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Francesca ... introduction

Francesca

Francesca thimble character heads are the most prolific. According to The Thimble Collector's Guild in September 1985, Francesca were a small family firm in the heart of the Staffordshire potteries. They named them as Francesca Art China.
'Baby Bunting' was first offered for sale in their catalogue of September 1984.

The company is no longer in existence. I believe that Francesca were taken over by Sutherland China, who used some of the Francesca moulds and destroyed the rest. Compare the Francesca head thimbles with the Sutherland China heads and you will notice the similarity in the shapes!

I understand from new information coming to light with the surge in interest in Francesca thimbles on eBay, that Francesca was started by a group of breakaway painters from Royal Doulton in the 1970s but thimbles only made their appearance from 1982. Francesca probably began their range with handpainted figurines, the earliest of which with the Francesca backstamp on and signed, being 1977.

The thimbles have the Francesca backstamp [an italic F], plus 'Staffordshire England' and usually the painter's initials, with a two-digit date, all lettered on the inside. The dates on their thimbles range from 1982 to 1990. From observation there seem to be some Francesca thimbles that are unsigned, or have the Francesca backstamp missing, or have no markings at all. They are obviously Francesca thimbles: could these be from the later end of the production, as some have an 89 date but no "F"? Or they could be early "experiments"?
You will also notice that there is an increasing appearance of unpainted, tho glazed, character heads - are these seconds or just unpainted stock - surely defeating the purpose of collecting these delightful handpainted range of thimbles? Many do carry the Francesca backstamp.

All the thimbles are handpainted and the finish is glossy, not matt. Being handpainted by a range of artists has led to colour variations and even variety in expressions. If you are a collector of Royal Doulton figurines, you will know the effect of a fine handpainter, against an average one!

The following 27 painters' initials have been found in Francesca thimbles. It would be wonderful to discover all the full names of these talented painters. I have shared these names in the spirit they have been offered from collectors of the Francesca handpainted range - some still can't be verified at this stage. Can you help?

A D = Anthea Derry
A E = Alice Eckenstein
A G
B B = B Bream
D B = D Broom
D S
G C = G Czapski
G E [unverified]
I E [unverified]
I S = Ivan Sutton
J K = J Kelsall [or Kelshaw]
J L
J P = John Price
J S = Joan Sutton
K H
K S = K Sylvester
K T = K Taylor
K Y [unverified]
M B = M Banks
M M = Michael J Middling
M W = Minnie Webb
M Y = M Young
N E = N Evans
P A = Pat Ansell
P N
R B = Robert Band
R H = Ron Hearson
R S = Ray Shufflebotham [signs R Shuff]
[was this the first painter to break away
from Royal Doulton - ie the founder of Francesca?
your thoughts?]
S J = Stan Jones
T K = T Kelshaw

Under the Francesca backstamp, mini character jugs and candle snuffers were also produced.

 
these are included for completeness to show these non-thimble shapes - they are the Francesca tiny - not mini - character jugs.

I have divided the Francesca thimbles by the various character groups and then alphabetised them. The Francesca pairs are listed with the male character first. Where possible I have included the Dickensian story those ones relate to.

Recently I was so fortunate and happy to be sent copies of the original pamphlets advertising Francesca thimbles. I can't see if they are dated, but it interesting to note the "subject" groupings used by Francesca, which I have tried to follow.

American Collection

4 Presidents

Abraham Lincoln unpainted backstamped version	American Bald Eagle	George Washington I unhatted unpainted backstamped version	George Washington II hatted unpainted [white] hat version
Huckleberry Finn	Lady Liberty	Mark Twain	Martha Washington

Theodore Roosevelt unpainted backstamped version

Thomas Jefferson unpainted backstamped version pair showing colour variety version

Tom Sawyer unpainted-without hat backstamped version

Clowns

Bojangles [#720]

Coco [#715]

Cuddles [#716]

Sparkles [#719]

Whoopie [#717]

Winkie [#718]

The clowns are only named on the boxes and not in the thimbles
the numbering refers to the Francesca catalogue numbers

An identical example of the clown "Cuddles" has been found - painted in 1986 - that is named "Beppo" within the thimble

