Mr Rabbit Circa 1930's

1950's Wade Noddy In Box

In these financially difficult times when many people are wondering about the future, perhaps collecting could be a good hedge against inflation.  Where better to put your money than collectables?  After all there seems little point in keeping it in the bank with current rates of interest being so low.

Consider Wade figurines which have been produced since the 1930s.  They have shown a very healthy return on the initial modest cost.  Better one might think than had it been left in a bank to gather interest.
Take for example the TV Pets which were first released in 1959 and ran, on and off until 1965.  The original price was around 40 pence (£3/11d).  They all sell now for more than £20 and some for a lot more!  And the Noddy set that was first issued in 1958 and ran for three years.  Now that was a great investment!   Like the TV Pets they sold originally for 40 pence each. They are all valued now from between £50 and- £200.  Where else would you get that sort of

Whimsie-Nation Coming Soon From C&S

 return on such a small initial investment?
Even some Wade premiums given away by companies over the years have seen a remarkable increase in value like the set of Pigs issued by the NatWest Bank as an incentive for savers during the 1980’s and 90’s. Considering these were free, they now sell for anywhere between £20 and £350 if you are lucky enough to own a complete set including the elusive Wesley!
Over the years Wade collectables have increased in value in many different forms: Whimsies, Disney Figures, Felix the Cat, to name but a few.
Wade Betty Boops have also been a good investment and sell for a premium on the internet with some of the fair specials and special editions going for many hundreds of pounds.
So if you are looking for an interesting hobby that could result in financial gain, then Wade Collecting can be fun and financially rewarding in these difficult times.

C&S Showroom, Ford, West Sussex, UK

There are many books, internet resources and collector dedicated websites to be found on the subject of Wade collecting.  The most important resource to anyone who is interested in starting or adding to a collection is the www.wadecollectorsclub.co.uk . This club will keep you informed on any latest

1970's Wade Tom and Jerry

 developments in the Wade Collecting Circle and of course any new pieces which may be available to buy. There are several Wade gatherings during the year both in the UK and the USA where exclusive limited editions can be purchased and it really does become a social event, many collectors making new friends and acquaintances at the different shows held during the year. 

The latest offering for Wade Club members is a fabulous set of Survival Animals an original design for club members only and from C&S a fabulous new series called Whimsie-Nation a collection of Whimsies representing nations, traditions and various themes from around the world.

So if you have a financial investment in mind why not try Wade, a rewarding and fun collecting experience with the added bonus of a potential increase in value.

There’s room in every home for Wade!

Website resources

www.wadecollectorsclub.co.uk

www.cscollectables.co.uk

www.happywadeing.com

www.wadeattic.com

www.wadefest.com

Books available:
The World of Wade by Ian Warner and Mike Posgay

The World of Wade Whimsies by Ian Warner and Mike Posgay

Wade Whimsical Collectables by Pat Murray
Contact Details:
Wade Collectors Club 0845 246 2525 email club@wadecollectorsclub.co.uk

C&S Collectables Direct Ltd (exclusive Wade commissions) 01243 555371 email sales@cscollectables.co.uk

