George Jones & Sons Ltd

George Jones & Co	Stoke	1861	1873
George Jones & Sons Ltd	Stoke	1873	1957

Manufacturer of earthenware, majolica and china ware at Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent

At the age of 14 George Jones started a seven year apprenticeship with Minton. After completion in 1844 he worked as a traveling salesman for Wedgwood.
By 1850 George had established himself as a successful pottery merchant and by 1856 he had opened a pottery showroom in Glebe Street, Stoke.
George started manufacturing around 1861 at the Bridge Works, Stoke, as George Jones & Co.
In 1864 he purchased land from Colin Minton Campbell and in 1865 the company moved to the newly built factory - the Trent Potteries. Production of majolica ware started in 1865.
From 1872 china production was started.
By 1873 the two eldest sons, Frank Ralph Jones and George Henry Jones became partners in the business which was renamed George Jones & Sons. 'Crescent' was registered as a trademark for the new company.
At this time the business had 590 employees.
In 1894 the business was incorporated as George Jones and Sons Ltd.
George Jones died in 1893 - the business continued under the name 'George Jones & Sons'
Around 1907 the works were renamed 'Crescent Potteries'
From the 1920s Cauldon Potteries Ltd. and Coalport China Co. Ltd. had moved their manufacturing to the Crescent Potteries and were sharing the works with George Jones & Sons Ltd.
In 1929 the Jones family ownership ended when Walter Bakewell (who was the managing director) bought the business.
In 1933 Harrison & Son (Hanley) Ltd bought out Bakewell's controlling shareholding.
George Jones & Sons remained open during the Second World War under the Wartime Concentration Scheme - they were permitted to produce undecorated domestic ware. They also produced canteen ware for the British armed forces.
In June 1945 George Jones & Sons were granted a licence to produce 'fancies' for the home market.
c.1947 there was some modernisation of the Crescent Works. Manufacture of Coalport and Cauldon was favoured.
Use of the Crescent China trade name ceased around 1951.
1957 George Jones & Sons Ltd ceased trading and in 1959 the Crescent works were demolished.

Stone China
George Jones
Stoke on Trent

Napoleon III Empereur

Awarded to
George Jones
Stoke on Trent

Napoleon III Empereur
Paris 1867

Fragment found (2024) during excavations in the town of Lincoln, Ontario, Canada.

photo courtesy: Courtney Corbeil

Following the 1851 "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations" held in the Crystal Palace in London, many world cities held international exhibitions to showcase state-of-the-art science and technology.

George Jones won a medal at three of these exhibitions: 1862 London International Exhibition, 1867 Paris Exposition and the 1873 Vienna World's Fair.

blue & white transferware platter

Ironstone
Gerorge Jones
Stoke-on-Trent

Geroge Jones was a prolific manufacturer of majolica. The business produced a wide range of ware of sufficient quality to rival Minton and Wedgwood.

The Majolica International Society provides more information on George Jones

Ironstone bowl The bottom is marked in black "Stone China George Jones Stoke - upon - Trent" with a lion and unicorn on either side of a crest. There is also an impressed "Ironstone George Jones Stoke on Trent" in an Oval.	5" high urn by George Jones & Sons and sold by Tiffany & Co. New York.
majolica tri-part dish with impressed 'GJ & sons' mark	hand painted china dish with gilt
red transferware ironstone plate in the classic ABBEY pattern	teapot in the ABBEY pattern
This pattern was originally known as ABBEY WREATH and had been produced by WILLIAM ADAMS in the 1840s. GEORGE JONES bought many of the ADAMS patterns in 1861, this being one of them. JONES reissued the pattern when the interest for earlier china patterns was at its height.

plate in the Sutherland Japan pattern
printed outline with hand colouring, cobalt blue clobbering and gilt accents

Sutherland Japan
G J & Co
Stoke-upon-Trent

printed mark

G J
& Sons

impressed crescent mark

c.1873 - when George Jones & Co became George Jones & Sons Ltd

This popular pattern was registered on on the 25th January 1884 to George Jones & Sons.

Registration number: 826

Pyrethrum was a genus of a number of Old World plants now classified in either Chrysanthemum or Tanacetum.

