Flutterby Patch

The tale of Bunnykins china

In Wednesday's post I showed you 3 balls of yarn and a Bunnikins mug and asked if you could guess what I was planning. Sadly I have to disappoint those of you who thought I might be pregnant or expecting a new grandchild, neither is correct I'm afraid. The answer is a lot less exciting... another knitting pattern! Whenever I see Royal Doulton's Bunnykins china I'm immediately transported back to the days of my early childhood. The top two dishes belonged to my brothers but the bowl and plate at the bottom were both mine. As a tot I ate my porridge every day from the bowl and golden syrup sandwiches from the plate. For me it is a perfect example of what nursery china should look like, simple, sturdy, colourful and fun. I'm not a lover of the action scenes depicting modern animations that decorate some of today's nursery ware. Little people don't need excitement when they are eating. Bunnykins fun comes from the anticipation of finding those beautifully detailed scenes beneath the food when you have been 'very good' and cleaned your plate. And what little conversation pieces they are.

During all these years of admiration for Bunnykins china I have never once considered its history, until now that is, and the story behind its existence makes quite a touching little tale. In the early 1930s Mr Cuthbert Bailey was the general manager of Royal Doulton's Burslem pottery in Stoke-on-Trent. His young daughter Barbara had become a nun many miles away in Sussex and he missed her very much. His visits were infrequent and strictly controlled by the convent and he saw very little of her. During one of his visits however he asked her a favour. Barbara had always shown a talent for drawing and so he asked her to try and design something that might be suitable for a new line in the nursery china that Royal Doulton was planning. As she had a great love for both children and animals she had no hesitation in creating families of little rabbits enjoying the everyday life she had known as a child. Families cooking, picnicking, fishing, dancing and even a father rabbit bespectacled and pipe-smoking based on her own father. Although the Reverend Mother of the convent was unimpressed, the Bunnykins range was introduced by Royal Doulton in 1934 and was an instant success. Reverend Mother continued to be discouraging about the Doulton venture and demanded that Sister Barbara work at it in secret. And so she drew and painted each little scene very late at night, by candlelight, alone in her cell.

 

Working quietly and alone Sister Barbara provided all the Bunnykins designs until the Second World War (66 in total). Since then designs have been produced by a succession of other artists faithful to her original style. Bunnykins china is still being made to this day; the only Royal Doulton range to have endured so long. Sister Mary Barbara Bailey died at the convent in 2003 at the age of 92. Her obituary, printed at the time in The Independent newspaper, can be seen here.

Above is a page from 'The History of Children's China - Part II'. Bunnykins ware is featured on page 141 along with an advertisement for the range dating from 1953.

 

If you collect, or are interested in children's vintage china then both the above books are an excellent source of information and photographs (mainly black and white).

On the right - Gifts for Good Children, the History of Children's China 1790 -1890 by Noel Riley and on the left The History of Children's China, Part II 1890 - 1990 by Maureen Batkin.

Run rabbit, run
I love the little rabbits that run endlessly round the rim of Bunnikins china so have produced my own knitted version (below). I have embroidered little pink daisies between the bunnies in the top row. Small blades of green grass in straight stitch would also be effective.

Making little white fluffy tails and stitching one onto each rabbit is a bit fiddly but the finished effect is worth the effort don't you think?

This chart can be used for knitting or cross stitch embroidery.  

If you are planning a gift for a tiny tot you might consider giving a piece of Bunnikins china together with a little knitted hat, jacket or blanket decorated with a row of running rabbits.

Little Bo-peep will travel to.....

I want to thank everyone who entered my little competition last week. I was very touched by so many nice comments and really do wish you could all be winners. Bo-Peep and her rascally sheep have been growing more and more excited in anticipation of travelling to a new home.

It is now time to reveal the name of the winner. The weight of Bo-peep and her sheep together with the piece of Lakeland stone is 226 g (8 oz).

Here are the entries which can be seen in the comment section of my 15th October post.

Martha 217 g, Andrea 204 g, Paula 270 g, Maria 227 g, Sabine 194 g, Mumintroll 290 g, Suzanne 218 g, Robyn 180 g.

Well done Maria, your guess was only 1 g more than the correct answer. Little Bo-peep is ready and waiting to travel to Spain. How exciting!

Figurines and firesides

I love figurines of all ages, shapes and sizes and have several around the house.  Here are just a few of the prettiest.

  "What are those sweet little Victorian maids doing perched on a mossy rock? I hear you ask. Well...I have a confession. I acquired them from an elderly gentleman when I was 8 years old. In those far off days, Victorian bisque figurines of this type were not greatly valued and so I was allowed to play with them. I immediately set about making the girls a 'romantic leafy bower' in the garden in which too frolic. The trouble was, I was the only person who knew of their frolicking and as a consequence the poor souls were left outside in all weathers for well over a year. Can you believe that?  Amazingly, as you can see, they came to no harm. Since then they have travelled through life with me and are now a precious possession. Today, for the first time, I took them back into the garden and I do believe their little faces lit up with joy and excitement as they recalled their past adventures. Rest assured however, their garden visit was short lived and they are now safely back on the sitting room shelf with my other treasures.

