Over the years the Royal Doulton company has produced many unique ornaments and chinaware loved by their owners globally. Each piece produced authentically by the company was marked with a back stamp or trademark in one way or another (with the exception of some of the earlier designs). This ensured that a ‘real’ Royal Doulton piece could be distinguished from a fake, forgery, or reproduction.
For the majority of the porcelain ornaments produced by Royal Doulton, they were simply stamped with the classic trademark for that decade of the company, other items such as glassware and specialty pieces sported their own identifications.
In this article, we will delve deeper into identifying different items produced by the Royal Doulton company throughout the last century.
Contents
Identifying Royal Doulton
There are a number of identifying features across all ornaments and chinawares produced by the Royal Doulton company that allows collectors to set them apart from their other chinaware.
Authentic Royal Doulton wares produced since the late 1800s were marked with a back stamp and often a set of numerals were added next to the back stamp (sometimes referred to as a base stamp). Adding ’27’ to the number should give you the year in which the piece was produced.
Identifying Royal Doulton Glassware/Crystal Ware
Royal Doulton has produced hundreds upon hundreds of beautiful glassware pieces such as brandy glasses, wine glasses, jugs, and whiskey decanters, although Royal Doulton glassware is seemly forgotten about and often goes unmentioned. This is most likely due to chinaware being the primary focus of Royal Doulton.
The glasses, jugs, and cups were crafted from crystal making them sparkle as the light hits them bouncing off the fine cuts within each series. There were a number of different glassware sets produced by Royal Doulton since the 1800s. Only a snippet of the designs can be found below:
Sherbrooke Glassware by Royal Doulton
(1966-1988)
This design was manufactured for 20 years and features a diamond design. Pieces within this collection are valued between $20.00 and $100.00 USD.
Westminister Glassware by Royal Doulton
(1988-1996)
This set features a criss-cross design and was one of the more popular glassware sets released by Royal Doulton. Regular wine glasses are valued at $70.00 USD.
Clarendon Glassware by Royal Doulton
(1972-1987)
Featuring an asymmetric diamond-cut design, this Royal Doulton glassware set singular items are valued between $50.00 to $150.00.
- Angelique Glassware by Royal Doulton (1972-1987)
- Arden Glassware by Royal Doulton (1993-1997)
- Ascot Glassware by Royal Doulton (1993-1998)
- Ascot Gold Glassware by Royal Doulton (1995-1998)
- Ashmont Glassware by Royal Doulton (1972-1987)
- Aurora Glassware by Royal Doulton (1998)
- Balmoral Glassware by Royal Doulton (1975-1987)
- Belvedere Glassware by Royal Doulton (1972-1987)
- Broadway Glassware by Royal Doulton (1998)
- Carlyle Glassware by Royal Doulton (1973-1987)
- Carmina Glassware by Royal Doulton (2002-2004)
- Concord Glassware by Royal Doulton (1997-2001)
- Destiny Clear Glassware by Royal Doulton (1991-1994)
- Diana Glassware by Royal Doulton (1990)
- Elizabeth Glassware by Royal Doulton (1997)
- Georgian Glassware by Royal Doulton (1988-1990)
- Hampstead Glassware by Royal Doulton (1988-1994)
- Harlstones Glassware by Royal Doulton (2001-2002)
- Hellene Glassware by Royal Doulton (2000-2002)
- Jasmine Glassware by Royal Doulton (2000-2001)
- Juliette Glassware by Royal Doulton (2000-2001)
- Newbury Glassware by Royal Doulton (2008-2011)
- Oxford Glassware by Royal Doulton (1998-2004)
- Oxford Platinum Glassware by Royal Doulton (1998-2004)
- Precious Glassware by Royal Doulton (2005-2010)
- Retro Glassware by Royal Doulton (2013-2015)
- Rochelle Glassware by Royal Doulton (1973-1987)
- Saturn Glassware by Royal Doulton (2005-2013)
- Sonnet Glassware by Royal Doulton (1972-1987)
- Stratford Glassware by Royal Doulton (1994-1997)
- Summit Glassware by Royal Doulton (1993-1994)
- Wellesley Clear Glassware by Royal Doulton (1991-2004)
- Wellesley Gold Glassware by Royal Doulton (1994-2004)
- Windsor Glassware by Royal Doulton (1975-1993)
- Vanborough Glassware by Royal Doulton (1972-1987)
- Vassar Gold Glassware by Royal Doulton (1995-1998)
- Victoria Glassware by Royal Doulton (1997-1998)
Many of the earlier crystal glassware produced by the Royal Doulton Company was not marked with a back stamp as such and thus it is often hard to date these pieces. If you have a crystal cup or mug, or perhaps a pouring jug that you believe was produced under the Royal Doulton company name, it is best to seek out an antique appraiser to find out the value of the piece you have on hand.