This particular pattern is noteworthy for including flying bees hovering above the flowers and is often referred to as Bees & Daisies. It was designed by Horace Overton Jones (1856-1928) who was one of George Jones’s sons.

He had studied at the National Art Training School (now called the Royal College of Art) and in 1877 was awarded two prizes in a national competition in the category ‘painting flowers from nature’.

serving platter - black monochrome transfer platter in the Pyrethrum pattern
Pyrethrum flowers with bees

Rd No 826

printed registration number

cup & saucer in the Pyrethrum pattern
hand coloured with gilt edging

Rd No 826

printed registration number

toast rack in the Pyrethrum pattern

Rd No 826

printed registration number

G J
& Sons

impressed crescent mark

photos courtesy: John Prasanth Jacob

Crescent
G J & Sons
Made in England

G VI R
1945

The mark shown indicates that the ware was produced for and supplied to the British Government; it was ultimately property of the Crown/Government, hence the GR-VI Cypher.

This mark is there to distinguish the piece from being normal ‘utilitarian’ ware for public sale during the period surrounding the Second World War.

George Jones & Sons (and others) were given government contracts throughout the late 1930s and into the 1940s (WWII) and produced canteen ware - most likely for the armed services.

The year of manufacturer is generally included.

Early George Jones majolica was marked with the impressed superimposed letters GJ contained within a circle. In 1873, a crescent inscribed with "& SONS" was added beneath the initials.

Many pieces also have a small unglazed area or "thumbprint" which has a pattern number written in black ink. Often ware also bear a British registry mark.

Stoke
Crescent China

c.1872 - 1891

this mark appeared on a plate with the registration number 826 - which means the pattern was registered in 1884

GJ
Stoke-on-Trent

c.1861 - 1873

moulded mark from a majolica dish

Rarely seen is a raised two lobed cartouche with STOKE ON TRENT below the initials and the pattern number in ink above.

c.1861 - 1873

as either an impressed or moulded mark

The monogram only (i.e. GJ without the crescent) used c.1861-72 when the company was "George Jones" (without the "& SONS")

Stone China
George Jones
Stoke-upon-Trent

c.1861 - 1873

Some marks incorporate "Stoke-upon-Trent" and / or "Stone China"

click for more on the use of the Royal Arms

Stratford is the pattern name

The registration diamond gives a date for the registration of the pattern as 5th April 1864

Sutherland Japan is the pattern name

Royal Patent Ironstone
George Jones & Sons
England

c.1873 - 1907

an early George Jones & Sons mark (post 1873)

G J
& Sons

without 'ENGLAND' -
c. 1881-1891

G J
& Sons
England

with 'ENGLAND' -
post 1891

G J
& Sons

Note the use of "ENGLAND" which generally indicates a date post 1891

BRIAR is the pattern name.

Note the introduction of the crescent shape but without the word "CRESCENT"

Printed mark on base and diamond registration mark for 16th September 1881 therefore this mark was after that date.

diamond registration mark for 1883 therefore this mark was after that date

George Jones & Sons
Abbey
1790
England Make

c.1901-1921

The ABBEY pattern was manufactured by GEORGE JONES AND SONS beginning in 1901. This pattern was originally known as ABBEY WREATH and had been produced by WILLIAM ADAMS in the 1840s. GEORGE JONES bought many of the ADAMS patterns in 1861.

Crescent England

c. 1891 - 1921

Mark found on an eight sided plate - plate was made for & sold by Marshall Field & Co. Chicago.

Likely to have been produced by George Jones & Sons

Cresent Ivory
George Jones & Sons
England

c. 1891 - 1921

G J
& Sons

c.1874-1924

Example of impressed mark
"& Sons" added from 1873

England
Crescent China
George Jones & Sons

c. 1891 - 1921

Tiffany & Co
New York
G J & Sons
Made in England

post 1920 mark

With the use of "MADE IN ENGLAND"

Crescent
G J & Sons
George Jones & Sons
Made in England
Great Britian

post 1920 mark

NOT GEORGE JONES - this mark 'JG' on a raised blue pad can be confused as 'GJ' - but it has no connection wth George Jones, it was used by Jean Gille of Paris, France from c.1840's to 1868