These two little china children date from the early 1960s. They were a birthday gift when I was a child and I have always loved them. They are designed as bookends but are not very stable so I have always used them for just the few small books that you can see here. The little girl's carrot has an end missing and I think her rabbit looks like the greedy culprit wouldn't you say?

Mr and Mrs Apple, made by Royal Doulton, are characters from Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge stories and date from the 1980s. I would love to live in the wonderful world of Brambly Hedge. Just look at that lovely little room with beamed ceiling reflecting the glow of a roaring log fire. Snow is falling outside the window and, here I quote from the 'Winter Story'... 'Mrs Apple had spent the afternoon baking pies, cakes and puddings for the cold days to come. She drew two armchairs up to the fire and brought their supper in on a tray'... Doesn't that sound just the cosiest place to live?

If you are not familiar with the Winter Story, do read it. In the bitter chill of midwinter the mice plan a magnificent ball in their Ice Hall, and what a ball it turns out to be. The accompanying illustrations are just wonderful.

Finally, dating from the 1980s, this sweet little girl with her dolly was a gift to my daughter from her grandma but I am currently looking after it. All girls (young and old) love dolls so I was thrilled to find some real beauties on Jenny's blog at Little Jenny Wren. She creates such cute little characters, hers are definitely some of my favourites. Recently Jenny was kind enough to mention my Flutterby Patch blog for which, many thanks Jenny.

Cottage gardens, fairies and rushy glens

Can you believe it? The sun is shining today and I have been able to get outside and do some of those little jobs around the garden that should have been completed (had the weather been kinder) several weeks ago. Sadly many of the apples in our little orchard have succumbed to the constant wind and rain but I was able to gather a basket of windfalls that I can cook and freeze for use later in the year.

This morning's apple picking episode brought to mind this little water-colour by Helen Allingham, the much loved painter of cottages and cottage gardens in the late Victorian era. The picture above was taken from an old book that I have about the artist that was published in 1903. It contains 80 coloured prints with information about each subject. This book is still available from sellers of antiquarian books.

The book below 'Victorian Flower Gardens' is a more recent publication and readily available. It contains a wealth of coloured pictures and information about many Victorian 'cottage artists'.

Helen Allingham was born Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson in Derbyshire in 1848. At the age of 17 she became a pupil at the Birmingham School of Design and just a year later was accepted into London's prestigious Royal Academy School. On completing her course she became a much sought after commercial artist and came into contact with many well known artists and writers. One of her greatest friends was Kate Greenaway. In 1874 she married renowned Irish poet William Allingham.

When the Allinghams moved to Sandhill near Whitley in Surrey, Helen began painting the old cottages she found in the area and her portrayals of country life and cottage gardens became much sought after by the Victorians.

 

An abundance of flowers in a summer garden was always a popular subject but so too were such subjects as cutting cabbages from a kitchen garden.

The 'cabbage cutting' picture above is by Helen Allingham, the one below was painted by Myles Birket Foster. He was not only Helen's close neighbour but had been her college tutor in London. Between them these two artists popularised country cottage life and Whitley quickly became a centre for the many artists who were inspired by the cottage theme.

Helen Allingham's husband William was born in Ballyshannon in Co. Donegal, Ireland. Her portrayal of a typical cottage in this remote area can be seen below.

William Allingham's home of Ballyshannon is close to the wild Atlantic on Ireland's west coast. It is a landscape of distant blue mountains, wild windy pastures that are scattered with boulders and tree-hidden glens that contain bubbling brooks. The picture below depicts the nearby coast where a series of arches have been carved in the rock by Atlantic breakers. These arches are known locally as 'The Fairy Bridges' and it is this feature and the surrounding wild countryside that inspired William to write his most famous poem 'The Fairies' which begins, 'Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen...' The full version can be found in my 'Poems and Wise Words' section, meanwhile the first two verses can be found below.

'The Fairy Bridges' near Ballyshannon inspired William Allingham to write his famous poem

 The Fairies 
William Allingham (1824-1889)

Up the airy mountain,
        Down the rushy glen,
    We daren't go a-hunting
        For fear of little men;
    Wee folk, good folk,
        Trooping all together;
    Green jacket, red cap,
        And a white owl's feather!

    Down along the rocky shore
        Some make their home,
    They live on crispy pancakes
        Of yellow tide-foam;
    Some in the reeds
        Of the black mountain lake,
    With frogs for their watch-dogs,
        All night awake.

I confess, I love Helen Allingham's work and that of other artists of that period who painted English country cottages and the peolpe who lived in them over a century ago. Their romantic images do not of course depict the widespread poverty that was found in rural areas at that time but today they are lovely to look at and allow us to fill our heads with dreams of our own rural idyll.

More information about Helen Allingham and illustrations of her many paintings can be found here