Lenox was started in 1889 by its founder Walter Scott Lennox. Born in Trenton NJ in 1859, the main center of the American ceramics industry at the time, Walter Lennox combined his interest in drawing and clay and began working at a ceramics plant as a designer and decorator at age 16.
When he turned 22, he joined Ott & Brewer as its design director. Ott & Brewer finally closed a few years later and that’s when he decided it was time to do it on his own.
Just seven years after taking over as design director, Walter Lennox was starting his own company, Lenox’s Ceramic Art Company, which opened its doors in 1889. Walter created his ceramics as an art form and even positioned his new company as a studio in ceramics. art instead of a factory. Most of his early productions were one-of-a-kind made of ivory porcelain.
The Lenox China was originally made with just 18 employees and consisted of a line of vases, pitchers, and tea sets. Since he had laid the foundation for his productions to be considered art, they were picked up by the most elite stores of the time. In 1897 even the Smithsonian Institution displayed a collection of Lennox China.
In the early 1900s, good home cooking became vague, and Lennox was quick to transition his company to handle the country’s new dinnerware needs. He began offering complete dinnerware sets to very exclusive families in early 1902, fighting against European control over the fine china trade.
As American demand for Lennox China continued to grow, he changed the company name to Lenox Incorporated to reflect his change in philosophy from the Ceramic Art Company to more of a mass production company.
The company’s first large-scale productions of Lennox China were produced in 1910 and were designed with transfer prints which were then hand-coloured. In 1917 Lennox China switched to full color lithographic designs. The two original designs, Mandarin and Ming, were popular in the United States for more than 50 years. These decals ensured that every piece of dinnerware was decorated exactly the same and created a trademark type of look. The hosts were excited to have the new patterns on their table that were easy to recognize so their guests knew they could afford Lennox China.
Lennox was becoming the china to have in America. In 1918, the White House commissioned 1,700 pieces for official state services. Lennox China was the first American china to be used in the White House and has remained so ever since.
Walter Scott Lennox dies in 1920 having succeeded in his quest for “American porcelain perfection”.