by David Chown

From her first appearance in the animated film Dizzy Dishes released on August 8th 1930 during the dark days of the Depression, Betty Boop quickly became a regular character in Max Fleischer’s Talkartoon features.  She was in fact first portrayed as a dog character, the love interest of Bimbo, also a dog in the early cartoons.  From Bimbo’s canine friend Betty Boop was gradually transformed, losing her dog characteristics, her floppy ears becoming earrings, into the cute and sexy figure known to millions throughout the world today. 
Bimbo had been the Fleischer Studios’ answer to Disney’s Mickey Mouse and it was Grim Natwick, the Fleischer Studios animator who was initially assigned to the Betty Boop character development. Her body is said to have been modelled on Mae West, while Mae Questal was her voice.     
There were more than one hundred Betty Boop cartoons produced including, “Betty Boop for President” (1932), “Bamboo Isle” (1932), and “Riding the Rails” (1938), which actually received an Oscar nomination.
Another favourite character in the cartoons was Grampy, the eccentric inventor who, after putting on his thinking cap, was able to solve any problem. Grampy’s way of doing things, was always fun, and to say the least, unique. Another character that showed up occasionally was Koko the clown, although he usually appeared as nothing more then an “extra” in Betty’s cartoons. And then there’s Pudgy, Betty Boop’s little dog. He’s featured in many of her cartoons; in fact there are a couple where he seems to have been the primary character.    Betty’s popularity began to decline after her creators were forced to “clean her up” under the Hays Code of 1930 which were a set of guidelines governing the production of  motion pictures which began to be enforced in 1934 and not abandoned until 1967.    The Code spelled out what was and was not considered acceptable in the production of American motion pictures so out went Betty Boop’s short skirt and garter.    Her hemline moved down to her knees, and her character took on more of a schoolteacher image.    Eliminating those elements  meant the end of her original persona, as it was the “cute” and “sexy” characteristics that had made Betty Boop so popular  
With the end of Hayes in 1967, Betty Boop returned to her original concept and  has grown enormously in popularity ever since and has become a classic character known throughout the world, as well as a dream come true in all areas of licensing where she is a hot property.
With the growth of her popularity in the UK, there are now many more products available on the market.   Toiletries at Boots, Fashionware at New Look, Debenhams, Next and Miss Selfridge, Night Ware at Allders, Asda, Etam and Topshop, as well as many other companies licensed to produce mouse pads, teapots, mobile phone fascias, greetings cards, shower curtains, air fresheners, clocks and watches and car mats to mention just a few.  And of course the Wade porcelain Betty Boops which have become so sort after by an ever growing band of admirers.

Wade Whimsies A Short History
by David Chown

Everyone knows whimsies, they may not always know Wade but they usually know whimsies, those small porcelain figures of animals, birds, mammals, reptiles etc. which fell from christmas crackers or were given away with tea and toothpaste and were as popular with children in their heyday as Pokemon or Star Wars are today . They were sold in most tobacconists and newsagents in colourful little boxes for around 15 pence each from the mid fifties to the mid eighties.
The brain child of Iris Carryer to keep the factory in work when the post war boom was slowing up, the name or so the story goes, was coined by Tony Wade’s secretary who thought that the little figures were whimsical.
According to Pat Murray, the first boxed sets of whimsies cost 5/9 (28 pence!) when they were first issued in 1954. The set consisted of a leaping fawn, a horse, a spaniel with a ball, a poodle and a squirrel. A boxed set 10 was sold in 2001 on an internet auction site for £420 which must be a record. Sets 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 were all produced at the Northern Ireland Wade plant in Portadown whilst the remainder were made in the UK.
In England, whimsies of every description and colour have poured from the Manchester Pottery of George Wade & Son Ltd in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent for nearly fifty years and could easily claim to be Wade’s most popular collectable product ever and are possibly still their most prestigious although now with the sale of the Manchester Pottery, production has been moved to Hilltop Work (the old Royal Victoria Pottery of Wade, Heath).
Popular for many years were Tom Smith’s crackers which contained a whimsie and no Christmas was complete in the UK without a cracker on the table at lunchtime. First used in 1973, the first eight had previously been available in Red Rose Tea in the late 60s. Also popular were Tom Smith’s Cats, Hedgerow and Nursery cracker sets. The company was taken over in 2000 and no longer contain whimsies, Christmas just didn’t seem the same until Wade themselves filled the gap and produced their own cracker.
Lately collectors have had to make do with the occasional new colourway rather than an entirely new whimsie. However in 2001 C&S commissioned Wade to produce the first Arthur Hare whimsie. 1750 were produced in blue for the UK market with a further 250 intended for the USA.
Red Rose have included whimsies in their tea since 1967 in Canada and due to their success, the promotion it was extended to the USA in 1983 and is still going strong today. Following on from the Circus set of fifteen whimsies and the Endangered Species set of ten, a completely new series is about to be released in the US by Red Rose. The Noah’s Ark series is due for release in May. All the whimsies have been modelled by Ken Holmes and the Ark, some six inches long by 4 inches high is the work of Cyril Roberts. The set, with the ark really does look great but it’s a shame that it will be difficult to obtain them in the UK except through our American tea drinking cousins! So watch out for the new series from Red Rose!
There are a number of books available from C&S which cover whimsies.

