Featured Doulton Lambeth Porcelain Plates - Artist?

I've bought a lot of 5 Doulton Lambeth plates, circa 1887 - 1891. They are painted with rather strange little scenes involving animals and insects in a distinctive style which looks like they have been designed by someone used to illustrating children's books. There is an artist's monogram looking like CA which I can't find in my book on Doulton Lambeth. I'm hoping that there is someone here on this wonderful forum who can identify the artist for me. The fluted shape design of the plates, Rd. 72067, is fairly common, and I have seen online a number of similar plates with hand-painted floral designs typical of the late Victorian era, but nothing like like these, so they can't have been popular. Perhaps it is because the pictures would appeal more to children but the plates themselves would have been used by adults.

 

I love these! As for the monogram, isn't there the hint of an L also? Or just a flourish?

 

Found one like your middle plate.

https://www.carters.com.au/index.cfm/index/2970-hart-charles-england-royal-doulton-designers/

The initials are CHH for Charles H. Hart (1880 - 1927).

I would have scooped these up in a heartbeat!!

@Bronwen - You need the first one to sit next to the bathtub.

 

I found these also but the photos are so crappy I am not totally sure & there are no close-ups of the marks.

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-...burslem-spanish-ware-includi-159-c-04e428ab28

 

Glad you like them, and that my taste isn't that strange! The monogram looks carefully done but there is an odd line in the top right hand corner which seems to form an L. One other of my items carries a monogram which is faint but similar, which looks like CW. If I look again at the monogram first posted, I can make it out as CW also, with a couple of odd extra dots. A quick search reveals a similar monograph listed in the Desmond Eyles book but with an added M, and they seem to have been involved with the traditional and beautiful Art Nouveau style stonewares. Lots of research still to do, greatly helped by your and other comments.

 

They’re Burslem not Lambeth, which is why they’re not in the Lambeth book.

 

Thank you for this! And glad you like the plates. But it seems that Charles H Hart designed for Royal Doulton, not Doulton Lambeth. The photos I have found of Charles Hart's work do have various subjects typical of late Victorian/Edwardian taste - landscapes, fish, flowers etc - in subdued colours like these, but not this style, for Royal Doulton. I now think that the initials show CW, but still haven't found who that was. I have lots of research still to to, keeping an open mind as to initials.

 

My bad, as they say! No wonder I've been getting nowhere with my own research, and needed you guys to put me right. And there it is, Burslem, on the mark. I was misled by the similar mark in the Doulton Lambeth book, with Lambeth underneath. More haste, less speed, and misleading people in the process. Sorry!

 

I had a smiley after that, and it vanished! There's a Burslem book by Eyles as well. The history of Doulton marks pleases my geek soul.

 

I do have this in the hallway just outside the bathroom door:

 

I love it!!

The 1st photo in the 4th row is the same as your square middle plate. They do not show the back or any marks.

 

Yes, the bad photo on the right is the same as my square one with the plump squirrel, and the one at the top, shown sideways, is the same as one of mine I didn't show in the photos. I was going to comment, but grandparent holiday duties forced me away from the computer. Thank you for this link, so quickly found when I had spent hours to no avail, but I was searching for Doulton Lambeth, which really didn't help. I see that the plates in the auction lot didn't sell even at a low estimate. They can't have been helped by the very poor photos, and no close-up of the back marks; also, the gold trim just looks like dirt round the edges. I will put a photo of my lot under here, the gold is slightly rubbed but still neat. This photo is aso rather faint, I'm afraid. I am a bit baffled by the description of the lot in the link as "Spanish ware", which seems to describe a technique involving outlining the flowers in a narrow gold line, with gold veins etc, nothing like mine. I must apologise for mis-correcting you on Charles Hart, who worked for Doulton Burslem which also made my plates (I now know), but I haven't been able to find a humorous plate by him yet. My current thinking is now C M Wray, but can't find photos of plates by them either.

 

I must try to find that book as well. I have looked up Doulton Burslem marks online, and found them on antique-marks.com. There is a C M Wray mark which could be the one, but haven't yet found any info about them, apart from someone enquiring about a book of watercolours by them of flowers and taxidermy animals made om tje 1880's, so a possible link. It's hard to believe that someone with such a distinctive style could be so obscure.

 

So stacking turtles is a thing, it seems! I was a bit disappointed when I first collected my plates to see that one of the nicest looked like there was rubbing on the bird, before I realised that the white areas were in fact due to the upper turtle spouting a fountain of water at the bird - a novel way of hunting? My favourite of the lot is the frog and turtle serenading a twisted tree. Are there stories behind the scenes, or strange dreams, or just a vivid imagination?

 

One of my turtles came from a pet shop where she was on the bottom of a pile of 5 or 6 in the corner of a small tank. Most of the time they treat each other the same way they treat rocks, as something to climb on. They like being up where they can see all around them, so do quite a bit of climbing.

 

I bought my copy second hand on Amazon. The Doulton Burslem Wares. Great book.