Beswick animals

By William Gregory MRICS, Golding Young and Mawer.

With over 3,000 model numbers issued and some 800 recorded models produced, there is plenty of choice of Beswick china ornaments.

Founded in 1894, the firm of John Beswick Chinaware was based at its Gold Street works in Longton, Stoke on Trent.

From the late 1930s, after Arthur Gredington became the first full-time modeller, the firm began producing animal figures and ornaments. By the 1950s the production had expanded to include Disney characters.

In 1969 the firm was sold to Royal Doulton, but the figures continued to be produced and by the late 1980s price guides and inventory catalogues were published, widening the collectability and raising values of the discontinued figures and models.

Throughout the 1980s, certain discontinued models became highly sought after. Limited production runs and separate colourways all added to the sense of rarity. Prices at auction and from dealers especially for the rarer models continued to rise, some into four figures.

Today the market is somewhat cooler, the internet having exposed the illusion of rarity, and the balance of supply and demand of secondhand figures has tended to favour the buyer.

The firm was again sold in 2004, and continues to produce animal figures, although not from the Gold Street works.

Golding Young & Mawer regularly sells the figures at auction.

Illustrated here are some of the recent models sold – if you want to find out more, details and hammer prices can be found at www.goldingyoung.com. Trust me, there is a lot to choose from.

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