Between 1939 and 1978, this impressive frieze, depicting 'Pottery Through the Ages', graced the frontage of Doulton House, which stood at the junction of Albert Embankment and Lambeth Bridge, London. This headquarters office for the well-known ceramics manufacturer was designed by the architect T.P. Bennett (1887-1980) in modernist style and faced with cream, black and gold ceramic panels. Royal Doulton commissioned Gilbert Bayes (1872-1953), President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, to design this frieze, considered his ceramic masterpiece, as well as another smaller one for the same building which illustrated the arrival of Dutch potters in London. Bayes was an esteemed, versatile and prolific sculptor of public works including figures and memorials, especially in the interwar years. He modelled the Portland stone figures of Sir William Chambers and Sir Charles Barry on the facade of the V&A and is now best-known for his 'Queen of Time' clock over the entrance of Selfridge's department store, Oxford Street, London.

The two friezes from Doulton House were salvaged by Ironbridge Gorge Museum, thanks to the initiative of Paul Atterbury, then head of Royal Doulton's historical department and now a well-known author and antiques specialist. The 'Dutch Potters' frieze remains at Ironbridge, while Royal Doulton presented the 'Pottery Through the Ages' frieze to the V&A.