The Rockingham Pottery was a 19th century manufacturer of porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

 of international repute, supplying fine wares and ornamental pieces to royalty and the aristocracy in Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 and overseas, as well as manufacturing porcelain and earthenware items for ordinary use.

It is best known for its finely decorated and, to modern tastes, somewhat gaudy rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

 style of porcelain; indeed its name has almost come to classify such a style and as such pieces by other factories are regularly and incorrectly attributed to Rockingham.
The factory was located in Swinton

Swinton, South Yorkshire

Swinton is a suburban town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on part of the west bank of the River Don...

, near Rotherham

Rotherham

Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...

, South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and for the later part of its lifetime existed under the patronage of the Earls Fitzwilliam

Earl FitzWilliam

Earl Fitzwilliam was a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain held by the head of the Fitzwilliam family. This family claim descent from William the Conqueror. The Fitzwilliams acquired extensive holdings in South Yorkshire, largely through strategic alliances through...

, indirect descendants of the Marquesses of Rockingham

Marquess of Rockingham

Marquess of Rockingham was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament for Lincoln. He was created a Baronet, of Rockingham Castle in the County of Northampton,...

, who were the major landowners in the area, and whose stately home and extensive park was located several miles away in Wentworth

Wentworth, South Yorkshire

Wentworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,223.- History :...

.

Records show that a potworks making utilitarian earthenware for the local market existed on the site in 1745.