Identifying Royal Doulton Chinaware (Dinner Sets)
The majority of dinnerware produced by the Royal Doulton company has a back stamp on the underside of the item. While the back-stamp gradually changed as the company grew and developed, the stamp used for specific time periods remained the same across the dinnerware pieces. From the year 1900, all chinaware pieces produced by the company featured a black inked back stamp.
Determine the age of your Royal Doulton dinnerware here.
Royal Doulton Backstamps over the Years:
Modern Day Royal Doulton Backstamp:
From 1993, up until now, the same back stamp has been used on dinnerware produced by the Royal Doulton company (with exceptions to specialty items). In more recent times, some of the pieces don’t even have the lion, and just have wording within the back stamp. The back stamp aligns with the minimalist visions of the company that fits with the newer styles.
You can read more information on Royal Doulton dinnerware back stamps here.
What are Royal Doulton Plates Crafted Out Of?
In modern times, due to fears surrounding animal cruelty, Royal Doulton uses porcelain or stoneware to create their dinnersets. Before recent times, the plates, cups, saucers etc produced to make up the dinnerware sets were crafted from bone China.
40% of all English Bone China in existence was produced by Royal Doulton.
Identifying Royal Doulton Ornaments
What are Royal Doulton Ornaments Crafted Out Of?
Royal Doulton ornaments have always been crafted from bone china. Due to the mix of bone ash and soft-paste porcelain, Royal Doulton oraments are extremely durable allowing them to last the test of time.
How Many Different Ornaments have Been Produced by Royal Doulton?
The Royal Doulton company has produced more than 4,000 different bone china porcelain ornaments since the company first began in the early 1800s.
What are the Most Popular Ornaments Produced by Royal Doulton?
While everyone differs when speaking about their favorite Royal Doulton ornament, amongst the most popular are the 1980s Brambly Hedge Series ornaments, the ornaments that went alongside the Bunnykins children’s ware, and the Dickens ware series which featured ornaments inspired from Charles Dickens books. Other popular ornaments were from the Pretty Ladies Collection, Nursery Rhymes Series, and the Figures of Williamsburg Series.
Identifying Royal Doulton Specialty Collections
Bunnykins by Royal Doulton
The adorable Bunnykins collection was first produced by the Royal Doulton in 1934. This collection was aimed at the littlest collectors, babies, and children. The series features a number of bunnies on children’s dinnerware and collectible items such as money boxes. Due to the popularity of the Royal Doulton Bunnykins collection, many fakes and reproductions have been circulated over the years and thus it is important to do your research and look for specific stamps to ensure that the piece you have on hand is a ‘real’ Bunnykins collectible.
A real Bunnykins piece will feature a back stamp. During the earlier years of Bunnykins production, between 1934 to 1937, a green Royal Doulton back stamp with the word ‘Bunnykins’ beneath it was printed onto authentic pieces. From 1937 until 1953, a back stamp that had the bunnies above the word ‘Bunnykins’ was used. While the ‘Bunnykins’ back stamp changed slightly over the years, one thing remained the same from 1937: bunnies were always a main part of the back stamp.
From 1954 until 1958, a different designed back stamp was added to pieces produced during that period of time. This stamp featured a similar set of bunnies as the previous design although the words ‘Copyright 1954 Doulton & CO Limited’ were added in a circle around the image.
From 1959 until 1975, the words in a circle around the bunnies image were removed and an ‘R’ was added to represent that the ‘Bunnykins’ items were a registered trademark.
From 1976, a similar back stamp was used up until today although the dates differ. Bunnykins items produced from 1993, have the date ‘1936’ printed within the back stamp.
Many get confused by the dates they may find on the back stamp of their Bunnykins item. The date is often the date that the back-stamp was first introduced. For example, those that featured the 1954-1958 back stamp feature the date ‘1954’ even if they were produced in any of the three consecutive years.
Titanium Royal Doulton Wares
The Royal Doulton company produced a number of vases with titanium glazes. This method was introduced to the company by Charles John Noke. The titanium ware produced by the Doulton company sports a slightly different stamp that generally features the word ‘titanium’ beneath it.
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