Saturday, January 28, 2012

watchmen or what?


I received this amazing and curious set of dinnerware as a gift recently. I don't know anything about it...except I love it to death. The architectural feel and the sketched watchmen are an unusual combination. Has anyone got any ideas on where I might find info about this curiosity? When I google it brings up people who are dishing on the graphic novel Watchmen... : -/  
Perhaps these illustrations are not watchmen at all?...

Are these buildings English Tudor?


  
I just know someone will recognize the style of these gun toting chaps... and some history behind this tea set...Do you know where to look?

19 comments:

Mystical_Lucie said...

Hi Angela,

Since one of these men is carrying a lantern, I would have thought they were night watchmen too, but perhaps they are guards at an important residence? I'll probably be able to tell you more about the set if you can tell me exactly what the backstamp says. I can make out "Lton" and "England", but I'm not sure what the other word is. Does it start with an "R" or an "F" and what does it say exactly? As soon as I know that, I'll be able to look up the info for you.

Mystical_Lucie said...

Angela,

It looks like your dinnerware set may have been made by Royal Doulton or one of their parent companies. Check out the two links below, they look very much like the characters on your set:

http://www.nightwatchman4doulton.com/

http://nightwatchman4doulton.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=night+watchman&osCsid=44bec9e4d0975b73129918c9033a4606&x=4&y=6

connie said...

OMG I love that dinnerware!!!

Mystical_Lucie said...

Yep, it looks like your set was made by Royal Doulton, sometime during the 1920's (prior to 1927). There is more info in the description of this eBay listing if you scroll down on the page:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Royal-Doulton-Series-Ware-Night-Watchman-Bowl-Footed-Cup-Mug-1920s-Charles-Noke-/190631635526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6287ea46

Mystical_Lucie said...

Here are some tankards with the same design:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROYAL-DOULTON-TANKARD-NIGHTWATCHMAN-/350526313385?pt=UK_PotteryPorcelain_Glass_PotteryPorcelain_China_SM&hash=item519cff13a9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROYAL-DOULTON-SERIES-TANKARD-NIGHTWATCHMAN-D4746-/150585668022?pt=UK_PotteryPorcelain_Glass_PotteryPorcelain_China_SM&hash=item230f9af1b6

Although your backstamp is different and not a Royal Doulton one, your set was most likely made by a pottery which was a parent company of R.D.

Mystical_Lucie said...

Just one last comment Angela, as this link contains the most info on your set so far. Hope that answers any questions you might have:

http://nicholnack.com.au/turbo-lister-royal-doulton/royal-doulton-night-watchman-babies-plate-9.html

Jackie Kirner said...

This is a gorgeous set of Royal Doulton, I can see why you're drawn to it!

I searched replacements.com and other than seeing the pattern name Night Watchmen have found no additional information about it.

Best of luck in you searching!

ac said...

WOW...thanks for all the info. Mystical Lucie...you are the one that found my Teddy Bear set...and now I have all this info to research on my dinnerware...
Thanks all...

heidi said...

It's beautiful!

"Royal Doulton’s art director C. J. Noke designed this very early series.

It was first introduced in 1899 and extended until 1935. By 1945 it had been withdrawn from production. It has the maroon stamped under glaze maker’s mark that was in use from 1904 until 1932."
from this site:
http://nicholnack.com.au/other/homepage.html

James said...

Amazing!!! Mystical L, now, where is Jimmy Hoffa, Amelia Airhart and my TV remote.... "Mystical" is right.....

Pat Shawyer said...

Someone obviously cares a lot for you Angela, these items are VERY expensive !! Lucky you x

Mystical_Lucie said...

You're most welcome Angela, research is a hobby of mine and one which I enjoy very much. I've helped people to locate lost friends & relatives in the past too and that's very heartwarming, although a bit more of a challenge. However, my speciality is antiques & collectibles, dinnerware and silverware in particular. Hahahaha at James! If only I could find those people ....

Mystical_Lucie said...

Angela,

I have come across two books which might give you more info on your dinnerware set, if you can find them at a local library:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Book-ROYAL-DOULTON-SERIES-WARE-VOLUME-4-NEW-MINT-/350520965506?pt=Antiquarian_Collectible&hash=item519cad7982

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Royal-Doulton-Burslem-History-Ref-Book-1871-Up-/190632699836?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c629827bc

Apparently, Charles Noke was one of Royal Doulton's most talented & prolific artists. He designed a great deal of figurines & character jugs for them over the years. If you check out the link below, you'll be able to see a wide variety of his work, including some very interesting characters that he featured in his work.

http://www.ebay.com/dsc/i.html?LH_PrefLoc=2&LH_TitleDesc=1&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A4%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A5841&rt=nc&_nkw=charles%20noke&_dmd=1&_sop=12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1513&_pgn=1

Have fun with your research!

somepinkflowers said...

{{ not certain
of dinnerware set
But
it could B those guys
are guarding
the copy of Pasticco
i received in the mail ...
yes
yes
i am so inspired by the contents!
so fortunate
am i
for the randomness that brought it to my door.

thanks ever-so
&
isn't life grand!

♥ }}

James said...

Forget about the people, clear your mind and concentrate on my remote,ML.

margo said...

I love colonial things. Those are perfect for colonial styled houses.

Anonymous said...

Wow! You got something there, Angela, absolutely beautiful !

Unknown said...

I see I'm a bit late with my input on this.  Being unfamiliar with the format of the blog, I missed that there were already several responses before I started looking into this today.  For what it's worth, here's what I came up with on the topic.

The stamp perplexed me until I realized that the letter "u" in the word "Doulton" was either missing or faded.  

The specific style of the stamp identifies the era as 1902 or later:
http://www.antique-marks.com/doulton-marks.html

The "D" series numbers (yours is D215) were first used in 1899:
http://www.antique-marks.com/doulton-marks.html

After scanning several patterns, I figured I was getting close when I found this image:
http://images.replacements.com/images/images5/china/R/royal_doulton_night_watchman_mug_P0000222752S0003T2.jpg

Closer still with this one, now the background was looking right:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/68577946/royal-doulton-night-watchman-collectors

The info section for this listing says there were 27 different views in the series:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROYAL-DOULTON-WATCHMAN-BREDA-PITCHER-D3190-/220951776804?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3371c08e24#ht_500wt_922

The D159 series number of this tray suggests it precedes your set in the series:
http://nightwatchman4doulton.com/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=877

At this point, my search efforts turned up the actual responses to your Blog posting on this topic and realizing that the essence of your question had been answered, I stopped researching.

Hope something in this is of interest.

Anonymous said...

I loved it also!I really like the style of the drawing,it's very cute.
I just love the pictures in your blog,I'm really into vintage stuff,artistic things and art books...Thanks for keeping this blog!
Hugs