Zandra Rhodes and Royal Albert (Albany??)

by Kevin Mawby
(UK)

I am struggling to find someone who could value a broken statue that can not be replaced. The item is an Albany china figurine designed by Zandra Rhodes (around 1991) name of piece is Cream Lily, it is a limited edition of 250 when it was given as a gift in 1991 I believe it cost between £400 and £500.


Kevin Mawby

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Reply by Peter (admin)

Nice query from Kevin on Zandra Rhodes and Royal Albert (Albany??). Thanks.

Hi Kevin

Sounds like you have a nice item. I am not familiar with a well known maker called Albany. However, I do happen to know that Zandra Rhodes has been associated with Royal Albert for many years. Perhaps that was a typo on your part?

I would be interested to see this item. It would be great if you could send in photos. I think it is quite unusual and rare.

Royal Albert is a part of the Wedgwood Waterford group based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. If you were to contact them they may well have records of the figurine in question.

You can go to my China Replacement page and follow the instructions on how to search for more Zandra Rhodes Royal Albert wares online.

Hope this helps

Peter (admin)

p.s. The following page is a 'must see' if you are researching fine china - for value and identification:-

Researching the identity and value of antique and vintage fine china.

Comments for Zandra Rhodes and Royal Albert (Albany??)

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Albany Fine China Company
by: R. Craig

Albany Fine China Company, Worcester England produced very beautiful porcelain sculptures, one of which (I was told) was a life-size peacock which stood at the entrance of the Peacock Room in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Some pieces incorporated porcelain, copper, crystal and fine wood.

In 1985 we purchased a beautifully detailed and quite large, numbered piece entitled "Arctic Tern" (modeler was David Burnham Smith).
I also have pieces from the "Roaring Twenties" series, and "Flower Girl" series.
I am most interested in learning the present value of these pieces.

R. Craig

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Reply by Peter (admin)

Dear R. Graig

Thank you so much for your information. The clues you gave me enabled me to find some further information about this relatively recently founded maker.

I followed the method outlined in my China Replacement page and found a small fairy figure which was at a £65 'buy it now price', but was actually sold for £35 'best offer'. Their wares seem to be few and far between online.

[Albany Fine China]

Founded in 1972, Albany closed in 2004.

In 1987 Albany Fine China was bought out by cottage makers Lilliput Lane. They took manufacturing up to Stoke-on-Trent. The company were employing 175 people and made mainly fantasy wares.

Lilliput Lane sold Albany Fine China in 1990.

Thanks for your insights

Peter (admin)
Albany China - Company Formation
by: Anonymous

The Albany China Company was formed by David Palmer, Bill Nichols and David Lovegrove in Worcester- the Lowesmore area- in 1974. All pevioulsy worked at Royal Worcester Porcelain.
Albany Zandr Rhodes
by: Anonymous

I have been collecting Albany Fine China for the last 20 years.Mainly on the secondary market and sales.A lot of people think it was a subsidiary company of Royal Worcester but it wasn't it was just made in Worcester.The factory opened in 1972 and all the artists,sculptors etc were ex Royal Worcester workers.In fact there were more employed at Albany at that time than Royal Worcester.The time and effort that went into making the pieces was uneconomical and eventually they couldn't compete with the cheaper resin models which of course were no where near the quality and fineness of Albany.The figurines,animals and birds could not be matched by Royal Worcester.For example the Worcester flowers were a lot thicker.Some of the Albany flowers on the Flower girl figures are nearly paper thin.I have a 1989 and a 1991 brochure which was the last to be issued.After that they issued A4 colour sheets.If anyone has any questions about figure editions etc I will try to help.Albany only sold via one retail outlet per town or city so it is not that well known about.Finding information is really difficult.I have 3 Zandra Rhodes figures and they are from a set of 6 Limited edition of only 250 each figure I can tell you they retailed at £539.50 in 2001 as I also have a price list.They eventually closed early 2005.
Albany Zandra Rhodes
by: Anonymous

Try DG CHINA online for china insurance quotes. David used to sell Albany and specializes in tracking down replacement pieces on behalf of insurance company claims. He travels up and down the country until he finds what he is looking for and he also hand delivers to your chosen address.
Albany Greyhounds
by: Doug