The End of An Era? by David Chown

In February 2002 I stood in driving rain as bulldozers began to demolish the Manchester Pottery, which for a number of years, with the old A.J Wade’s Flaxman Tile Works next door, has been known as Greenhead Works, and for 97 years previously, was the centre of the Wade empire. When the Manchester Pottery was built in 1905/06 it was simply George Wade, the company changing its name in 1919 to George Wade and Son when George Wade (later Sir George), fresh back from the trenches of the 1st World War, joined his father’s company. Later the name was changed again to Wade Potteries Ltd as the company was merged with the other Wade companies, ending its days as part of Wade Ceramics under the Beauford Group.
I knew I was watching the end of an era. Soon to be the site for a new housing development, I wondered, as the grimy red brick walls tumbled to the ground and were scooped on to waiting trucks, what Sir George would have thought of it? And what of Jessie Van Hallen’s studio where so many of her masterpieces first saw the light of day – all gone forever! A lot of Wade history has disappeared with the sale and distruction of the Manchester Pottery in Burslem but time moves on and so has Wade – and in this case to the bright and modern Royal Works across the road in Greenhead Street where, as I returned to my car, production continues as usual.

Watch This Space For Details of our Wade Internet E’vents. Details to be Announced

Now in it’s 14th year, Sunday 11th July is the date for this year’s Wade Collectors Meet. Once again the event will be held at the Official Wade Collectors Centre in Ford which is two miles south of Arundel town centre. (Ford Railway Stn is a ten minute walk away).

Wade Collectors Club
Jenny from the Wade Collectors Club will be attending with the latest releases from the Wade Club along with the special for the day. This year’s special will be an Arundel Fawn in a limited edition of 250 with 25 being a white edition mixed at random amongst the edition. Collectors Club members should pre-order the piece by contacting the club on 0845 2462525 or emailing club@wadecollectorsclub.co.uk with your membership details. There will also be a 100 sets of the very popular Tetley Band Whimsies with gold decoration. So make you plans early for this year’s Wade Collectors Meet.

C&S Collectables Direct Ltd
C&S will be releasing a Cheers to Fifteen Years Betty Boop. Standing approx 6″ tall this 150 limited edition colourway will be available at the Collectors Meet on a first come first served basis. Also from C&S will be a special set of Wade Pedigree Pets Jack Russell Whimsies with gold and silver decoration, a limited edition of only 100 sets. Our famous Wade lucky dip and Wade treasure chests will also be on offer.

Admission to the Collectors Meet on Sunday 11th July is £3 per person. Each paying visitor will receive a free blue Parrot Whimsie, however this year the first 30 collectors in line will each receive a free special colourwway exclusive Whimsie or they can choose to have the blue parrot – the choice will be yours if you are among the first thirty in line! (One of these special colourway Whimsies sold on ebay recently for over $500 US dollars)
We hope you can join us for the highlight of the Wade Summer Season

Collectors Meet Prize Bonanza
Hourly Prize Draws will be held at 11, 12, and 1pm for a gold fawn at each hour. The door draw prizes this year will be held at 2pm. The first prize is an all over Gold SpongeBob Money Box and second prize a one of a kind colourway Betty Boop Award Winner. Collectors will need to be present to win!

Light refreshments will be available from 8am so come and join other like-minded Wade Collectors for a fun day out in beautiful West Sussex.
 
We hope to see you there!

