factory closed in 1848. King Street A group of former employees set up a factory in King Street in Derby, and continued to use the moulds, patterns and trademarks of the former business, although not the name, so keeping alive the Derby traditions of fine craftsmanship. No mechanical processes were used, and no two pieces produced were exactly the same. Among the items preserved was the original potter's wheel of the Duesburys, still owned by the present Royal Derby Company. Osmaston Road In 1877, an impressive new factory was built by new owners of the Crown Derby name in Osmaston Road, Derby, thus beginning the modern period of Derby porcelain. Crown Derby's patterns became immensely popular during the late Victorian era, as their romantic and lavish designs exactly met the popular taste of the period. Royal Crown Derby In 1890, Queen Victoria appointed Crown Derby to be "Manufacturers of porcelain to Her Majesty" and by royal warrant granted them the title "The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company". In 1935 Royal Crown Derby acquired the King Street factory, thus reuniting the two strands of the business. 1960s onwards In 1964, the company was acquired by S. Pearson and Son and became part of the Allied English Potteries Group, later to be joined by Royal Doulton. In 2000, Hugh Gibson, a former director of Royal Doulton and a member of the Pearson family, led a buy-out, making Royal Crown Derby once again an independent and privately owned concern, which in 2006 employed about 300 people at the Osmaston Road works. In 2013, Hugh Gibson retired and sold the company to Steelite International of Stoke-on-Trent. The Derby factory and visitor centre remain open. According to the Royal Crown Derby website, Steelite "remains firmly committed to the highest quality UK manufacture and sets its sights on launching into a new market with a new brand ‘Royal Crown Derby Entertains’ providing fine bone china tableware to major hotels restaurants and hospitality venues throughout the world." In 2016, the company was bought by Kevin Oakes, formerly chief executive of both Crown Derby and Steelite. Derby porcelain marks From the book Bow, Chelsea, and Derby Porcelain by William Bemrose (1898): 1, 2, 3 - Earliest Derby Marks, generally in blue (some examples are known where the Crown and D are used separately, probably an oversight by the workmen). 4 - Crossed swords, crown, and D, and 6