Royal Doulton Rare Pair Art Deco Figural Musician Bookends

Name: Royal Doulton Rare Pair Art Deco Figural Musician Bookends
Brand: Royal Doulton
Price: 2495.4 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

An unusual and very rare pair Royal Doulton novelty figural bookends modeled as musicians dating from around 1920. The ceramic bookends portray two novelty figures of men dressed in oversized clothing with blond hair, one playing a squeeze box and the other a small guitar like instrument. Both stand on rectangular bases and are similarly hand-painted in tones of mauve, pink, yellow and black on a cream ground with simple gilded lines around the bases. Both are filled with sand with corks applied to filling holes to the bases. The bookends have brown printed Royal Doulton marks to the bases. Provenance: from the private collection of a Belgium based gentleman collector. In good condition with natural age crazing to the glazed finish.

Creator:

Royal Doulton (Maker)

Dimensions:

Height: 6.3 in (16 cm)Width: 2.96 in (7.5 cm)Depth: 2.27 in (5.75 cm)

Sold As:

Set of 2

Style:

Art Deco (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Ceramic,Hand-Painted

Place of Origin:

United Kingdom

Period:

1920-1929

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1920

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

Bishop's Stortford, GB

Reference Number:

Seller: DACL1506091stDibs: LU1328233193542

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Royal Doulton

The redoubtable British ceramics maker Royal Doulton has long embraced popular tastes and enjoys a devoted following among aficionados of English pottery. Some are drawn to the company’s intricately decorated bone china dinner services; others are passionate collectors of Royal Doulton’s artfully hand-painted vases, bowls and figurines.

When founded in 1815 in the Lambeth section of suburban London, Doulton & Co. produced bottles and other storage containers and even sewer pipes in stoneware, a cheap but durable cousin of porcelain. Amid the Victorian era’s rising concern for hygiene, food safety and sanitation, the company flourished. And in the late 1870s Doulton expanded its business into the applied arts.

The firm took over a factory in Staffordshire, in northern England — the traditional home of British ceramics manufacturing — to produce tableware. Around the same time, Doulton opened an art-pottery studio in Lambeth, where vases, urns and other forms were decorated with painted scenic images, flowers or historical motifs. Taking a cue from the venerable Meissen porcelain workshops in Germany, Doulton artisans began crafting figurines modeled on characters from literature and theater. The firm also helped popularize Toby Jugs and other “character mugs” — handled cups shaped as the heads of figures from folklore and popular culture. King Edward VII granted the company the Royal Warrant in 1901.

Royal Doulton china will always make an elegant yet not-too-formal appearance in a traditional table setting. Prices for dinner services vary according to size, age and condition, but generally range from $2,000 to $15,000. Royal Doulton art pottery might be used by some as a bright decorative note; others collect the company’s figurines with the same interest and dedication as stamp and coin enthusiasts. A typical Toby Jug might fetch $50, while very rare figurines can sell for $7,000. Most of the finest Royal Doulton art pottery pieces sell for around $500. As you will see on these pages, few decorative-arts companies are as aesthetically and stylistically diverse as Royal Doulton. The firm truly offers something for everyone.