We have a limited number of collector tables available. If you are interested in standing at the event please complete our online booking form here. Table spaces cost £25 for a 3′ space, £50 for one 6′ table and £100 for two 6′ tables. Please specify which space is required when booking. Please note spaces are limited and will allocated on a first come first served basis. You may also call to book on 01243 555371. We are offering a free special Wade Piece to the first ten bookings so hurry this will be a special limited edition only available for early bookings. Don’t Miss Out!

Sir George Wade By David Chown

Sir George Wade was born plain George Albert Wade on July 19th 1891 in Burslem.   His father, also George, owned a pottery in Burslem and was a local Justice of the Peace (JP).    Young George had an older sister, Daisy but she died aged three in 1893 leaving George to grow up as an only child.

Whilst still very young the family moved to Watlands Hall in Porthill (near Burslem) and George attended Wolstanton Board School and later the Newcastle-under-Lyme High School.

At 15 George left school and joined the family business which at that time 1905, had just acquired the firm of Henry Hallen, his father’s old rival, and the company was moving into its new acquisition -  the Manchester Pottery.                                                                                           Young George worked for his father up to the outbreak of the First World War but on 5th August 1914 he signed up with the North Staffordshire Regiment as a private soldier where he stayed for three months before transferring to the South Staffordshire Regiment as a lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps seeing service in France and Egypt.   He was awarded the MC for valour in December 1917 with a Bar added in January 1919, the latter for his part in the crossing of the St. Quentin Canal in September 1918.

On his release from the Army in 1919 aged twenty six, Major George Wade was welcomed home by his family and friends.  His father made him a partner in the company – thereafter called George Wade & Son Ltd.

George had married Florrie Johnson on 18th September 1915 whilst on leave from the army and prior to him going to the Western Front.   She was the daughter of Samuel Johnson JP, a teapot manufacturer of some note.   Florrie was a gifted painter who had won a scholarship to go to Florence in Italy but her father had rejected this idea.   George and Florrie Wade had three children, Iris was born in 1917, Cynthia in 1922 and George Anthony Johnson in 1924.

   After the war the family moved to their new home in Sandy Lane, Newcastle-under-Lyme.   It was a large property with beautiful gardens which was originally called ‘Elersfield’ but which George changed to St. Quentin, no doubt after his wartime experiences. 

George Wade & Son Ltd. based in the Manchester Pottery, were manufacturers of gas and electrical components as well as other industrial ceramics and George Wade, the Major, made a conscious decision that he wanted to move towards the lucrative giftware market, no doubt having seen the success of both Wade Heath & Co Ltd at their Royal Victoria Works as well as A.J. Wade Ltd at the Flaxman Pottery.  With this in mind George hired Jessie Hallen to work for him at the Manchester Pottery initially modelling garden gnomes for Carter’s seeds progressing to flowers, animals and ladies.  (Link to Jessie Van Hallen File)

In 1930 Jessie was allowed to set up her own small department at Wade’s Manchester Pottery, reporting directly to George Wade himself. Here she produced her delicate floral arrangements, and now famous lady figurines.  With her great gift for modelling and his flair for marketing, they were a formidable pair.   Eventually Jessie had studios in all three factories.

   After the 1905 expansion of the company when George Wade Snr had bought out his rival Henry Hallen and acquired the Manchester Pottery, it was to be another twenty six years before the next expansion occurred.    In 1931 his son, Major George Wade became a director of both Wade Heath and A.J. Wade Ltd. and when A.J. Wade died in 1933 he became Chairman of both companies even though he was only a minor shareholder.  George senior retired in 1927 dying on New Years Day 1938 leaving the business to his son, the major.                                                       

In November 1935 the new company was floated on the stock market.  Known as Wade Potteries Ltd, it was made up of Wade Heath and A.J. Wade Ltd.   George Wade was Chairman with George Heath the new Managing Director.  However on 4th June 1937, just over two years after the flotation, George Heath died suddenly aged 64 and thus George Wade assumed control of Wade Potteries.   It wasn’t until as late as 1958 that Wade Potteries Ltd took over George Wade & Son Ltd and Wade (Ulster) Ltd and, for the first time brought all the Wade group of companies together under Colonel, Sir George Wade.

