2 child cups royal doulton bunnykins roller skating playing doll house pre-1993

Description

the pair
i can find no issues. those bunnykins dishes in that pale yellow, all with those bunnies in motion bands. just more lovely bunnykins (more about that below) dishes by royal doulton (more on them below) to bring you back to a simpler time.
depict
double-handled cup
a group of bunnies (one of them with plaid pants!) roller skating outside accompanied by a bunny without skates and a mouse without skates. this scene has lots of motion. the back has a more intimate scene of a couple roller skating together.
single-handled cup
two scenes playing house. one is a scene with a single girl bunny playing with her bunny doll and teddy all with their chairs of appropriate scale. the reverse has a scene of 2 girl bunnies with a boy bunny and 2 mice placying with a dollhouse.
measure
double-handled cup
from the outer most part of one handle to the outer most part of the opposite handle is 5". cup is 3" tall. the rim slightly falirs outward and has an outside diameter of 3 1/2".
single-handled cup
from the outer most part of the handle to the outer most opposite rim is part of the opposite handle is 4 1/2". cup is 3" tall. the rim slightly falirs outward and has an outside diameter of 3 1/2".
marks
according to
antiques.lovetoknow.com/collectibles/royal-doulton-marks-dating-authentication
, the marks indicate that these were all produced between 1930 and 1993.
double-handled cup
[royal doulton lion logo]
made in england
royal doulton
england
english fine bone china
«bunnykins» ®
® regd. trade mark
single-handled cup
[royal doulton lion logo]
made in england
royal doulton
england
english fine bone china
«bunnykins» ®
© 1936 royal doulton (u.k.)
about bunnykins by royal doulton and artist sister barbara vernon bailey
(from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Doulton_Bunnykins)
royal doulton bunnykins tableware and figurines are popular ceramic designs manufactured as nursery dishes and collectible figurines. the chinaware line originated with artwork by sister mary barbara bailey (née barbara vernon bailey), the daughter of cuthbert bailey, general manager of doulton during the 1930s. unbeknownst to the public, mary barbara bailey was not a professional illustrator, but a nun in the augustinian canonesses of the lateran. sister mary barbara provided illustrations to the designers of doulton & co. to be used on tableware. six bunnykins figurines were produced based on sister mary barbara's illustrations in 1939 and were designed by charles noke. discontinued during world war ii, bunnykins figurines were not reintroduced until 1969. bunnykins continued to be produced in england until 2005. bunnykins figurines and tableware are currently produced in asia.
introduced in 1934, bunnykins tableware depicted mr. and mrs. bunnykins and other rabbits dressed in human clothing, in colorful rural and small-town english scenes, transfer-printed on white china. the earliest pieces, signed «barbara vernon» (sister mary barbara bailey), are quite rare and highly prized. bunnykins china was used by princess elizabeth and princess margaret and thus became a popular present given as christening and birthday gifts in middle-class english homes. in 1950 sister mary barbara bailey quit producing drawings for doulton & co. a succession of artists took her place providing designs for tableware and figurines.
in the early 1950s designs by sister mary barbara were discontinued. royal doulton art director walter hayward then began designing bunnykins for production. bunnykins drawings by walter were published in the story book picnic for bunnykins published by kestrel books in 1984.
figurines by charles noke featuring various bunnykins characters began in 1939. the first line consisted of only six designs. all factories were closed for the duration of world war ii, bringing production to a halt, and thus these six figurines have also become very rare. following the war, production of Bunnykins figurines did not restart until royal doulton purchased the beswick factory in 1969. after this, bunnykins were numbered with the prefix db. figurines were designed by royal doulton art director walter hayward and design manager harry sales.
the bunnykins figurine line is famous for the large number of professions, historical and literary figures, and traditional costumes interpreted as rabbits. named figurines include policeman bunnykins, nurse bunnykins, sir lancelot bunnykins, betsy ross bunnykins, lapplander bunnykins, fortune teller bunnykins, and more. in 2005 a bunnykins figurine honoring barbara vernon was produced. titled «sister barbara», it depicts a cloistered nun at her drawing table, presumably painting the original bunnykins design.
