Soap dish, 6.5 x 5.5 x 3.5 inches. Brown transfer. Printed maker's mark for Doulton & Co. The central motif of this pattern is a pair of Japanese vases. The squat vase in the front is decorated in halves, with a landscape on top and stylized flowers on bottoms. Behind is a tall, narrow vase decorated with stylized flowers. The remainder of the piece is filled with delicate stylized floral sprays and dots. The lid and handles are molded and painted to look like ribbons.

Doulton & Co began as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones, and John Watts at a factory in Lambeth, London in 1815. There, the business specialized in making stoneware articles, such as decorative bottles and salt glaze sewer pipes. Yet stoneware would be the making of this enterprise. The company took on the Doulton name in 1853 when John and his son Henry established themselves as makers of fine English stoneware. In 1877/1878 Doulton purchased a small factory from Pinder, Bourne & Co at Nile Street in Burslem, Staffordshire, bringing Doulton right to the heart of The Potteries. Doulton became increasingly popular, thanks in large part to the artistic direction of John Slater, who worked across a wide variety of figurines, vases, character jugs, and decorative pieces. The works continued to be called Pinder, Bourne & Co until early 1882, when it became Doulton & Co Ltd. The sheer popularity of Doulton products also came to the attention of the Royal Family and in 1901 the Burslem factory was granted the Royal Warrant by the new King Edward VII. It was this that enabled the business to adopt a new backstamp and name: Royal Doulton.