Antique Royal Doulton
Doulton-marked English ceramics, from salt-glazed Lambeth stoneware jardinieres made to hold plants to twentieth-century bone-china figurines carrying a name and an HN number.
Antique Royal Doulton
Two traditions share the heading. One is the stoneware side: dense salt-glazed and Slater's-patent wares from the late Victorian and Edwardian factories, made as jardinieres, vases, tobacco jars, tea sets and match strikers. The other is the twentieth-century bone-china output, chiefly named figurines and transfer-decorated tablewares.
Figurines are the single largest identifiable form, about a quarter of listings, and they dominate current stock. Titles pair a figure name with an HN model reference, the lowest seen being HN 756 and the highest HN 1914. Other pieces quote model numbers or registered numbers instead, and factory names such as Doulton Lambeth or Doulton Burslem.
Jardinieres are the second pole, roughly a fifth of listings, sometimes titled cachepot or planter. Eight of the eighteen come with their matching pedestal stand, and the largest piece with a stated size is one of those at 19 inches. Around it sit tea and coffee wares, series ware, and a tight run of six orchid-painted cabinet dishes.
Dating runs 1880 to 1950, with the 1930s the busiest single decade. Eleven listings give no year and fall back on Victorian, 19th Century or Edwardian, so part of the archive is dated only to a reign, and several titles hedge with a c. date. Thirty dealers have listed on Sellingantiques, roughly ten pieces a year.
Top And Bottom
A named hand lifts a piece. Titles that quote a decorator or designer sit above the unattributed tea and series wares, though these names turn up in single listings rather than across the category. On the figurine side, a title carrying both a figure name and an HN reference sits above the plain 'figurine' listings in the same run.
Completeness and character carry the stoneware. A jardiniere with its original pedestal occupies the upper half of that run, plain pots the lower, and the Art Nouveau stoneware jardiniere-and-stand pieces are the highest-priced lots outside the figurines. Silver mounts and pairs pull upward within their own form: a silver-rimmed tea caddy, a silver-mounted tankard, paired tazzas and vases.
The bottom of the range is domestic and mid-century. The 1949 Series pitchers, Dickens subjects and the Sir Roger de Coverley bowl are the cheapest titles in the sample, and the small smoking and tea accessories, match strikers, a tobacco jar, teapots, sit with them.
Antique Royal Doulton Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for royal doulton, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Dates in this category on Sellingantiques run from 1880 to 1950.
The Antique Royal Doulton Glossary
- HN number
- The factory's figure-model reference, quoted in the majority of figurine titles, as in HN 1619 or HN 756. A title with the number and the figure's name tells you more than one without.
- Jardiniere
- A ceramic plant holder, spelled several ways across titles and sometimes called a cachepot or planter. The larger ones come with a purpose-made pedestal stand, sold as one lot.
- Stoneware
- The dense, high-fired salt-glazed body used for the Lambeth art pottery. It appears in ten titles and underpins the Victorian and Edwardian side of the category.
- Slater's patent
- A Doulton surface treatment named in titles, sometimes as Slaterware, giving textured impressed decoration.
- Series ware
- Transfer-decorated tablewares to a named theme. The 1949 Series pitchers and the Dickens subjects, The Old Curiosity Shop and Oliver Twist, are the examples here.
- Kingsware
- A dark treacle-glazed decorative ware, named in one title on a whisky flask with a golfing motif.
Antique Royal Doulton: Frequently Asked Questions
What does the HN number on a figurine mean?
It's the factory's model reference for that figure, and it's quoted freely in titles alongside the figure's name.
Across the archive the numbers run from HN 756 at the low end to HN 1914, the latter noted in its title as a first-year version of 1939. Some figurine titles also carry a registered design number.
How old are these pieces?
The dated listings run from 1880 to 1950. The 1930s is the busiest single decade, with the 1920s, 1940s and 1900s close behind.
Eleven listings give no year and use Victorian, 19th Century or Edwardian instead, and several titles hedge with a range such as c1922-36. Treat the decade as indicative rather than exact.
Why do jardinieres sometimes come with a stand?
The pot and its matching pedestal were made as a pair and are sold as one lot. Eight of the eighteen jardinieres recorded include the stand.
Those eight sit in the upper half of the jardiniere run, and the largest piece in the category with a stated size is one of them, at 19 inches.
Which forms turn up most often?
Figurines and jardinieres. Figurines account for about a quarter of titles and make up the bulk of what's currently for sale; jardinieres are roughly a fifth.
Behind them come stoneware vases and art pottery, tea and coffee wares, series ware, and a small run of six orchid-painted cabinet dishes.
What are the unusual one-off pieces?
The category is miscellaneous, and several things appear once and once only. A pair of bonsai planters with a model number, a Kingsware whisky flask, a country-house hot water can.
Also a 1905 Nelson commemorative tea set, a biscuit barrel made for a biscuit firm, a silver-mounted tankard, a pair of tazzas, and a group of four seated spaniels.
Are Lambeth and Burslem pieces different?
The factory names appear in titles as identifiers. Lambeth is the London stoneware pottery, and the salt-glazed and Slater's-patent art wares belong to that side.
Burslem is the Staffordshire factory added in the 1870s, and the twentieth-century bone-china figures and tablewares come from that tradition. The Royal prefix followed a royal warrant at the end of the nineteenth century.