about royal doulton pottery
(from: mrpottery.co.uk/blogs/tableware/the-history-of-royal-doulton)
royal doulton was a company widely known for creating some of the highest quality collectibles and tableware in the world. it was created in 1815 by john doulton, martha jones and john watts, and it was designed to primarily create luxury ceramics, at least in the beginning. but as time went by, the company expanded to create porcelain products, glassware, lighting, curtains, linens, jewelry, giftware, dinnerware, and many others.
the company started as a partnership between the three founders. however martha jones left the company in 1820. that's when the first name change occurred, with the business being renamed to doulton & watts. initially they had a factory at vauxhall walk in lambeth, london. at that point in time, the company was making stoneware articles, as well as salt glaze sewer pipers and decorative bottles.
john watts retired from this business in 1853, and that was the second time the company name changed. the new name was doulton & co. it was in 1871 when henry, john's son, launched a studio and he started encouraging artists to work for him. it was at that point when amazing designs started to appear on the doulton products. some of the famous artists that worked with henry at that time were the barlow family, george tinworth, mark marshall and frank butler, among many others. 11 years later, doulton purchased a factory named pinder, bourne and co found in burslem , staffordshire. this was a great step for doulton to expand in the potteries region.
in 1887 doulton created and also donated an amazing altarpiece for the anglican st alban's church. this piece was created with terracotta, and it had tinworth designs on it too. later in 1901, edward vii awarded the royal warrant to the burslem factory, so doulton was able to acquire new markings. and that's when the business name changed to royal doulton, the name it has today. it was at that time when they started adding more and more products, all the while creating extraordinary bone china products.
unfortunately the original lambeth factory had to close in 1956 because new regulations were not okay with salt glaze production in urban locations. that's why most of the work was transferred to the potteries. friezes were transferred to the victoria & albert museum.
it was in 1971 when s pearson & son ltd purchased doulton & co. they merged operations into doulton & co. after that, all the allied english potteries and doulton & co ltd were put under the royal doulton umbrella. however in 2005 waterford wedgwood completed the royal doulton takeover, taking over all the brands and assets of the company. at the end of september that year, the nile street factory closed and royal doulton ltd went into administration in 2009. nowadays royal doulton is a part of wwrd holdings limited.
despite a very tumultuous history with lots of events, one thing still remains constant about royal doulton. the company has always created high standard collectibles and tableware. the outstanding value and attention to detail took the royal doulton brand to the next level, and even today this is one of the top brands in the industry.
maker's and/or other marks
(see last image)
according to
antiques.lovetoknow.com/collectibles/royal-doulton-marks-dating-authentication
, the marks indicate that these were all produced between 1930 and 1993.
double-handled cup
[royal doulton lion logo]
made in england
royal doulton
england
english fine bone china
«bunnykins» ®
® regd. trade mark
single-handled cup
[royal doulton lion logo]
made in england
royal doulton
england
english fine bone china
«bunnykins» ®
© 1936 royal doulton (u.k.)
dimensions
double-handled cup
from the outer most part of one handle to the outer most part of the opposite handle is 5". cup is 3" tall. the rim slightly falirs outward and has an outside diameter of 3 1/2".
single-handled cup
from the outer most part of the handle to the outer most opposite rim is part of the opposite handle is 4 1/2". cup is 3" tall. the rim slightly falirs outward and has an outside diameter of 3 1/2".
condition
i can find no issues.
the fine print
the images are the majority of the listing description, so take a look at them closely.
shipping costs have really increased—this is calculated into the buy-it-now price.
i am not able to sell individual items from items i have listed as a group. i just don't have the stamina to create new listings for those. i apologize for that. i haven't initially individually listed items because i don't have enough listing slots to so.
trying to downsize some, though extremely melancholically.
shipping time: i otherwise work more than full time and my health isn't great, so kindly excuse the longer handling time. if i am able to ship sooner, i absolutely will do that
. i appreciate you taking the time to view my listing.