Royal Doulton | Bunnykins Two-Handled Child's Mug | 'Dancing' & 'Skipping' Scenes | Fine Bone China | Late 20th Century

Royal Doulton | Bunnykins Two-Handled Child’s Mug | ‘Dancing’ & ‘Skipping’ Scenes | Fine Bone China | Late 20th Century

On one side the rabbits dance to a barrel organ; on the other, two of them have taken up skipping ropes.

Royal Doulton introduced Bunnykins nurseryware in 1934, drawing on illustrations by Barbara Vernon Bailey, known as Sister Mary Barbara, an Augustinian nun, and it became one of the firm’s longest-running ranges. The backstamp carries a 1936 copyright date, which appears on Bunnykins pieces made over many decades; the wording “Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd” places this mug in the later 20th century.

The mug has a gently flared rim and two loop handles sized for a child’s hands. On one side, a rabbit in a red jacket and checked trousers sits turning the handle of a barrel organ while others dance – one in a red jacket, one in a blue dress, another in a pink dress with a blue bow – with a mouse dancing on top of the organ and a baby rabbit tumbling in the grass. The other side shows two rabbits skipping, one in a red jacket and one in a blue spotted dress, beside yellow and orange flowers. A border of running rabbits circles the rim, and the inside is plain.

The base carries the Royal Doulton lion-and-crown backstamp with three Bunnykins rabbits and the words “English Fine Bone China, ‘Bunnykins’ ®, © Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd 1936”.

Excellent condition, with no chips, cracks or crazing, and the printed scenes are clear. There is a small manufacturing imperfection – a glaze miss from the original firing – on the outside of one handle, visible only on close inspection and not apparent in the photographs.

Key Details

• Maker: Royal Doulton, England
• Pattern: Bunnykins, ‘Dancing’ and ‘Skipping’ scenes
• Form: two-handled child’s mug
• Material: fine bone china
• Marks: Royal Doulton lion-and-crown and Bunnykins backstamp; “© Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd 1936”
• Date: later 20th century (1936 copyright date)
• Dimensions: 13 cm across the handles; diameter 8.7 cm; height 7.5 cm
• Weight: 229 g
• Condition: excellent; small firing glaze miss to one handle (manufacturing imperfection)

Collector Appeal

Bunnykins has been collected for generations. The scenes on this mug remain clear and colourful, and the two-handled form is particularly characteristic of Bunnykins nurseryware.

Other Bunnykins pieces from the shop: earthenware cereal bowl, dinner plate, beaker, single-handled mug and baby plate and porridge bowl.

Generations of children have grown up with Bunnykins rabbits for company.