SUGARLUMP STUDIO
Here are some hand-painted figures produced by the Sugarlump Studio,a small Hampshire pottery.
Unfortunately,they ceased production in October 2002 citing high UK production costs.
Which isparticularly unfortunate when the subsequent emergence of Chinese outsourcing seems to have rescued what's left of our ceramics industry. Even underpinning similar small companies like Robert Harrop,best known for their Trumpton range.And showing that it's worth sending even small production runs half way round the world because the labour rates are so much cheaper.
But it came too late for Sugarlump and after 7 years of production that was that.
And quite a sudden decision too apparently,because their Herbs collection is incomplete,with some never making it into production at all and others only running to a handful of examples.With the rarest being Bayleaf,with one selling on eBay for over 600 pounds in June 2008 -incredible really and I've taken a screenshot of the listing for posterity -here.
But that's what happens when there's plenty of demand and very little supply of course.
The Sugarlump website is still accessible.(link at bottom of page),and after the Company's demise,it was being maintained by the guy who designed it,Adam Bull - "....free of charge in my spare time,because I'm a big fan of Andrew's work,and believe that the information may still be useful to collectors".
The "Andrew" mentioned btw is Andrew Clark,the sculptor,founder and owner.And a man who clearly wanted to draw a line under the whole venture,as he failed to renew the domain name in 2005.
But,fortunately,it was bought by a fan who simply wanted to secure the site's future.So,after a brief hiatus,Adam's back maintaining it with the new owner's blessing,and that's apparently the plan for the foreseeable future-ie. to keep it ticking over.Although I suppose the sensible thing would be to transfer the domain over to him as well,but we'll see.
And in the absence of a collector's club or fansite,the pics below also act as a safety net -just in case their site doesn't stay the course.
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The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley
CLASSIC BBC KID'S ANIMATION DEVISED & WRITTEN BY MICHAEL BOND
IF YOU SKIPPED THE TEXT ABOVE,
THE COMPANY CEASED TRADING IN 2002.
SO THE WEBSITE IS STILL KEPT TICKING OVER JUST AS AN ONLINE EPITAPH REALLY
BUT YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE OTHER RANGES THEY PRODUCED,INCLUDING ONES FOR THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT AND THE CLANGERS.
AND YOU'LL FIND ANSWERS TO QUITE A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COMPANY AND ITS' PRODUCTS IN THEIR GUESTBOOK.
"CHIVE 1"
"CHIVE 3"
DANBURY MINT
In 1994 Danbury Mint released a series of 12 fine porcelain collector's plates entitled "The Golden Age of Children's Television".Each one is approximately 8" in diameter,trimmed in 22ct gold,and came with a certificate of authenticity.
And the image is a transfer-printed still photo taken from each of the following........
Muffin The Mule, The Woodentops, Bill and Ben, Pinky & Perky, Pogles Wood, Magic Roundabout,
Trumpton, Camberwick Green, The Clangers, Paddington Bear, The Wombles, Oh,and The Herbs.
Well we've all got our own opinions about the choices of course.And decisions are presumably
made as much for licensing and financial reasons as any regarding their quality.
But who really knows how they decide these things ?
Personally,I'd have replaced the ludicrous Pinky and Perky with Bagpuss. (cue Pink Porker backlash !)
Good to see Pogles Wood included though as it's often overlooked.And no surprise that Camberwick
and Trumpton get a look in and poor old Chigley doesn't.
Impeccable taste choosing The Herbs of course.Although it's a bit of an odd choice to stick Mrs.Onion
and a Chive on it rather than,say,Sir Basil and Lady R. But hey-ho.
So,hand-painted and lovingly crafted they ain't.And whilst some might call them cheap tat,
it's certainly fair to say that they can all be picked up for next to nothing on ebay.
Which tells its own story I suppose.
www.danburymint.co.uk the full size pics are much better quality than the thumbs btw
BESWICK SCROLL DOWN for SUGARLUMP STUDIOS and DANBURY MINT.
The famous,John Beswick ceramics factory was established in 1894 in Longton,Stoke-on-Trent,bought by the Royal Doulton Group in 1969 and finally closed at the end of 2002.
They were synonymous with animal figures,both real and fictional.And produced this limited edition Herbs range in 2001,shortly before the closure (coincidental hopefully !)
Only Parsley,Dill,Sage and Bayleaf were modelled for some reason,with just 2,500 made of each.
Doubtless their value's been helped by the factory's demise.But,that's not something most genuine collectors would take a great deal of satisfaction from frankly.
And even though I'm not one of them,I still find the continuing erosion of our skill's
base pretty darn depressing.
No. 4056 "Sage the Owl" Height 7.5cm
No. 4057 "Dill the Dog" 8.9cm
No. 4058 "Parsley the Lion" 9.5cm
No. 4059 "Bayleaf the Gardener" 14.6cm
All were modelled by Shane Ridge and based on Ivor Wood's originals
(sourced from "Storybook Figurines" by Jean Dale.)
Individual pieces do crop up quite regularly on eBay.But a full set of 4 is more unusual.Although one sold for 299 in April 2008,and another popped up just a month later and went for 311.Which is certainly impressive but,incredibly,less than half the price of one particularly rare figure produced by the Sugarlump Studio (details further down)
"CHIVE 2"
"CHIVE 4"
These extra rear views were salvaged from that April 2008 listing,and are included just to give a more accurate 3D view. ( you get no idea of the extent of Dill 's hairdo from a front-on pic ! )
If you can supply some better pics though,then please do.
And does anyone know how much they sold for when they first came out ? (email on homepage)
