Paragon China

Paragron, a British manufacturer of bone china from 1919 to 1960, was based in Stoke-on-Trent. Originally named the Star China Company, they produced high quality tea and table ware. The Star China Company began in 1897 and began using Paragon as a trade name around 1900 after one of the partners left the business.

In its earliest years, Paragon created mostly tea and breakfast wares and exported to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. In the '30s, Paragon's market expanded to the Americas. It was around this time that they also began to include dinnerware. The company enjoyed great success starting in the '30s when Hugh Irving became sole proprietor. Irving introduced new methods of advertising such as window displays and organized events featuring celebrities, attracting much publicity for the company.

Irving and his sons continued to control the firm until it was bought by Royal Albert bone china in 1960. In 1972, they became part of Royal Doulton and produced china under that name until 1991. By the following year, the Paragon name was discontinued and the patterns had been absorbed into Royal Albert.

Quick Facts

• Paragon was granted several royal warrants from members of the British Royal Family
• Paragron often numbered their pieces with a pattern number for each series along with a letter prefix and sometimes a suffix
• A Louis Wain for Paragon chinaware cup and two saucers sold at Bonhams London in March 2006 for $1,479