Compton and Woodhouse

Compton And Woodhouse started in 1985^[1] as a breakaway merchant from Royal Doulton selling prestige collectables and fine jewellery. Mike Compton was Marketing Director of Lawleys by Post, the mail order division of Royal Doulton, and Elisabeth Woodhouse was a freelance figurine designer.

Mike Compton and Elisabeth Woodhouse set up Compton and Woodhouse in partnership with a direct marketing agency, Watson Ward Albert Varndell, run by John Watson and Rinalda Ward. After several years they both left Compton & Woodhouse. Rinalda Ward took over as Managing Director, assisted by Ivor Samuels and John Watson.

Figurines

Compton & Woodhouse's first product was a Coalport Fine China Figurine, ‘The Goose Girl’, produced in a limited edition. Compton & Woodhouse continued to grow mainly selling English Bone China figurines commissioned from: Royal Doulton; Wedgwood; Royal Worcester and Coalport. Compton & Woodhouse continued working with designers and factories producing high quality figurines, designed uniquely for Compton & Woodhouse, and distributed across the UK.

Collectables

With the cost of English china production rising in the 1990s, Compton & Woodhouse expanded into jewellery, plates, teddy bears and other collectibles, and at a similar time production of figurines moved abroad. Today Compton & Woodhouse remains one of a small group of figurine specialists in the UK and still produces under the Royal Staffordshire^[2] brand name, working with designers like David Lyttleton. Compton and Woodhouse continues to specialise in producing limited quantities of high quality objets d’art, sought after by collectors in the UK and world-wide.

Compton and Woodhouse also include the Brooks and Bentley brand, acquired in 2007 from Lennox in the US.

Haroldrex Ventures, the parent company of Compton & Woodhouse and Brooks & Bentley, went into administration in November 2010.^[3]

Royal Bride Collectables

Compton and Woodhouse have celebrated each Royal wedding in recent years with the release of a Royal Bride figurine. Diana, Princess of Wales Coalport Figurine is the most successful figurine in their collection so far selling 5000 pieces in 2002. Sculptor Carolyn Morton from Royal Staffordshire was commissioned in 2011 by Compton & Woodhouse to create the latest in the royal bride collection, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.^[4]

References

1. ^ Compton & Woodhouse Accessed May 17, 2011
2. ^ Royal Staffordshire Accessed June 24, 2011
3. ^ Compton & Woodhouse Mail Order: Down But Not Out Accessed November 20, 2011
4. ^ Carolyn Morton Bridal Figurine Accessed June 09, 2011

External links

• Compton and Woodhouse