Lenox

The History of Lenox China

By Madison Nef

Some of you have asked questions about our Lenox set when you come over the house to pick up items, so I decided to write this post to tell you a little something about the china itself. At the end of this post, I will include a link directly to Amazon and our store so you can pick up some Lenox yourself- if not, just browse! There is something for everyone in our store.

The Lenox company was founded in 1889 by Walter Scott Lenox of Trenton New Jersey. In the beginning, it wasn’t a factory- in fact, it wasn’t very big at all! It didn’t sell full ceramic sets, but instead, one of a kind works of art. Only 18 employees worked there, and the first of Lenox’s pieces were displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in 1897. Lenox became more popular in the 20th century, when dining rooms and hostess parties became a new trend. Lenox made one of a kind china sets for his customers, increasing the china’s value AND popularity.

Lenox’s first designs were the Ming and the Mandarin- they were produced for the next 50 years following their release. Lenox became popular in the US thanks to Frank Holmes, who publicized them. Holmes was a well known chief designer, so him giving Lenox a good word helped A LOT. Lenox pieces were chosen for display in 1928 by the National Museum of Ceramics in Sèvres, France — the only American porcelain to receive this honor.

A large plant in North Carolina manages all the production of Lenox china- which happens to be the only bone china manufactured in the USA. This plant has been running since 1989, and was responsible for the making of George Bush’s bone china set. The company has changed names over the years- but the unique and wonderful quality of the expensive china stays the same.

Lenox was also the first bone china to ever be used in the White House- in fact, quite a few presidents have used Lenox china. The sets were so named:

* The Wilson Service

* The Roosevelt Service

* The Truman Service

* The Reagan Service

* The Clinton Service

And the Bush Service. Each of these sets is unique, most of them designed by Frank Holmes- the main reason behind Lenox’s popularity. Both the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have Lenox pottery as centerpieces to some collections.

Today, Lenox is a well known name in dinnerware and is sold around the world. Lenox is still used in the White House and also in many embassies and is in more than half US governor’s homes. While Lenox himself died a long time ago, in 1920, his china lives on through some of his original designs and style. I personally like Lenox a lot, it is beautiful.

I will wrap up this post here. I hope you learned something about Lenox- I know I did, I can’t believe it is run from one factory! I also didn’t know it was the only bone china manufacturer in the US. Oh well, as the saying goes, you learn something new every day!

Thanks for reading!

Maddie