MARGARET (PEGGY) DAVIES AT ROYAL DOULTON

The number of Royal Doulton collectors, especially those who treasure figurines with the HN numbers, is inestimable.  How many of us collectors know about the designers who made these figurines such a collectable phenomena?  This is a guide that will provide you with information about Margaret (aka Peggy) Davies, one of the most successful modellers/ designers at Royal Doulton during the 1950s - 1970s.

Most Famous Designs

Margaret Davies' designs fall into three main categories.  Throughout this guide, I will display pictures of the designs that fall into each one and further describe each category.  Her work can be divided as follows:

1. The Crinoline Ladies -- Part of the Fair Ladies
2. Animals -- especially Dog Champions & Miniature Sets
3. Special Projects --  limited to Editions of 500.

Margaret's Humble Beginnings

Margaret (Peggy) Davies was born in Burslem at the heart of the English potteries, only a stones throw from the Royal Doulton Burslem works.

As a result of catching Tuberculosis as a young child she spent much of her early years in and out of hospitals and recuperation centres. It was no wonder that she fell far behind with her schoolwork. Luckily one of her teachers spotted her artistic talent and was happy to let her concentrate on this instead of the more academic studies.

Times were hard in the 1920s and Margaret 'Peggy' Davies was sent to live with her grandparents who were better able to cope with her special needs. Her grandfather was a working engineer in a local potbank and lived in a large house attached to the works.

Brown Kitten  HN2579 

Margaret's Early Opportunities

At the age of just twelve Margaret Davies won a scholarship to the Burslem College of Art where she could nourish her natural gift for art and sculpture and she studied there full time for several years under the tutorage of Gordon Forsyth. Before her course was finished her family circumstances necessitated that she seek employment so she found a part time position as an assistant to a local ceramic designer by the name of Clarice Cliff which allowed her to finish her course on a part time basis.

In 1939 she moved to Royal Doulton to become assistant to Cecil Noke, the Burslem works art director ( son of Charles Noke who was art director at Royal Doulton before him ) and at the same time set up a small workshop studio at home. It was not her fault of course but the timing could have been better.

World War II Affects Margaret's Career

The start of the Second World War played a major part in the development of all potteries, and their workforces, including Royal Doulton and Margaret Davies. When an incendiary bomb partly destroyed her home she decided to join the war effort by becoming a nurse and despite her inherent lack of size and strength she eventually found a hospital that was prepared to take her on and train her.

Ginger Kitten HN 2582

Margaret (Peggy) Davies Becomes a Major Success

After the war Margaret Davies went back to her first love and set up a new workshop studio in her garden at home. From here she worked as a freelance under contract to Royal Doulton and produced a long stream of new figure models for the Doulton HN series. The late designer made an unequalled 250 figures at Royal Doulton before leaving in 1982.
The following sections describe and display the models for which Margaret (Peggy) Davies became the most famous.

The Crinoline Ladies

There are more fair ladies than other type of Doulton figurine; each one has characteristics developed by a specific modeller.  In Margaret Davies case, she created  what are The Crinoline Ladies.  Margaret, as a young girl, had ambitions to be a ballerina.  Consequently, she excelled at creating fair ladies with swirling gowns that conveyed movement in the folds of the fabric.  One can see this in her models beginning with the first, Christmas Morn HN 1992, in 1946.  Her figurines, during the 50s and 60s, were all inspired by dancers.  One can see this in the full, lovely gowns that she created for each.  Here are some examples of what became known as The Crinoline Ladies.

         HN2304 Adrienne                 HN2237 Celeste

Many of Margaret's Crinoline Ladies were part of collections within the fair ladies.  An example of this  is Hostess of Williamsburg from the Series entitled "Characters from Williamsburg."  Here is her picture:

                                                       The Hostess of Williamsburg HN2209

Another facet of Margaret Davies' The Crinoline Ladies were her models of young girls in fashions of the past.  A remarkable feature of these young girls, in addition to having the full crinoline skirts, is that each had the same detail of the full-sized figurines.  They usually were about 5 inches (12.7 cm) in height.  Some examples of these young girls are HN 2148 The Bridesmaid, HN 2154 A Child from Williamsburg, and HN 2338 Penny, whose picture is shown below:

    HN 2338 Penny

To summarize Margaret Davies modelling career during the 1950s and 1960s is to say that The Crinoline Ladies were its mainstay.  She and another modeller, Mary Nicoll, did most of the fair ladies during that area.

The Animals of Margaret (Peggy) Davies

Margaret was very fond of animals and created a large number of them for Royal Doulton.  She submitted so many of them that not even she knew the exact count.  Many of them were shelved for later use and are still unattributable.  Margaret especially loved cats and could do them very well.  Her talent for designing cats thus carried over to all types of domestic and farm animals.  She could do exceptional designs of hares, penguins, birds, and dogs.

Margaret made two contributions to the Championship Dog Series.  Although most of the dogs were designed in 1931, Margaret added the Pointer HN 2624 in 1952 and the Doberman Pinscher HN 2645 in 1955.

Perhaps Margaret's animals that are the most fun to collect are her miniatures.  The Character Kittens were completed in 1941 and remained in production until 1985/1986.  There are six kittens in all; three are ginger and three are brown.  Three face to the left and three face to the right so that they display well.  Here are the pictures of all six kittens divided into the ginger group and the brown group.

Ginger Kittens from left to right: HN 2583, HN 2582, HN  2584

Brown Kittens from left to right: HN 2579, HN 2580, HN 2581

The other set of well-known miniature animals are The Piglets, which are pale pink on a grassy mound.  In the six piglet set, three face to the left and three face to the right.

Margaret (Peggy) Davies and her Special Projects

Margaret Davies had sucessfully proven herself as a leading designer of fair ladies and animals.  To continuely develop her skills, she designed several large pieces that could be described as larger, more impressive and more difficult to create.  Two of these ambitious pieces are the Indian Brave HN 2376, which Margaret modelled in 1967, and The Palio HN 2428, which she did in 1971.  Both were produced in limited editions of 500 pieces each. Here is a picture of The Palio, which is 17.5 inches (44.5 cm) high:

     The Palio HN 2428

Today  Margaret is better known for her limited edition collections of Lady Musicians and Dancers of the World.

Margaret (Peggy) Davies Leaves Royal Doulton

In 1982   Margaret formed her own company with her son Rhodrie. In 1986 she met Kevin Pearson and Francis Salmon from Kevin Francis and agreed to produce an exclusive range of pieces for them. Upon her death in 1989 her son Rhodrie took over the production of the Factory and in 1994 Rhodrie purchased the UK rights to Kevin Francis from Kevin and Francis.  With these limited editions - made in Stoke-on-Trent - the legacy continues. Peggy Davies died in 1989 leaving a company with her name as a legacy.

  HN 2584

References

Jean Dale The charlton Standard Catalogue of ROYAL DOULTON FIGURINES 7th Edition

     The Carlton Press

Jocelyn Lukins Collecting Doulton Animals 1990 Venta Press

Photographs Figurines owned by author except for The Palio