I was browsing in a fine china outlet in Kings Lynn, England, around 1988-9 looking for greyhounds to add to my collection. The manager showed me the Albany catalogue and in it was a magnificent pair of running greyhounds. Which I ordered at a cost of around £750 ($1400 then). The front greyhound was painted to your photos of your own dog, mine was a brindle and white bitch. The finished article, about 14" long, was magnificent, the manager offered me £1000 on the spot. But I still have them. It was a limited edition and mine was No 100 of 250 - they changed the picture in the catalogue to mine after that !!
Heres the interesting bit.
The Waco dog museum must have ordered one of these sculptures after that - and not having pics of their own, got MY DOG(S) !!
They can still be seen among the pics on their website !!
These dogs are generally unique, I wonder what they are worth now after 20 years ???

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Peter (admin) says:-

Doug

What a great story!

Just the sort we like here on this site. Thanks.

If you had any links to the site, maybe you could post them here so we can all see your magnificent dogs!

If you asked Whats-it-Worth for an opinion they would probably be able to give you an anticipated auction price as well as retail/insurance value. They also issue certificates if you are thinking of selling - which are particularly useful for online auction selling.
Albany Greyhounds Link
by: Anonymous

Here's the link www.antiquibles.com
Bottom row, third in - the front dog of the pair was Ardra Queen, my greyhound, who raced and won at Swaffham, Peterborough and Wisbech UK. (Born Nov 1986, Father was Dipmac, Irish Greyhound Derby winner, mother Kartain)

Sadly the thumbnail doesn't open !!

Kind regards to all Albany collectors - there isn't enough to go around !!

Doug

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Peter (admin) says:-

Thanks for the link, Doug. Great artwork, great dogs. There must be a fair value to these.

The thumb opened fine in my browser (Firefox - tip:- never use Internet Explorer - its a rubbish bit of kit).

Peter
Albany China and Bronze flowers
by: Parnham

I have in the last 2 years purchased 2 Albany chins and Bronze Flowers Snowdrops and Daffodils, Then an Yellow Iris, I think these are lovely.

I read through the comments left by others on this site, There was a life size Albany and Bronze Peacock on Ebay in the last couple of months, from memory it was up for over £5,000, it didn't sell but it looked fantastic, apparently only 25 0f these were made. Information on Albany is very sparse.

I found this site by looking for an Albany catalogue, just hoping in time I find some more of these fantastic flowers, I have no idea what they are worth!
I was an artist at Albany
by: Anonymous

I fell into this site on an idle afternoon. I worked at Albany Fine China in their heyday in the 1970s and 80s, as a painter, gilder and in concept development. There are a few inacurracies from posts, but I'm delighted that so many of you hold our work in such esteem. The old factory is still there (well, it was a year or so back) and Royal Worcester, where I carried out my apprenticeship, has been razed. Models I worked on included the Flower Fairies, County Birds, songbirds, dogs, horses, 20s Girls, Women walking animals (Borzoi, a pather etc - can't remember what they were called). I was due to start development work on the Zandra Rhodes figures but there was a delay and left soon after. There were only 6-8 painters at any one time, the flower maker worked from home and we had around 4 casters. I realise now how privileged I was to work with some of the UKs finest craftspeople, and we were all so young!

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Peter (admin) says:

Nice post. Tell us more about your Worcester and Staffordshire days if you have another idle afternoon, please.

Peter
Albany fine china 'deco' figurines
by: scollinsent@charter.net

Looking to amplify my 'collection' of 2 Albany Fine China figurines of women (Zara and Zena by Gregory Rose) which I found in an antique shop in Seattle, Washington, USA about 15 years ago. Or other series - the ladies with animals referred to above sounds good. Oct, 2010 posting
Manhattan and Montmatre lady figurines
by: B Hindle

I have the two figurines which I believe are part of a set of six such ladies purchased in the 60's/early 70's signed Albany England
Manhattan/Montmartre
by: Anonymous

If you're interested in selling you could send photos to me at my email address in the post prior to yours
Zandra Rhodes
by: Kate

Hi

I was lucky enough to work at Albany for a while and manage the shop, so I can tell you that these figurines certainly were in the region of £400-£500 at the time.

Good luck!

