A Brief History of Royal Doulton;

In 1913, the HN number was added to figurine backstamps. The HN was short for Harry Nixon who was in charge of the figure painting section at the Burslem facility.

In 1920, Mr Leslie Harradine joined Doulton and was the primary designer for many years.  By the 1950's to the 1970's, nearly all the figures were modelled by Peggy Davies who specialized in Pretty Ladies figurines and Mary Nicholl who contributed to many of the Character series.

Due to increasing demand, in the 1970's the modelling team was expanded. Since the 1880's over 2500 figures were created

Dating A Royal Doulton Figure;

There are a number of catalogues such as The Standard Catalogue of Royal Doulton Figurines (Charlton Press) that give the dates of production, size, name of designer and value of a figure.
In 1927, a date code was added to each figurine made. The 1927 date code was '1'.  This date coding was discontinued in the 1950's. So, if you have a figure with a printed '8' next to the backstamp, it was likely produced in 1934. Very few of these date coded figures are still around.

Over the years, variations of the backstamp were made. Very early figures had a hand printed "Potted by Doulton' mark which are very rare.

Copyright and Registration numbers;

Copyright dates found on most figures mean that is when the figure model was copyrighted, generally production began one year after the copyright date.
Mid 20th century figures also carried a Registration number which was later discontinued. For example: A figurine called Top o' The Hill may bear a copyright date of 1936, but that figure was produced from 1937 thru 2004, so the copyright date on the backstamp does not mean it is from 1937 necessarily. it is likely a much more recent production figure. if the item has a series of registration numbers on the backstamp it is circa mid-20th century. There's many ways of estimating very early figurine manufactured dates. An expert can help.

Value:

The value of a figurine is determined by how perfect (or imperfect) it is. A hairline crack makes most figures virtually valueless. Paint chips, crazing, breaks or missing parts also severely diminish value. Restored figures are also diminished in value.  Early hand painted figurines  often had small splashes or over-brush of paint. This does not detract from value and may even add character to a figurine.
Small firing 'specks' sometimes are seen in figurines as well. This sometimes is undesirable, but not always as it is a factory speck. Usually one can feel a 'bump' like a grain of sand with the fingernail, but the bump is glazed over so it indicates that's the way it came from the factory.

A good way to check your figurine for defects is under a bright light. If a scratch or crack appears and it is rough under the fingernail it is probably post manufacture damage. 'Crazing' or spiderwebing appears on some very early items after many years. This is especially prevalent in non bone china figures such as earthenware. On a bone china figurine, a crazing effect can be due to the figurine receiving a hard knock or drop at sometime in its existence.
I use a blacklight on all figures to determine if a restoration was ever done as well. These are just a few of the tricks of the trade in determining the quality of a figurine.

Counterfeits;

Every once in a while, a counterfeit figurine is found. An expert can easily spot them as they just do not look quite right. Although a counterfeit is rare, it's best to have an expert determine this.
By knowing the exact size a figure is supposed to be and how the coloring is and the overall look, quality and glaze, one can spot a fake. I have had at least one where the only way I determined it was a fake was the size and a few other indicators. Counterfeits are not a big concern as there are few of them. Out of the thousands I have handled only 2 were fakes.

Visit my Collection

Need advice on your Royal Doulton figurine?
Email me with the model number (HN#) and the item's name.