Basket is empty
Museum
Valuations
Royal Crown Derby cannot provide valuations or advice on selling items on the secondary market.
If you are looking for a valuation for insurance, sale or probate, it is best to contact a licensed auctioneer or specialist antique dealer. Your local telephone directory will provide names and addresses in your area.
Royal Crown Derby houses the most comprehensive collection of Derby Porcelain to be seen anywhere in the world. It includes pieces from all three of the factories in our history. First, the Nottingham Road factory, which operated from about 1750 to 1848, then the King Street factory which arose out of the closure of Nottingham Road and lasted until 1935, and third, the present factory on Osmaston Road which began operations in 1878 and continues to prosper today.
The collection starts with some of the very early figures which were modelled around 1750 by the Frenchman, Andre Planche. Some of them were painted by William Duesbury, a china decorator who later joined Planche to start the Nottingham Road business in 1756. As the 18th century progressed, the range of figures developed and expanded, but in addition the factory moved into the production of richly decorated useful and ornamental wares. They competed with Sevres and Meissen for the patronage of the aristocracy, and created a studio of painters and gilders which, by the end of the century was as good as any in Europe.
Museum Curator - Jacqueline Smith
A journey through time
Examples of the work of the best of these artists can be seen in the Museum, men such as William Billingsley, the great rose painter, William Pegg the Quaker, who specialised in botanical subjects (we see his sketch book next to his porcelain), Jockey Hill, John Brewer, George Robertson, all three great landscape artists but capable of turning their hand brilliantly to any subject. The gilding which frames these pictures is also of superb quality.
Next to these pieces, we also see the introduction of the Imari patterns, with their glorious blues, reds, orange and gold. These are the interpretations of traditional Japanese designs for which Royal Crown Derby is so famous. Apparently it was regarded as legitimate work for women painters, and was therefore less expensive than it would have been if painted by the men.
Technical and artistic brilliance
There is a room devoted to the products of the King Street factory, which was started by a group of the workers from Nottingham Road after it closed in 1848. This section shows how these men kept up the high standards of the original factory, even though theirs was a much smaller operation with fewer resources to call on.
Then we progress to the wares of the present Osmaston Road factory, started by a former managing director of Royal Worcester in direct competition to that factory. We see the evidence of an explosion of technical and artistic brilliance and innovation as they strove to make their mark, succeeding as they did by being asked to produce the great dinner service for the Prime Minister, William Gladstone, and being rewarded with the Royal Warrant and Queen Victoria's permission to call themselves "Royal" Crown Derby. The incredibly delicate "Eggshell China", the work of the Great French Art Director, Desire Leroy, examples of the Crown Derby ware commissioned for the restaurants of the Titanic, and many other pieces ordered by the Royal, rich and famous can be seen in the museum.
A magnificent collection
At the end of the Museum is the Ronald Raven Room. A celebrated cancer surgeon and collector, Mr Raven bequeathed his magnificent collection of Derby Porcelain of all periods to the Royal Crown Derby Trust, where it is displayed with his own furniture and pictures.
Jacqui Smith our curator, is in attendance at the museum to answer questions and comment on pieces of china which visitors bring in for advice and information.
The museum is open 7 days a week and admission is included in the price of your visitor centre ticket. This is not the only Museum containing historic pieces of Royal Crown Derby in the area, for only 10 minutes walk away is the Derby City Museum with its own fine collection.
The Royal Crown Derby Museum Trust has the responsibility of care for the Museum collection, and is a Charitable foundation, with a board of independent trustees. The majority of the historic pieces in the Museum are owned by the Trust, although some are on loan from private individuals, and from the company itself. Apart from antique items, the trustees own a complete collection of paperweights, and the company presents them with examples of new models as they are introduced.