Regards

Kate
Albany roaring 20's
by: peggy

Hi I have 5 figures with bronze attachments one sitting in a car with her scarf flowing Isadora like , one in beach wear against a bronze pier I love them . then today at an antique centre I spotted 2 others , limited editions with certs I didn't buy them but my daughter has urged me to go back for them , I think I might
Albany Fine China and Royal Worcester
by: Vivienne Jones

Many years ago I lived in the Malvern area and knew the group who started Albany Fine China. All three of the men were indeed former WRPCo employees. Bill Nicholls, David Palmer and David Lovegrove. Lovegrove was the only modeller and Palmer was a mouldmaker I believe. The late 60's and early 70's saw a number of people branch out on their own, starting with Ronald Van Ruyckevelt, who had a studio in Malvern. Then Albany was created and Terry & Diane Lewis (they were married then) along with Ricky Lewis started up a studio for Edward Marshall Boehm..also in Malvern.

Last I heard most of the businesses were eventually bought out and the characters, and they were all characters, moved away, mostly abroad. Henry Sandon who was curator of the Worcester Porcelain Co. museum is still alive and appears from time to time on the Antiques Road Show. He would certainly know what happened to these people and the value of their work.

I have an Albany pointer dog. modelled by Neal Campbell and a beautiful study of the champion Mill Reef which I believe was sculpted by David Lovegrove. There was also a series of small birds on ormolu stems that were given to my children over the years by Albany.

Those were very interesting years to have been involved in the porcelain industry in Worcester, full of intrigue......quite fascinating.
Albany of Worcester ad their history
by: Peter (admin)

Hi Vivienne

Many thanks for that lovely background story, your contribution is very much appreciated.

My thoughts were turned to the fact that at that time, of course, the fantastic institution that was Royal Worcester was still going strong as the oldest porcelain factory in the UK (to the annoyance of all those potbanks in Staffordshire).

It was this giant of the ceramic arts in world history spawned Albany, just as they gave birth to Grainger and all the other important offshoots over the two and a half centuries of trade.

I still have to pinch myself that this factory, a part of the history and the very fabric of the UK, has been allowed just to disappear without even a whimper. I want to blame someone for this. I want to rail at poor management that allowed this to happen (the people who were more interested in property development than ceramic production because that gave them better bonuses). I want to shout at the politicians who allowed this to happen. In the big scheme of things, this hasn't happened in Germany or France, or even Russia after the dissolution of the CCCP. Royal Worcester is now just a brand, a label, a company in name only, not a factory, and is owned by a the old enemy - a big firm in Staffordshire.

I have a studio in Worcester and am developing some collections which I would have been developing had I been design director of Royal Worcester before they closed. All I was within Worcester was a modeller who did figures for them under the Compton and Woodhouse banner, so I wasn't in a position to tell them what to do.

My new collection will be sold online through my studio collective called 'The UK Figurine Collective' and the Worcester Studio ware has the working title 'Worcester Pearlware' (it will be a type of bone china using an oxide glaze to give a look of the old Royal Worcester Pearlware). The figures will be in a charming modern naive style which look to the style of Rye Potteries or the old flatbacks or Russian Gzhel folk-art ceramics (not to mention the famous arts & crafts Wiener Werkstätte Studios of the early 20th Century in Vienna).

So the influence of Worcester as a ceramic art tradition is still going strong, I am glad to report.

Peter (admin)
Albany of England figurine
by: Lisa

I have a figure of a lady dressed in sailor dress and hat. She is leaning on a brass rail with a safety ring behind her. Think maybe she is on a ship. I was bought this figure as a wedding gift and am now trying to find a little out about her. It is marked Albany of England on the brass.

So anyone who may be able to enlighten me on this figure I would be grateful

Lisa
Albany items
by: Anonymous

I have recently inherited a number of Albany Fine China items including various race horses (one is Red Rum), a number of porcelain and bronze flowers and figurines. All are in fantastic condition and like many people; I am trying to find information about their value/history. Some may eventually be for sale... contact - kellyhawkins65@hotmail.com
arab stallion
by: Anonymous

i have just inherited a perfect condition statue - arab stallion by david lovegrove, albany fine china. Wondering how much it would be worth?
Small bronze figure of a labrador
by: Anonymous

About 30 years ago i bought a small figure of a labrador sitting by a fence made of Bronze reminded me of my dog Cass, it has Albany England underneath, always wondered what it is worth would value any ideas just curious
Information
by: Anonymous

I have an extensive library of information on Albany Fine China Limited.

If you e-mail me I can provide information and the price of each piece when it was produced.

