Royal Doulton | Bunnykins | Cereal Bowl | Fine Bone China | England, 1984 — Golden Jubilee Celebration

Royal Doulton | Bunnykins | Cereal Bowl | Fine Bone China | England, 1984 — Golden Jubilee Celebration

The market scene has been tipping its barrow since this Golden Jubilee bowl was issued in 1984, and the chaos has not abated.

Bunnykins was introduced by Royal Doulton in 1934, drawing on illustrations by Barbara Vernon Bailey, known as Sister Mary Barbara, an Augustinian nun. Her early designs established the character of the range, which continued under other illustrators. The 1936 copyright date appears on later backstamps and should not be confused with the manufacturing date of an individual piece. In 1984, fifty years of the range was marked with a Golden Jubilee Celebration issue, of which this bowl forms a part. The jubilee backstamp gives the piece a defined place within the wider series.

The bowl is of the standard cereal form, with gently rising sides and a broad, slightly flattened rim. The central well carries the market scene: a mother rabbit in a blue dress and white apron stands beside a loaded barrow on a cobbled street, while a cluster of young rabbits spills across the foreground among scattered fruit and parcels. Behind, a green gas lamp rises, with a small mouse clinging partway up — a detail easily missed until looked for. The inner rim is bordered by the familiar procession of leaping hares, each separated by a short stroke of green against the cream ground.

There are no chips, cracks, or crazing. The printed decoration remains sharp and well-preserved throughout, with no fading to the central scene or the border.

Key Details

• Maker: Royal Doulton
• Pattern: Bunnykins — Market Day scene
• Form: Cereal bowl
• Material: English fine bone china
• Backstamp: "Bunnykins" ® / © Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd 1936 / Golden Jubilee Celebration / 1984
• Diameter: 14.9 cm
• Height: 4.5 cm
• Weight: 215 g
• Condition: Excellent

Collector Appeal

The 1984 Golden Jubilee backstamp provides a commemorative context for this cereal bowl, while the market scene and running-rabbit border retain their clear, colourful decoration.

Other Bunnykins Golden Jubilee pieces from the shop: two-handled mug (railway scene), breakfast bowl and two-handled mug (Wild West scene).

A scene like this was meant to be looked into as much as used — the sort of small, contained world that rewards a second glance.