All posts by doultonchristopher1

Art deco, Artists, Character Jugs, Charles Dickens

Collecting Doulton’s mid-size character jugs.

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When what we know as Character jugs today, were launched back in 1934 it was very much a time of trial and error in respect of what to introduce and the sizes that appealed most to collectors. What we know as Large jugs today were the first introductions, then with Sairey Gamp in 1935 we saw a small size jug introduced as well as the standard large size. In this same vein Doulton introduced a medium size jug in 1938 with six characters from Dickens’ works. These were all withdrawn by 1948. 

The six characters were:

Buzz Fuzz D5838

Mr Pickwick D5839

Fat Boy D5840

Sam Weller D5841

Cap’n Cuttle D5842

Mr Micawber D5843

To complicate matters these numbers also refer to the small sizes of each of these jugs too and when available as a table lighter, again the same D number applies. 

To illustrate the sizes of jugs here are a handful of Dickens’ characters forever immortalised by Doulton! 

  
l-r: large, mid-size, small, mini and tiny.

Art deco, Seriesware

Collecting Doulton’s ‘Surfing’ seriesware pattern. 

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Part of an early catalogue page featuring ‘Surfing’.

Introduced in 1926 at the height of the roaring 1920’s this truly deco pattern must have been considered too modern to the general buying public of the time as examples rarely appear today. 

  
Distinctly Art Deco in style and echoing the handful of.    figures of bathers and swimmers in Doulton’s HN collection, this seriesware pattern is the perfect accompaniment to a display of deco ladies. 

There appears to be only one scene within this pattern, although I have seen it on numerous items, including most recently a pin tray. Although shapes were added to the series in 1928, production will have been very limited given the lack of this pattern appearing on the secondary market and will have been withdrawn long before the suggested ‘by 1942’ that is often suggested.   

Art deco, Elephants, Flambé

Collecting Doulton flambé elephants. 

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With a long history steeped in myth and also religious importance it is no surprise that there are so many elephant studies to be found in flambé and other associated glazes. 

  
Very rare character elephant in flambé.

Asian religion gives particular importance to the elephant and so the marriage with the flambé glaze seems particularly appropriate. 

  
Elephant head ashtray in Sung, discontinued 1961.

The elephant is a symbol of strength And given the size of some of Doulton’s elephant studies they certainly convert this immense strength. 

  
Large size elephant 47cm long.

The interesting part of collecting this species is that many early models were given additional and different treatments including Sung and Chinese Jade.

Animals, Artists, C. J. Noke, Hares, Rabbits

Collecting Doulton rabbits and hares.

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Mary Bunnykins (1939) who bears a striking resemblance the the earlier lop earred rabbit below. 

There are stories of a school age Charles Noke borrowing clay from the Worcester factory, a favourite visiting place for his father, to model animals and it was Noke who started the HN animal collection at Burslem. 

  
Lop earred rabbit and hare in a black glaze. 

There are many hare and rabbit models to collect, with many of them also found in flambé. These early models generally ceased production in all colourways -natural, flambé or other – by the mid 20th Century but a handful including the small lop earred rabbit continued to the end of the 20th Century so if collecting it is essential to read up on production dates to gauge the prices you should be paying. 

  
Very unusual rabbit and young. A larger version was made of this model as often happened at Lambeth, intended to be a garden ornament. 

The rabbit and the hare have a strong history in myth and folklore, stemming back through their apparent 4000 year history – explaining mankind’s on-going love of these furry animals. Today the rabbit in particular is still a popular domestic pet. 

  
Two further versions of the Hare HN 126 & HN 273.

The Chinese believe the hare or rabbit is ‘the man in the moon’ whilst Taoist beliefs say that these lovable animals derive their essence from the moon! Perhaps it is their nocturnal habits that have led to these beliefs! 

Doulton animals offer collectors -old and new – a great scope for building a collection for the HN animal collection continued into the post war period up until the 1980’s with new introductions throughout those years and in the 1990’s there was a new range -the DA range of animals introduced. Even today Doulton produce the occasional animal. 

Art deco, Artists, Figure Articles

Doulton figure painter T. J. Parton.

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I would like to have called this piece one of our artist profile blogs but details on this particular artist remain sketchy. It was thought that he joined the small team of figure painters at Doulton in or around 1930, but the discovery of the plate below dates his arrival at Nile St to 1928 or earlier.


Handpainted plate by T. Parton dated 5.28.