Before the Second World War, Wade Heath were producing their beautiful ceramic artware, known as Flaxman Ware – jugs, vases, bowls, all in the fabulous art deco style which was made from around 1935 whilst at the same time Jessie Van Hallen was producing her ‘ladies,’ mostly with a cellulose finish to satisfy the cheaper end of the market.   During the 30′s Wade also obtained the Disney licence for Snowwhite and the Seven Dwarfs, which were also modelled by Jessie Van Hallen, and produced by Wade Heath in their Royal Victoria Pottery which coincided with the release of the Walt Disney film of the same name.   Wade Heath also produced a Mickey Mouse figure as well as a child’s Mickey Mouse tea set which, according to the author Pat Murray, were both released in 1935.

Brand Hall

Then the Second World War intervened.  Jessie Van Hallen left the company for ever,  George Wade was commissioned into the South Staffordshire Regiment  and organised National Defence in Cheshire and Staffordshire.  In 1940 he was promoted to Colonel and appointed to command  the Birkenhead Garrison.   It was at this time, while his company was turned over to the war effort that he wrote numerous pamphlets and a series of books on military training and tactics.  He was author of Minor Tactics Training Manual, the Home Guard ‘Bible.’

At the end of the war, in the general election which saw the national war leader, Winston Churchill loose the election and be replaced as prime minister by Clement Attlee of the Labour Party,  Colonel George Wade stood as a parliamentary candidate for Newcastle-Under-Lyme, but he, like Churchill lost to the Labour candidate.   This was his single foray into politics which he never repeated. 

When the war ended in 1945, industrial ceramics were in great demand and short supply.   It was for this reason that he sent his son-in-law Major H. Straker Carryer on a quest to find a new factory.  He came up with an old linen mill on the banks of the river Bann in Portadown, County Armagh,  Northern Ireland.  In 1946 the company bought the leasehold on the property and soon was producing electrical insulators.   In 1950, the factory showing great success, became a private limited company named Wade (Ulster) Ltd.   At its height it had a work force of over 400 and contributed greatly to the local economy as well as the overall success of Wade, England.

(See the feature on Iris Carryer).

  With the decline for industrial ceramics in the early 50′s Wade (Ireland) – on 2nd January 1950, they became a private limited company, changing the name somewhat to Wade (Ulster) Ltd – went over to giftware with its own distinct ‘Irish’ look porcelain, reportedly originally a mistake, albeit a successful and lucrative one!   The Wade (Ulster) factory was run by Major H. Straker Carryer and his wife Iris, Sir George’s eldest daughter, who was Art Director.  They launched themselves headlong into producing a wide range of giftware, goblets, vases, tankards, jugs, pots, ashtrays, pictures, wall plaques (see article on Wall plaques) etc. etc. as well as other notable pieces which until recently were thought to have been made in Burslem (see the feature on Wade (Ireland).

In 1952 Colonel Wade purchased at auction Brand Hall. Built around 1700 it is situated near Norton-in-Hales, some miles south-west of Stoke-on-Trent.   A large brick building with stone & facing, it is better known to Wade collectors as Bloodshot Hall from the Whimsey-on-Why set.

With the demand for industrial ceramics falling off in the early 50′s, by far the most important innovation was the introduction of Whimsies, an idea of Iris Carryer,  small solid porcelain figures of animals, birds, mammals etc.  With many years of experience making small industrial pressed ceramics, Whimsies were the perfect product for Wade to produce.  The actual name is attributed to Tony Wade’s secretary who thought the little figures Whimsical.    The product was soon very popular.   The first series, released in 1954 were a set of animals: a leaping fawn, a horse, a spaniel with a ball, a poodle and a squirrel.  Many more sets followed and Whimsies are still both popular and in production today.  George Wade was knighted in 1955,  “for political and public services,”  just recognition to a leader in innovation and the father of Wade collecting.  He chose to include a rhinoceros in his coat of arms with the words ‘Why Not.’

