Royal Doulton | Character Kitten — Looking Up | Bone China Animal Study | HN 2584 | England, 20th century

Royal Doulton | Character Kitten — Looking Up | Bone China Animal Study | HN 2584 | England, 20th century

A cat looking up has decided that whatever is above it is worth the effort of acknowledgement — which, from a cat, is significant.

Royal Doulton's Character Kitten series, designed by Peggy Davies and issued from 1941, comprised six studies of a single kitten in distinct poses. HN 2584, the kitten looking up, captures the animal in a moment of alert attention — seated with its weight shifted forward onto the front paws, head raised and eyes directed upward, the tail curling behind the body. The series remained in production until 1985.

The figure is modelled in the round on a small integral base. The colouring is a tortoiseshell palette of ginger-brown, black and white, consistent with the colourway used across the Character Kitten series. The markings are applied with naturalistic brushwork that follows the contours of the body — warm brown and black striping across the head and back, white to the chest and muzzle, and a black-tipped curling tail. The yellow-green eyes are well-painted and alert. The glaze is high and even throughout. The base carries the green printed Royal Doulton Bone China mark with "Made in England", together with the hand-painted model number HN 2584 and an X suffix. No date code is present.

The X suffix applied to the model number indicates that the piece was graded as a factory second at the point of manufacture. No fault is apparent on inspection. There are no chips or cracks. The figure displays well and is in very good condition.

Collector Appeal

The Character Kitten series comprises six models, each capturing a different feline pose. Looking Up is distinguished by its alert expression and upward gaze. This example bears an X mark, indicating factory-second grading; no associated fault is apparent on examination.

Key Details

• Maker: Royal Doulton
• Series: Character Kitten
• Title: Looking Up
• Model Number: HN 2584
• Suffix: X (factory second)
• Designer: Peggy Davies
• Material: Bone china
• Production Period: 1941–1985
• Country of Origin: England
• Marks: Green printed Royal Doulton Bone China mark; "Made in England"; HN 2584 X
• Condition: Very good; X mark (factory second); no chips, cracks or restoration, and no fault apparent

Other Royal Doulton Character Kittens from the shop: On Hind Legs (HN 2582), Sleeping (HN 2581) and Licking Front Paw (HN 2583).

The fault that earned it the X mark has been invisible for decades — which raises the question of whether a perfect object and an object that appears perfect are meaningfully different things.