The artists monogram ‘TJP’ can be found on figures from 1930 through to 1940 but I am sure there are later examples out there. In 1927 there were 10 figure painters recorded at Nile St and Tom, I feel,  must have been one of these early artists. We must remember that even by 1939 there were apparently only 27 painters in the figure department! I recently found a long service record from 1973, which lists Tom with 46 years service as an on-glaze figure painter meaning that he joined in 1927 and was among the easiest figure team of 10! Interestingly there is also a Norman Parton with 42 years service, perhaps a younger brother of Tom’s?


TJP figures Joan (1930) and Toinette (1940). 

It is quite typical to find figure painters showing great versatility and examples of vases and such heavily gilded plates have been found by other early figure painters including Reg Brown and John Pierpoint.

Advertising, Art deco, Art nouveau, Artists, Lambeth, Uncategorized

Collecting Doulton exclusives for W.T.Lamb.

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The Distillers W. T. Lamb & sons like many other firms commissioned exclusive designs from Doulton to supply as commemoratives or in the case of Lamb’s as Christmas Presents. 

This large size jug measuring 8.5″ features the head of Bacchus with appropriate vinery decorating the sides and bearing the initials of the company and the date 1929.

  
  
In total there have been 5 Doulton items found that were produced for W. T. Lamb including an early jug, a typical 1920’s comport, the above tankard, a fire-well or well head and this vase, probably a design by Vera Huggins and dated 1928. 

  
 These dated pieces date from 1927 through to Christmas 1931.

Other conpanies to Doulton also produced wares for Lambs including Poole but there are certainly other Doulton items out there to be found! 

Art deco, Art nouveau, Artists, Harry Rowntree, Illustrator

Collecting Harry Rowntree’s rare Doulton designs.

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Harry Rowntree,illustrator, hailed from New Zealand where he also trained as a lithographer. Rowntree subsequently moved to England but struggled for a time until commissioned to illustrate a children’s animal book with which he found his forté and of course great success!  

 

Rowntree’s designs of animals and particularly birds are instantly recognisable and whilst his illustrative work was prolific his Doulton designs are very hard to find! The vase dates to 1921-3 whilst the pin tray is D4430 c.1924. 

Art deco, Art nouveau, Artists, Gilded, Glazes

Doulton’s craftsmen gilders.

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Few Doulton collectors today will be familiar with the names Thomas Morton, William Massey or William Skinner, however, they played an important role in the early 20th Century history of Royal Doulton as its three leading gilders.


A Titanian bowl with gold and silver gilding.

These three craftsmen worked under the legendary Robert Allen, who led one of Doulton’s Burslem art studios and was father to Harry Allen too. Harry’s name will be forever linked to Titanian wares because of his many finely painted birds and other subjects on this ware.


A view of the interior of the bowl.

The bowl illustrated is most unusual due to the use of gold and silver and alas is not signed by the gilder, but fortunately the RA number on the reverse dates it to the period of WWI, right at the start of Doulton’s short production of fine Titanian ware.

These master gilders would typically re-create on china the elaborate designs by Robert Allen, such as the design on this bowl.

Art deco, Artists, Dickensware, Doulton, Figure Articles

A quick guide to dating Doulton’s Dickens figures! 

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Leslie Harradine’s collection of Dickens miniature figures still bring collectors much joy although they have been out of production since the early 1980’s. 

Collectors tend to focus their collecting on either the early bone china models with their thinner bases or else those made in earthenware after 1949 with their deeper bases.

However there are a few tips to dating the early models that I thought I would share. 

  
This is the earliest stamp with simply the word Doulton printed in an arc.

  

This is the second mark from the late 1920’s. A second version of this can be dated to after 1930 when the names of the figures were also included.

  

Finally a post 1949 example with standard Doulton mark. 

To finish here are three examples of Micawber: an early 1920’s example on a marble tray, the unusual Woodall Duckham commemorative from 1930 and Harradine’s original model for the study. You can see the thickness of the base increasing steadily even between the early 1920 example and the 1930 example. 

 

Animals, Art deco, Art nouveau, Birds

Collecting Doulton’s early fledglings! 

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Two flambe fledglings, the darker one on the left dating to c.1913.

Introduced at the start of the HN range apparently just in flambe originally, these sweet baby birds are a super set to collect as variation after variation can be found, creating a colourful collection. 

  
Three characteristically colourful fledglings including the very rare lustre version on the right. 

Of course the term fledgling refers to baby birds and here is a group known as Thrushes (on left) and Fledglings on the right.

  
Whilst there are only a handful of models to collect the various colour schemes used mean that you may never finish collecting them all and the hunt could go on and on beyond the recorded versions! 

  
A group illustrating the ‘usual’ colourings : plain yellow, yellow with black highlights and blue and yellow.