Please help with manufacture date of figurines

Hello, all. More than 20 years ago, when my grandmother passed away, my mother got her figurines, and said they were Royal Doulton. When my mother passed away last month, I took a look at them, and noticed that only one was Royal Doulton, and the other three were Florence Ceramics. Because I know my grandmother cherished them, I saved them from the “donate” bin, and have them at home.

My knowledge of Florence Ceramics is very limited. I know that Florence Ward started Florence Ceramics in Pasadena in the 1940s, that Florence was known for intricate hand-painted period accurate designs, and that they operated in Pasadena until around 1964. I noticed that these figurines seem to have different marks on the bottom, so I was wondering as to when each was made. I couldn’t find a date code for the Royal Doulton figurine. The particular model apparently started being made in the 1930s, and continued for decades. I would appreciate any guidance as to when these were made.

The largest Florence on the far left is just shy of 8” and is the Lillian model. The two next ones are around 6” tall. The pink one is Elaine, and the teal one is Irene. The last one is the Royal Doulton Dinky Do, number 1678.



Back side. I don’t know why this is upside down. It is right side up in my photo gallery, and even after flipping it, it still posted like this. Irene is really the only one with gold paint on the back (of the head).




Bottom of Lillian.




Bottom of Elaine.



Bottom of Irene. It has a different Florence stamp than the other two.



Bottom of Royal Doulton. The HN 1678 model number is handwritten, as is “BM” below it. There is also an incised “10.” This figurine appears iridescent. There are several exemplars online with different date codes, and this one doesn’t seem to match exactly.




I noticed that on all three Florence figurines, there are other exemplars online with dresses painted in different colors or with more detail (particularly the Irene, with the front pleat, incised scroll on the back of the dress, etc.), with different color hair, etc. So, perhaps different dress colors and hair colors were produced during different years. Also, my grandmother lived in New England when she bought these, a continent away from Florence’s home base in California; I do not know if some color combinations were more popular on certain parts of the country than in others.


Thank you, all!

 

"BM" is probably the decorator.

As for the Florence different colors. That might be attributed to the different painters that she employed.

Wait for other comments

 

Circled what might be the decorator mark.
"Lillian"

 

Thanks.

Can anyone determine the manufacture date the Florence figurines by the makers mark?