In the post-war period Wade held numerous licences and the giftware market or maybe the fledgling ‘collectors’ market, was booming.  Disney, Noddy, Mabel Lucie Attwell, Thomas The Tank Engine, MGM, as well as their own brand names, TV Pets, Whoppas, Minikins and Whimsies.

For a period of around 35 years Wade was a byword for colourful and cheap porcelain giftware, while all the time still producing the electrical ceramics.  To some extent the giftware lines were ‘infills’ between large industrial contract orders.

A talented painter, Sir George formed the Friends of the City Art Gallery and actively supported the building of the New Victoria Theatre in Etruria Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Sir George Wade in his later years

Sir George never really retired, although by the early 1980′s he had given over the day to day running of the business to his son Tony, but he was always there to be consulted, to advise and encourage.   Wade employees always knew when Sir George was arriving at the factory as the large Rolls Royce ‘with curtains in the back’ purred up to the factory entrance.  Even today years after his death, he is held in great esteem, even affection by the employees who knew him. ‘ It was like being part of a  large family to work at Wades,’  was the unanimous opinion of all the employees.                                           

On what was be her last visit to see her father before he died at Brand Hall on 27th January 1986, aged 94, Iris Carryer told me,  “I looked incredulously into the deep furrows of his beloved face seeing only the remnants of the terrifying tycoon he had once been.”   She had stayed for several weeks to be with him but finally felt obliged to return to her home and husband in the USA.  Within a short time she received word that her father had died.   She didn’t attend the funeral.   “We had said our goodbyes,” she said.   There were some who did not understand her decision but in her heart of hearts she knew that her father would understand and after all, that is all that mattered.                                                                     

Mr Theodore Nikas, husband of the president of Hagen-Renaker, told me of his great affection for Sir George Wade who he referred to as ‘Saint George’ and described him as a very funny man who, until the end of his days retained all his faculties.   From his home in California, Theodore did attend the funeral where he said the church was filled to bursting with many more mourners having to pay their respects from the churchyard.   In his will Sir George left Theodore a picture he had painted some years earlier.   ’After Van Gogh,’ it is called The Hayfield and shows what real talent Sir George had for painting.   The picture takes pride of place in the Nikas family home.  Probably of no great financial value, to the family it is a treasured momento of a great man.                                                                                                        

To his son Tony,Sir George had said   “When I pass away tell my friends – if any of them turn up for the service – not to be sad but to rejoice, as I have had a long and happy life.”   In that ‘ long and happy life,’ he has also affected the lives of all of us and still does to this day.

