Johnson Brothers

When Johnson Brothers was founded in 1883 by Frederick and Alfred Johnson, two grandsons of the founders of the renowned English pottery, J. & G. Meakin, the goal for their Staffordshire pottery was to produce an earthenware called “White Granite,” which is marked on many early pieces as “SEMI PORCELAIN.”

Flow blue patterns produced by Johnson Brothers in the early years of the 20th century included Albany, Astoria, Brooklyn, Claremont, Clarence, Clayton, Del Monte, Dresden, Eclipse, Florida, Fulton, Jewel, Montana, Neopolitan, Normandy, Oregon, Oxford, Pansey, Peach, Pekin, Persian, Princeton, Richmond, Royston, Stanley, St. Louis, Tokio, Tulip, Venice, and Vienna. Later, in the teens and early 1920s, Andora, Argyle, Coral, Georgia, Holland, Kenworth, Mongolia, Savoy, Sterling, and Turin were introduced.
Beyond flow blue, Johnson Brothers produced numerous transferware patterns for its plates, platters, and pitchers. The firm is most often associated with patterns featuring wild turkeys or the scenes in the Historic America series. Summer Chintz was another favorite, as were the Old Britain Castles from the late 1920s, which were engraved by an artist identified only as Miss Fennel, the daughter of a master engraver.In 2003, the manufacturing of Johnson Brothers products in Britain ceased and was transferred to China.