A very observant Francesca collector has noticed that the clown shapes correspond to the Dickensian character shapes. What do you think? I think it shows how artistic and brilliant the Francesca painters were!!
Look at "Cuddles" and "Artful Dodger" - "Whoopie" and "Mr Dick" - "Winkie" and "Tommy Traddles" - "Coco" and "Bill Sykes" - "Bojangles" and "Uriah Heep" - "Sparkles" and "Mr Micawber"

Composers

Bach

Beethoven

Mozart

Schubert pair showing glossy & matt versions

Dickens Collection

Artful Dodger [--Oliver Twist--]	Bill Sykes [--Oliver Twist--]	Bullseye [--Oliver Twist--]	David Copperfield unpainted version [--David Copperfield--]
Estella unpainted version [--Great Expectations--]	Fagin [--Oliver Twist--]	Little Dorritt [--Little Dorritt--]	Little Emily [--David Copperfield--]
Little Nell [--The Old Curiosity Shop--]	Magwitch unpainted backstamped version [--Great Expectations--]	Miss Haversham unpainted backstamped version [--Great Expectations--]	Mr Bumble [--Oliver Twist--]
Mr Dick part painted version unpainted backstamped version [--David Copperfield--]	Mr Micawber unpainted version [--David Copperfield--]	Mr Pickwick [--The Pickwick Papers--]	Mrs Squeers unpainted backstamped version [--Nicholas Nickleby--]
Nancy [--Oliver Twist--]	Nicolas Nickleby [--Nicolas Nickleby--]	Oliver Twist [--Oliver Twist--]	Pecksniff unpainted version [--Martin Chuzzlewit--]
Pip unpainted version [--Great Expectations--]	Sairey Gamp [--Martin Chuzzlewit--]	Scrooge [--A Christmas Carol--]	Sergeant Bux Fux unpainted version [--The Pickwick Papers--]

Smike [--Nicolas Nickleby--]

Tiny Tim [--A Christmas Carol--]

Tommy Traddles [--David Copperfield--]

Uriah Heap unpainted version [--David Copperfield--]

Wackford Squeers [--Nicholas Nickleby--]

Dogs

Border collie	Labrador - black	Labrador - gold	Old English sheepdog
Springer spaniel - black	Springer spaniel - liver	West Highland Terrier	Yorkshire Terrier

Famous Collection
Many of these are famous pairs

Drake signed & named	Duke of Wellington	Josephine	Lady Hamilton
Lord Nelson [with or without a hat]	Napolean [with or without a hat]	Sir Walter Raleigh [unpainted version]	Winston Churchill [with or without a hat]

Floral Bonnets
This is a set of 12 thimbles with four differently shaped hats - two types of bonnets, brimmed hats and cloches. Each has a flower attached but the flower is not named inside the thimble
There are identical thimbles that are also are named for the months of the year. The month is lettered inside the thimble
First offered for sale thru The Thimble Collectors' Guild in Scotland, in July 1985

month backstamp

Anemone aka February	Christmas Rose aka November	Cornflower
Dogwood aka October	Forget-me-nots aka August	Holly aka December
Narcissus aka January	Pansy	Pink Rose aka April
Primrose aka July	Violet aka March	Wild Rose aka September

Literary Collection
Many of these thimbles are pairs

Anne Hathaway	Anthony	Charles Dickens	Cleopatra
Desdemona	Dr Watson	Juliet	Lady MacBeth
MacBeth unpainted version	Othello	Robbie Burns	Romeo

Sherlock Holmes

Tam O'Shanter

William Shakespeare

Royalty Collection
These are famous Royal couples

Albert	Charles II [with or without a hat]	Duke of Cambridge	Earl of Essex
Elizabeth I	Mary Queen of Scots unpainted version	Nell Gwynn	Victoria

Snowmen

Bowler

Cap

Top hat unpainted version

Trilby unpainted version

Tudor Collection
This set of seven thimbles, featuring Henry and his wives, is boxed.
They are often displayed on a sloping vertical wooden rack, which was a free item on purchase of the set.

Henry VIII

Anne Boleyn

Anne of Cleves

Catherine Howard

Catherine of Aragon

Jane Seymour

Katherine Parr

Others

Baby Bunting - blue

Baby Bunting - pink

Baby Bunting - pink with crib Bay Banting - blue with crib the crib forms a pintray

Good King Wenceslas unpainted backstamped version with a gold crown version colourway

John Paul II

Any questions or comments?
thimbleselect@bigpond.com

Last updated 13 April 2012

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