Figure thisIn the mid 1980’s I bought some small china figurines of dancers. Since then we have collected quite a number of dancers of various sorts but these have always been a puzzle. They were obtained in ones and twos from various local junk, bric-a-brac and antique shops but since then I have never seen one.
My theory is that they were cheap imports sold by someone like Woolworth’s to grace the mantelpieces in parlours of the 1930’s for those that couldn’t afford the Coalport and Royal Doulton figurines (still available).
They have no makers mark but some have a number moulded into the base, sometimes with the word “Foreign”. There are five in my collection viz:—
165mm high round base marked Foreign 8455.
175mm high round base marked 8456. The pink one is also marked Foreign indicating, perhaps, that the mould was later modified.
150mm high oval base with no markings. This may be a separate, smaller series.
150mm high oval base marked 8733.
I rather like them; they are graceful and the hand painting is quite well done, though the facial expressions can be a bit odd. The source of all knowledge on knick-knacks (eBay) doesn’t seem to have come across them. Antiques Roadshow here I come or can anyone tell us anything about them?
Webmaster
I have seen one (like the green example, second row down) in an antique shop in North Wales. This is the first for many years. They wanted over £50 for it so perhaps mine are a good investment. The owner didn’t know anything about them either.
I have the pink figurine marked 8455 and i know nothng about them eaither. i paid $4 canadian are they worth much more?
In Canada! So they got about a bit. No, I still know nothing about them. $4 seems like a bargain. I should imagine that they are getting scarce as I see very few around and that should put the price up but without any information about the maker they won’t get very valuable.