Royal Doulton Porcelain Figures
The line of Royal Doulton figures was introduced in 1913 under the supervision of the Company’s art director, Charles Noke. Early subjects drew their inspiration from many sources: pretty ladies, British street and country life, literature, history and the orient. Later years saw the addition of musicians, sports as important themes as well as the use of current fashion trends in clothing, hairstyles, etc.
Harry Nixon, in charge of Doulton’s figure painting department in 1913, is credited with instituting the line’s unique identifying number system, marking the first figurine, “Darling”, “HN1″, Elizabeth Fry “HN2″ and so forth. Each figure and color scheme is assigned a unique consecutive number; by 2000 Doulton was into the 3700 range of this system.
A number of artists have played influential roles in developing the figure line, including Leslie Harradine – who joined the firm as a freelance designer after WWI and stayed into the mid-1950′s and is responsible for the classics “Old Balloon Seller” and “Flower Seller’s Children” among hundreds of others, Peggy Davis – who joined the firm in the 1930′s and is well known for her child and pretty lady figures, Mary Nicoll (circa 1953 to 1974) is especially regarded for her marine figures such as “The Lobster Man”.
The line continued to evolve under the direction of Art Director Eric Griffiths (1972 to 1990) adding contemporary images as well as figures of great beauty and elegance.