Halcyon Days

The phrase "halcyon days" describes a golden period of happiness and success, and the company that took it as a name has spent three quarters of a century living up to it. What began as a small shop of antique treasures has become a maker of English enamel boxes and fine bone china with a royal story stretching back more than fifty years.

From a Mayfair Shop to a Lost Art Revived

Halcyon Days was founded in 1950 by Susan Benjamin as an emporium of antique gifts and curiosities in Mayfair, London. At the time, the old English craft of enameling on copper had almost disappeared, reduced largely to utilitarian goods such as saucepans.

Halcyon Days set out to bring that tradition back to life. By 1970 the company had established its own production and had become, in its own words, the sole reviver of the art of English enameling. From that foundation it grew into a maker of fine bone china, jewelry and accessories as well as its signature boxes, while keeping its focus on handcrafted work.

A Royal Relationship

The turning point came in 1970, when Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother commissioned a special enamel box depicting Clarence House, her London residence. It was the company's first royal commission. Two years later, in 1972, she granted Halcyon Days its first Royal Warrant as a supplier of objets d'art to the Royal Household.

By the late 1980s the company held all four Royal Warrants then in existence, from The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales. In 2024 it was granted a new Royal Warrant by His Majesty King Charles III, continuing a long relationship with the Royal Family. That history shows in the collection: commemorative pieces such as those in Commemorating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation Gold & Ivory range mark moments in royal life, and boxes like Tug Rice's lighthearted Coronation at Westminster Abbey design show the Gold State Coach arriving at the abbey.

How the Pieces Are Made

Every Halcyon Days piece is still made in the company's two workshops in the West Midlands, the historic heart of British pottery and enameling. For the enamel boxes, artisans use traditional English techniques to fuse enamel onto copper, paint designs by hand with enamel colors and line the finished boxes in leather. The company likes to say that an 18th-century enameler watching its craftspeople today would see little difference in the techniques.

The fine bone china comes from Stoke-on-Trent, the traditional home of English pottery. There, artisans make mugs, plates, trays, tea sets, Christmas baubles and lidded candle pots, some of them made from archival designs in the company's own records. Royal connections run through this work too: the Castle of Mey bone china collection was inspired by the gardens The Queen Mother loved.

The same jewel-bright enamel appears on wearable pieces. The Agama hinged bangle in the Jewelry & Accessories collection, for example, is made from 18-karat gold-plated brass decorated with fine enamel and finished with a secure clasp.

Patterns for the Home and Table

Several Halcyon Days patterns travel across china, enamel and accessories, which makes them easy to collect. Antler Trellis is a delicate lattice of intertwining antlers, offered in a rich green and in a festive red with a majestic stag, and it lends a country-house warmth to the table from autumn through the holidays. Agama is a distinctive pattern seen on enamel bangles in radiant colors such as yellow and gold.

For lighter moments there is Al Fresco, a natural fit for garden lunches and summer tea, and Bee, a cheerful motif for kitchen and table. The broader Home & Table collection gathers mugs, plates, trays and candles that mix comfortably with everyday tableware.

Collecting and Living With Halcyon Days

Enamel boxes have always been made to mark occasions: a birth or christening, a first tooth, an anniversary, a Christmas. The annual Christmas boxes, each issued for a particular year, lend themselves to a collection built one December at a time. When choosing a first piece, look for a subject that means something to the person receiving it, whether a flower from their garden, a favorite animal or a royal anniversary.

Display boxes where they can be seen and handled, grouped on a tray or a side table rather than tucked away. A soft, dry cloth is usually all an enamel surface needs, and it is wise to keep boxes away from hard knocks, since fired enamel can chip. Bone china mugs and teacups are meant for daily use, and treating them gently helps their decoration stay bright for many years of morning tea.