Original poster for the opera.

Leslie Harradine as well as establishing a new standard in figure modelling in the early 1920’s, was also responsible for the first set of figures, The Beggar’s Opera Series, inspired by the theatre. Harradine’s figures all closely resemble the costume designs Claude Lovatt Fraser the designer for the revival of this piece at Hammersmith in 1920, as you can see from these pictures in the article.

Harradine’s The Beggar and the original sketch for the stage costume.

Once made up Lovat’s costumes were thrown to the studio floor and walked on, had paint thrown on them, and where necessary as with the Beggar’s costume, were then slashed and dirtied. He reasoned that the characters from the play were from 18th Century London low life and spent much of their time in jail.

Here is the original Captain Macheath figure compared with the original theatre poster…

Natural Foliage or Autumn Foliage ware as it was later called, was a uniquely Doulton process whereby actual leaves were pressed into the wet clay and which were of course obliterated during the firing process, leaving the delicate outlines of the individual leaves behind.
These were then hand decorated usually in shades of blue although some with blue decoration also exist. Naturally no two examples are the same.
This Lambeth ware proved very popular and examples regularly turn up at auction and in antiques centres. It was introduced in 1883 and remained in production to some extent until the 1950’s with two gaps co-incising with the two world wars in the 20th Century.

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I thought you might all like to see this extra montage of the Queen’s visit to Royal Doulton at Burslem in 1949, when still Princess Elizabeth. Of particular interest is some Seriesware inspired by Brangwyn ware and also the decorating of figures from this period and a comprehensive display of them! Well worth a look!

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/princess-elizabeth-visits-the-potteries/query/Doulton

Some early Doulton advertising booklets for Dickensware ca. 1912 – the Centenary of Dickens’ birth, together with  2 seriesware trays a calendar with a Dickens figure and an early Tony Weller

When it comes to the works of Dickens, Charles Noke, Doulton’s art director at Burslem was blatantly a fan if not obsessed by all things Dickens.

A facsimile of a letter from Dickens’ son to Doulton & Co. expressing his pleasure at their Dickens range

From the early 20th century and throughout his time as art director and even after, Doulton have produced a wide variety of wares to commemorate Dickens’ works.

Three of Leslie Harradine’s original models for the miniature Doulton Dickens figures

The lengthy of time these many wares were produced mean that there is something for every collector, old and new and something for every pocket size too!

Another of Harradine’s Prototypes, this time the full…