Walter Scott Lenox.was born in 1859 in the "Staffordshire
of America": Trenton, N.J. which became the USA's leading
ceramics center and boasted some 200 potteries in the 19th century.
Lenox worked as a decorator and designer for several Trenton potteries
beginning in 1875 and six years later he advanced to design director
for Ott & Brewer, then Willets Manufacturing. Pictured right handpainted
Belleek ware from Lenox. Both firms eventually failed and Lenox took his skills and expertise and established The Lenox Ceramic Art Company in 1889. From the outset it was organized as an art studio, rather than a factory, and offered one-of-a-kind artwares in lustrous ivory china, rather than a full line of ceramics. The exquisitely painted and modeled vases, pitchers, and tea sets, produced at first by just 18 employees, were met with an enthusiastic reception and carried in the most exclusive shops. By 1897 examples of Lenox's work were included in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.  With
the advent of modern dining Lenox began producing their own fine
china dinnerware. The plates received much aclaim and provoed
so successful that Lenox turned his attention increasingly to
complete sets of dinnerware and in 1906 changed his firm's name
to Lenox Incorporated to reflect the new direction from the Ceramic
Art Company. The tradition of customized place settings continues
today.Pictured left China featuring the Eternal™ pattern which was designed in 1965 and still ranks among the most popular designs.  From
1910 the company began to produce standardized patterns in addition
to the custom-made pieces for the thriving US market. These were
initially hand decorated transfer prints and then full-color lithographic
decals. The Lenox name had quickly become synonymous with elegant
tableware, chosen for the "best" homes — including
the White House. President and Mrs. Wilson commissioned an official
state service of 1,700 pieces in 1918, making Lenox the first
American china to grace a president's table.Pictured right The Wilson Service - the pattern developed by Lenox's chief designer, Frank Holmes, was as restrained and dignified as the Wilsons themselves. It remains the only American porcelain in continuous use at the White House for more than 80 years, with new services created for four subsequent presiden ts: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1934), Truman (1951), Reagan (1981), and Clinton (2000). Walter Scott Lenox died in 1920, having realized his dream and founded a company dedicated to the "perfection of American porcelain." The company continued to grow and continued to offer custom-designed services as well as an array of accessories, including lamps, figurines, vases, pitchers, even a honey jar shaped like a beehive.
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Lenox
products were widely recognized for excellence in design, in large
part due to Frank Graham Holmes, chief designer from 1905 to 1954.
He garnered numerous awards, such as the Craftsmanship Medal of
the American Institute of Architects (1927) and the silver medal
of the American Designers Institute (1943). His work was among
the 34 Lenox pieces chosen for display in 1928 by the elite National
Museum of Ceramics in Sévres, France — the first and
only American porcelain ever extended this honor.
In
recent years Lenox has continued as a leader in such trends as
transitional china and mix-and-match placesettings while continuing
to employ centuries-old craft techniques, including piercing,
jeweling, and etching. It has also used some of the world's leading
designers to create ranges and designs including Catherine McClung,
Parvaneh Holloway and Sandra Kuck (one of the world's most collected
artists). 