Collectors of early Britains figures will be interested in an extremely rare and rather special lot that came up for auction in the Northwest of England in November. The action house cataloguer was amazed when he opened a rather tatty cardboard box and found hiding inside . . . . an original Edwardian Family by Britains, comprising mother and father each sitting in armchairs, the father smoking his pipe, the mother nursing the baby and complete with son and daughter, all dating from circa 1907. This was indeed a rare find.
The auctioneer described the lot as follows:
Britains – An exceptionally rare unboxed vintage 75 mm Edwardian Family set dating early 1900s. Only a small number are known to still exist. This lot contain all 5 figures; seated Father, seated Mother (missing 1 arm), Baby, Son and Daughter. Items show some age wear but good for their age. Some figures have pivoting arms.
The vendor informs us that both her grandfather and great grandfather amassed a collection of Britains
items including these and that they have been stored in the attic of her family home for over 50 years.
The auction house also referenced an article by Judd Tully in 2000 which quoted Daniel Agnew, (at that time) toy soldier specialist at Christies, South Kensington, stating that he believed there was only one complete set in existence, and that it was included in the Houston based insurance executive, Arnold J Rolak’s outstanding collection of Britains figures offered at Christies at the turn of the century.
The “good for their age” description of condition appears a little generous, based on the images shown here. However, there is no doubt that this is an exceptionally rare item. It was eventually knocked down for £1,500 (around $1,875 at current exchange rates, excluding commission charges).
Previous references to the Edwardian Family
Correspondence with Joe Wallis and Norman Joplin highlights that this is not the first time that these figures have featured in the magazine and other publications. Vic Medcalf’s brief article in Volume V (April 1981), issue #2, pages 4-5 Old Toy Soldier magazine was the first to mention the “Edwardian Family”. This included a black-and-white photo which shows the son with broken ankles and missing his base, as well as his moveable right arm. The daughter in this set was also missing her moveable left arm, and the seated mother her left arm.
Britains Civilian Toy Figures by Norman Joplin (assisted by Arnold Rolak, Phil Dean and Joe Kunzleman)
has a great colour photo on page 7, with a brief description at the bottom of page 6. Comparing these two photos seem to suggest that Arnold Rolak probably acquired the same set featured by Medcalf, but had the base of the son replaced. This set was subsequently sold in the Christie’s sale of the Arnold Rolak Collection. This item was never shown in any official Britains catalogue.
The photos of the recent Cheshire Auction lot exhibit only one missing arm—that of the mother – a second surviving example beyond the one featured by Medcalf that Rolak subsequently owned.
The bases of the son and daughter are both stamped Wm Brtains and Copyright. According to Garrett this suggests they were made between 1900 and1914.
One suspects that a few more may have survived, safely housed in Dolls Houses, their owners perhaps unaware of the interest that they would inspire in collectors of Britains figures.
The accompanying images are taken from the British Toy Auctions’ website.
