Lenox (company)
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| Private | |
| Founded | 1889 |
| Headquarters | Bristol, Pennsylvania |
| Products | Tableware |
| Parent | Clarion Capital Partners |
Lenox is an American company that sells tabletop, giftware and collectible products under the Lenox, Dansk and Gorham brands. They are the only major manufacturer of bone china in the United States.
Lenox was founded in 1889 by Walter Scott Lenox as Lenox's Ceramic Art Company, Trenton, New Jersey. From the start, it was organized as an art studio and not as a factory. It did not produce a full range of ceramic articles but rather one-of-a-kind artwares. The company at first had just eighteen employees. Lenox's products were first displayed at The Smithsonian Institution in 1897.
Lenox's products became popular in the early 20th century when separate dining rooms and hostess parties became the new trend. Lenox then started making custom-designed, elaborately decorated dining plates. He faced European competition but commissioned famous American artists, such as William Morley, to decorate his plates. The plates were successful and he started producing complete sets of dinnerware. In 1906, he changed his firm's name from the Ceramic Art Company to the less-restrictive Lenox Incorporated.
Two of the first patterns Lenox produced were introduced in 1917, the "Ming" and "Mandarin", which were eventually manufactured for over fifty years. Lenox products also became well known in the US thanks to Frank Graham Holmes, chief designer from 1905 to 1954, who won several artistic awards such as the 1927 Craftsmanship Medal of the American Institute of Architects and the 1943 silver medal of the American Designers Institute. Lenox pieces were the only American porcelain chosen for display in 1928 by the National Museum of Ceramics in Sèvres, France.
In the 1950s, Lenox offered five-piece complete place settings, three-piece-buffet/place settings, and individual tableware pieces. Its products were now affordable for the average US family. Lenox was the first company to develop a bridal registry.
In 1983, Lenox was acquired by Brown-Forman Corporation. Brown-Forman acquired Dansk International Designs and its Gorham Manufacturing Company division in 1991, which were incorporated into Lenox. In 2005, Brown-Forman sold Lenox, Incorporated, to collectible manufacturer Department 56 for $190 million.
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