C&S 2011

William Harper – A Short Biography
By David Chown

William Harper only worked for Wade for a period of nine years, from 1953 until 1962 but during that relatively short time produced some of the most sort after pieces to come out of the Wade factories.
Joining Wade in 1953 was perfect timing for Iris Carryer’s project, the first Whimsies, for it was Bill Harper who modelled all of the first ten sets, forty nine figures in all which were to lift Wade out of their post war recession and put them on the road to success for the next thirty years.
Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, just a few minutes from the Wade Group of factories in Burslem in 1923, Bill attended local schools and although somewhat quiet and introspective by all accounts was a good scholar especially in English, French, Science and Mathematics.
His first job was in a local ironmongers which did not last for long, and he was sent by the local employment bureau to learn typewriting at The Elms Technical College in Shelton and at the same time began evening classes in shorthand, typewriting and bookkeeping. Obtaining a number of certificates in these subjects he found employment as a clerk with Ind Coope at their brewery in Higherland. But then the war intervened and Bill was called up into the Royal Air Force where he saw service in North Africa, the Middle East, Italy and later, when the Allies started winning, in Austria.
In 1946 he left the Air Force, age 23 and returned home to Newcastle where he was accepted as a full time student at the Burslem School of Art on a three year course where he took as his main subject oil painting with pottery as a secondary subject. On completion of this course he was awarded The National Diploma for Painting. It was at this time that he married Jean Williamson of Bebbington in the Wirral, whom he had first met during the war.
From the Burslem Art School Bill became an art teacher at Thisley Hough Girls School in Penhull where he stayed for one year but then decided that he would like to try his hand at designing and modelling pottery figures and it was at George Wade and Son in Burslem that he was taken on in 1953.
Over the next nine years Bill’s output can only be described as prolific. Many of the most sort after Wade collectables today came from his inspired modelling during this period. A full list of his models appear at the end of this feature.
After nine years with Wade he felt the need for a change and decided to set up his own little business in 1962 in a small studio he rented from Peggy Davies, the Doulton modeller. This was not a success and before long he was free-lancing designing and modelling for whoever would commission him. It was at this time that he became involved with W.H. Bossons of Congleton who manufactured wall ornaments of a very fine quality in plaster and plastic. The modelling detail and painting were of a very high standard and he remained with the company on a free-lance basis, working from home for nine years, until 1971 when he applied and was successful in obtaining commissions to do character figures for Royal Doulton of Burslem. This association with Royal Doulton, at a time when the company was the leading manufactures of ceramics in the UK lasted twenty nine years, during which time he designed around 450 pieces, until he decided to retire in 2000 at the age of 77. During his time with Royal Doulton, William Harper produced many interesting and beautiful figures and jugs which today are highly sort after, as well as contributing many designs and ideas to the company. In retrospect he thinks that probably his favourite piece is St George, in full armour, which was introduced by Royal Doulton in 1978.
The great contribution of William Harper to ceramics and the collectors market is incalculable and as you run your eyes down the lists of the pieces he has modelled over the past fifty years, it reads like a wish list for Wade and Doulton collectors, many of the pieces however, are works of art and unfortunately, out of the reach of all but the most serious collectors.
Now approaching his eightieth year this gentle giant of ceramics, a true son of the Potteries, still lives in the same house he bought with his wife in 1950 in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent. Long may he enjoy his well earned retirement.

George Wade & Son 1954 – 1962 Modelled by William Harper

10 sets of whimsies (49 models in total)
Hat Box Series – Disney animals 26 in total)
Blow Up Disney figures (10 produced)
Drum Box Series (5 produced, animal band)
Noddy Series (4 in total)
Noddy in Car (never went into production)
T.V. Pets (10 in series)

Chaucer Figures from Canterbury Tales (4 figures not produced)
Minikins (12 different)

Elephant Train, Tortoise Box & Figures, Treasure Chest Box, Crab Box
Hedgehog Box, Rose Box & Round Log Box, Noddy Money Box with Big Ears (never produced)
Lizard ash tray Flying Birds (wall ornaments), Exotic Fish (wall ornaments)
Alphabet Train, Pet Face Dishes and Spirit Containers (penguin, cockatoo, Dormouse)
Mermaid vases (large and miniature), Yacht models (standing)
Jumbo Jimand Pink Elephants.
Novelty figures Dustbin Cat, Kitten on the Keys (Piano Cat,) Bernie and Poo and Jonah and the Whale
Pair of Cockatoos (on tree), Animal Families (rabbits)
Girl on a scooter (never produced)
Motor Cycle on Tray, Pogo Figure, Airline Pilot (British Airways), Flook and Boy (never produced)
Hep Figure, Owls on Log, Sea Horses, Large Fawn Money Box, Doleful Lion, Fawn Butter Dish and Posie Bowls.
Barge and bridge, Rowing Boat posies with seagull, Fairy Candle holder and Lifebelt tray.
Log vase with bluetit, Stacking Ashtrays (engraved), Pineapple Tray, Irish Song Figures (11 in series) and Irish Leprechauns.

Artwork © 2002William Harper © 2002 C&S Collectables Direct.