Louise Irvine, the renowned Royal Doulton expert and author

Pascoe & Company
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The King of Collectibles
Louise Irvine, the renowned Royal
Doulton expert and author, highlights
a treasure from the Pascoe & Company
Collection.
King’s Ware, as it was first known, was perfected by Charles Noke in the
late 1890s. For some years Noke had been experimenting with sepia
tones for slip-decorated wares which he named Holbein and Rembrandt
after the old master painters. However, the ingenious new decorating
technique that he developed for Kingsware made it economically viable
for larger scale production. Instead of the traditional method of handpainting on the surface of a vase, the interiors of the plaster molds were
painted in light colored slips (liquid clay). Dark brown slip was then
poured in to the molds and fused with the painting to create an effective
design in relief. Collectors enjoy the rich color variations that occur with the
mingling of the slips from a dark treacle brown to a greenish hue. The
white lettering was slip-trailed by hand so interesting variations also occur.
McCallum Character Jug H. & Here’s a Health Unto His Majesty Flask H. 9 in. LE. 900
Bill Sykes Flask H. 7.25 in.
Leather Bottle Flask H. 6.25 in.
Tavern Barrel L. 7 in.
Dick Turpin Flask H. 8 in.
Bacchus Flask H. 8.5 in.
Kingsware became one of Doulton’s most lucrative products when Noke
was commissioned to design whisky flasks for famous distillers, such as
Dewars of Perth, and these are avidly collected today. Each year at
Christmas time distillers would order new containers to be sold with their
blended whiskies. Dickens characters conjured up the spirit of the festive
season and Scottish subjects were often chosen to reflect the origin of the
flask contents. Other popular themes included the traditional British field
sports of hunting, shooting and fishing. Swashbuckling heroes and
characters from literature and folklore were subjects dear to Noke’s heart
and they were inspiration for Kingsware as well as his Series Ware and
figurative designs.
Hooked Flask H. 6.5 in.
Huntsman Fox Flask H. 6.75 in.
Coachman Flask H. 10.5 in.
Kingsware catalog
Jester Jug H. 6.75 in
Golfing Jug H. 9 in
The tavern trade led to many other drinking and smoking accessories,
including tobacco jars, ashtrays, barrels, tankards and toby jugs. Some of
Noke’s flasks incorporate modeled heads and some are full figures
fashioned into bottle form, as with the rare Bacchus flask. Noke used the
Kingsware body for two toby jugs in 1910 and his commission to model
McCallum’s Highlander logo (cover) led him to the launch of his famous
character jug and toby collection in 1934. In addition to the whisky
advertising flasks, Kingsware designs were also produced as luxury gifts
for gentlemen’s studies. Silver mounts were often added in the early
1900s by prestigious retailers, such as George Betjemann & Sons of
London.
Queensware Dickens Jug H. 7.5 in.
Kingsware Dickens Jug H. 7.5 in.
Airbrush Brown Dickens Jug H. 7 in.
Queensware Elizabeth I Jug H. 6.5 in.
Collecting Doulton Kingsware book.
Order from Pascoe & Company
Kingsware Flask collection in a bar setting
Arthur Eaton was one of the leading artists in the slip painting department
which produced Kingsware, Holbein and Rembrandt wares. In 1927, young
Fred Moore joined as an assistant and learned how to pipe the raised
lettering on to the Kingsware to create titles or quotes, a bit like icing a
cake. Such were the orders for Kingsware whisky flasks in the 1930s that
more decorators joined the slip painting department and extra hands were
brought in from other studios.
Queensware was made by the same process as Kingsware but with an
ivory slip body. The muted color scheme was not as popular making
Queensware designs harder to find today. At first glance, it is sometimes
difficult for collectors to distinguish Queensware from the typical underglaze airbrushed decoration employed by Doulton for similar subjects in
the 1930s. This is often described as ‘Air Brush Brown’ and is generally
crisper in color and definition.