink, blue and yellow amidst a three leaf arrangement. It has a high gloss glaze finish, mounted on a bronze coloured pin badge. There is some small nibbling on this brooch, which has been accounted for in the price, but is not obvious at first glance and does not detract from its overall beauty.


Crown Staffordshire were china manufacturers at the Minerva Works, Park Street, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, England.
The Green family had been manufacturing pottery at the Minerva Works from as early as 1833. By 1876 the brothers Thomas Allen and Spencer Green were operating as T.A. & S. Green. In 1889, still under the control of the Green brothers, the company was renamed as the Crown Staffordshire Porcelain Co. In 1903 it became a limited company under the name Crown Staffordshire Porcelain Co. Ltd. By the turn of the century, the company were producing a wide range of bone china products including dinner ware, tea and coffee ware, miniatures, vases, cutlery handles, door furniture and floral china baskets. In the late 1920's Crown Staffordshire pioneered the large scale production of china floral ornaments and china costume jewellery for which they became famous. Both before and during World War II the company produced badged ware for the canteens of the armed forces, including the British and Canadian navy. During the war they were designated as a nucleus firm (1941) which meant that they were allowed to continue trading in their own premises and, although Barlows of Longton were concentrated upon the Minerva Works for the duration of the war, no earthenware was made, only bone china. In 1946 a factory in Heron Cross was purchased to allow increased postwar production of decorated wares, primarily for export. The bottle ovens there were replaced by tunnel ovens. In 1948 the name of the company was changed to Crown Staffordshire China Co. Ltd. The business continued to be owned and operated by the Green family. Two subsidiary companies were established, in Canada and America, to control distribution abroad. In the 1950s three quarters of total production was exported. Agents were employed in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Belgium. In 1952 the Crown Staffordshire China Co. Ltd. was described by the Pottery Gazette and Glass Trades Review as the largest producer of china flowers in the Potteries as well as producing many figure and bird studies. Over 200 people were employed in the factory's decorating department. In 1951 the company officers were recorded as: Chairman of directors - G. D. Green; Directors & works managers - S. Sinclair Green and F. Green; Director: R. A. Green; Art director and Decorating manager - J. T. Jones. The company continued to be owned and operated by the Green family until 1965 when the company was sold to Semart Importing Co. based in New Jersey, USA. Semart was an importer of tableware and at the same time as buying Crown Staffordshire China Co also purchased Wedgwood & Co. Semart continued to use the Crown Staffordshire name until the company became part of the (Josiah) Wedgwood Group around 1973-4. Wedgwood used the Crown Staffordshire name on specialty products until around 1985 when production of Coalport ware (also part of the Wedgwood Group) was moved to the Minerva Works and the Crown Staffordshire name disappeared.