Established in 1894 at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent by James Wright
Beswick and his sons John and Gilbert, the Beswick Pottery first
made its name producing affordable tablewares and ornaments.
It was not until the 1930s (and specifically the introduction of
a high fired bone china in 1934), that the firm turned to the
animal modelling that would be their stock-in-trade for the rest of
the century.
The John Beswick factory was sold to Royal Doulton in 1969 and
would finally close in 2002 - but not before the Beswick Collectors
Circle has been formed in 1985.
More recently in 2005, a company called John Sinclair
(Sheffield) Ltd have been producing pieces carrying the Beswick
name.
The cheap and cheerful table and ornamental wares that were
Beswick's stock-in-trade for so many years remain very affordable.
There is a small following for Beswick's Art Deco-styled jugs and
vases, and fruit and vegetable decorated leaf dishes, but prices in
the £5-£50 bracket are the norm.
It is a reflection of collecting taste that the firm's range of
1950s wares, such as the Zebra pattern, will today command more
attention than older pieces. But in financial terms, the Beswick
collecting field is dominated by animal figures.
The 1930s saw the start of the shape numbers and backstamps that
help in the easy identification of Beswick wares. The same period
also saw the arrival of Beswick's finest modeller.
Arthur Gredington, who was appointed chief modeller in 1939,
found inspiration across the animal kingdom from cats and kittens
to butterflies and leaping fish. But he is best known as a prolific
modeller of horses (he created more than 130 different equine
models) while his reproductions of champion stock were particularly
admired in the farming community which became an important market
for the factory.
Realism and accuracy were key to their appeal: as the desirable
characteristics of Hereford cattle changed over time so did
Gredington's models of the breed.
Some were in production for many years. Lesser known breeds,
such as Galloways, had shorter runs and consequently rank high on
the most-wanted list.
Above: a Beswick Belted Galloway Bull (model 1746B) which
took £850 at Silverwoods of Clitheroe in August 2011.
Beswick animals are traditionally divided into half a dozen
categories - and often collectors will choose to focus on one.
These are: birds (covering a wide range from comic models to wall
plaques to the precise realism of the Peter Scott Wildfowl
collection); cats and dogs (many of the champion breeds modelled by
Gredington were in production for four decades); farm animals (the
most popular collecting area); fish (sophisticated models that have
proved vulnerable to damage); horses (there are over 150 different
models and many colour variations from rocking horse grey to
palamino) and wild animals (a vast range from the comical to the
naturalistic).
Added to these are the surprisingly avant garde models by Colin
Melbourne - the so-called CM series of the late 1950s - that have
long polarised opinion in the collecting community. As cutting edge
as Gredington was traditional, Melbourne is today much admired by
the 'Festival of Britain' generation.
Also staples of today's Beswick collecting field are the
storybook figures. In 1948 the company began producing characters
from the Beatrix Potter books - an immediate success that led to a
number of similar ranges notably the Disney, the Winnie the Pooh
and the Alice in Wonderland figures.
The early days of Beswick collecting were times when information
on range and rarity was very hard to come by. Embryonic interest
was confined to those who had collected Beatrix Potter figures
since childhood, livestock owners and the enthusiasts behind the
Beswick Collectors Circle.
While it was expressly excluded from some of the more elitist
Doulton fairs, a small number of dealers had also began to
specialise in Beswick, or at least displayed some pieces alongside
their predominantly Doulton stock.
The market really opened up to enthusiasts in a panoply of
English-speaking countries after study of the factory records (the
Royal Doulton archive yielded a number of pattern books and price
lists going back to 1960) and the publication of the first 'price
guide'.
The 1987 Beswick Collectors Handbook by Harvey May was
the first time a complete list of all the Beswick figures, birds
and animals had appeared in print. Many more would follow with
information regarding decoration, modelling and backstamp
variations - and the quiet realisation that these elements held the
keys to rarity and desirability.
By the onset of the 21st century, Beswick livestock and
bloodstock models ranked among the star performers in the
collectable ceramics market. Aided by a proliferation of books and
guides and an enviably large collecting base that included a loyal
following within nostalgic farming communities, prices saw a
dramatic acceleration between 2000 and 2005.
Prices three times those paid a decade previously were not
uncommon and collectors were prepared to overlook damage to acquire
scarce models.
Perhaps inevitably these heady days, that encouraged the sale of
many collections that had become a security risk or at least
prohibitively expensive to insure, did not last.
As some rationale returned to the market, prices fell back to
more sensible levels: buyers today are much more
condition-conscious but there is still a good following for the
most desirable issues.
Prices start from just a few pounds (eBay is still a good place
to buy) and rise to thousands of pounds for rare models or colours.
The many price guides are useful in identification but they are
only guides. As a general rule, common figures will command prices
below 'guide' values - the rarest figures may generate competition
above notional guidelines.
From flamingo wall plaques to an outsize 'fireside' model of the
popular penguin series, there are rarities in all subject areas.
Some models were simply made in small numbers. Others are rare only
in certain colours (the emergence of a model in 'trial' colours
will always excite collectors) or in glaze variations (some figures
were available in either matt or gloss finishes).
Ironically the more commercially successful the model the less
valuable it will probably be (as a general rule, chestnut brown
horse models are common and therefore not as expensive as others)
but even among easy-to-find figures collectors will make
distinctions.
Generally older models exhibit more mould detail and better
colouring.
Certainly some collectors of Beatrix Potter figures only look
for those with the pre-1971 'gold' mark (replaced by the 'brown'
mark a couple of years after Beswick were taken over by Royal
Doulton in 1969), believing them to be superior.
Perhaps the rarest of all Beswick's output is the Spirit of
Whitfield.
Modelled in 1987 by the studio's latter day chief designer
Graham Tongue, it depicts a pit pony called Kruger who retired from
the Chatterley Whitfield colliery in 1931. A run of four (or
possibly five) was made to mark a royal visit to the colliery in
1987. The original was presented to the Princess Royal, a second
sold for £2750 in a 1994 auction and a third at Bonhams in 2003 for
a record £9500. The most recent auction appearance of the
Spirit of Whitfield was at Peter Wilson of Nantwich in May
2005 when one sold for £8500.
Beswick Animal Collectors Price Guide by Patricia
Jacobs. ISBN 10: 0955719119
The Beswick Price Guide: Price and Colour Guide to Beswick
Pottery Collectables by Harvey May. ISBN-10: 1870703790
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