The Allgoods
The Allgoods set up their business in a small cottage in Trosnant. At first, the articles produced were small domestic articles such as candlesticks, tea trays, butter dishes and powder boxes. They were decorated in imitation tortoiseshell with Chinese landscapes, figures or floral designs.
The business quickly began to expand. People began to order special items: personal snuff boxes or trays with particular portraits or landscapes: even pictures of their own homes and gardens. Japanware was very fashionable and so the items produced at the Pontypool works were very expensive. A tray would cost around 18/ which was very expensive at the time and only wealthy people could afford it. Pontypool Japanware became so highly prized that Charles Hanbury is said to have given Catherine the Great of Russia some pieces when he was Ambassador to her court between 1755 and 1757. Due to the growing demand for Pontypool Japanware, the business grew and prospered. It became popular all over the world, especially in America. Factories were set up in Usk and the Midlands, but the Japanware made at Pontypool was considered to be the best. The Allgood family continued to keep the original recipe for the coating a secret.