Finebone@hotmail.co.uk
Rhodesian Ridgeback
by: Anonymous

Hello I have inherited my mums Albany Ridgeback model, modelled by Neil Campbell. I think she bought this in the early 80's. I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of value and if they know the name of the dog it was modelled on? My mum did tell me but I can't remember.

Many thanks
Albany help please
by: Nick

Hi There,

My parents owned Albany Fine China in the early 90s. I have inherited quite a few pieces from my late father and would love to get some information about them. As I'm sure you can imagine they have a huge sentimental value to me and my sister. We used to spend hours in the factory watching (and I'm sure annoying) the artists whilst they worked. If anyone can help me the pieces I have are: Ice Majesty (number 2), Ice Monarch (number 2), Bengal Tiger and Cubs, various different lady figurines and 2 large Egrets by David Burham Smith. Thanks in advance for any help people can offer.
Albany China
by: Jackie

After my father died when I was 17 I needed a job to survive at college, and took a Saturday job in a jewellery and antique shop in Birmingham city centre in the late seventies, Whilst they had many beautiful items, what I really remember was the Albany china animal range. I have always loved nature and I used to look at them constantly as they were beautiful from all angles. I couldn't dream of owning one at the time, but I was lucky enough to get a copy of their original brochure which I still have and enjoy looking at. There is an Arctic tern in there which is simply stunning, and its front cover depicts the peacock that other contributors have mentioned.I have seen some smaller pieces on EBay, but if anyone knows of anyone who deals in the Albany bird range I would be most grateful. I know it is a long shot as so many were limited in numbers but I would dearly love to buy my husband something special for a fast approaching "Big Birthday!'. I think it is wonderful that even though the company no longer exists, that so many of us really appreciate the beautiful items that the Albany team created. Best wishes.
Neil Campbell
by: Anonymous

I have a model of the rough collie (allocated wrongly to the sporting section in the Albany catalogue!}.
The model was given to me at a special ceremony at the Albany factory, as I was the owner of the dog in question, Ch. Bhyllsacre Querida Mia.
I have often wondered how much this model is worth - if I remember correctly it was priced at £147.00 back in the 1980's
Rene Cozens, Bhyllsacre Rough Collies.
Albany Porcelain Factory
by: Cousin Kay

Quite by accident in the late 1980s my husband and I discovered the Albany porcelain factory in Worcester. We were privileged to be shown around the workshops and the showroom which was dominated by a huge sculpture made (I believe) for some Arabian prince. We also saw the collection of Zandra Rhodes figurines and others featuring 1920s fashions, all of them exquisite. At a stretch we might just have been able to afford to buy one of the smaller pieces but, alas!, we didn't.
Ex ceramic artist Albany Fine China
by: Anonymous

I used work at Albany as a ceramic artist and gilder, aproximately 1986-1991. I hand painted and gilded most of the pieces there from the smallest to the largest items. I considered the pieces to be the finest china figurines produced in England at that time. The detail was impecable on all of the pieces and it was and has always been a very time consuming process. Sadly the studio has now been flattened and I think a supermarket built in its place. I still have some pieces (including white pieces un-painted) as I also managed the off shoot company Westbury Studio down in South Wales (1984-1986). We had some fun times at the Worcester studio and I loved my time working there. Some pieces I painted were life sized peregrine falcons and Ghia falcons with out-stretched wings fitted to a bronze gloved hand that mainly went abroad to arab sheiks. My favourite piece was "Leda and the swan" this was a beautiful piece to work on. It was a life sized swan made in bronze with the figurine of Leda draped across it, which was aproximately 3ft in size. Because of its size I could really go to town on the details of the face and the dress,even the finger nail details. When I left the studio I eventually moved back to Staffordshire and ended up at Moorcroft and have since left there and retrained due to the deminished availabilty of fine detail high quality work available. I have a kiln and will eventually do some more painting but at the minute my ceramic artist days are purely memorable.
Albany Bizarre period figures
by: christopher

I still have the original 6 pieces in the bizarre set, they are Zena, Athena, Zeta, Zara,Aurora, Astra, all have full certification and numbers, all are in perfect condition and are kept out of direct sunlight, I may be willing to sell the complete set.
Albany Zandra Rhodes figurine, circa 1988/89
by: Dermot

I was given a beautiful figurine by Zandra Rhodes for Albany.
It was around 1988/89 maybe even 1990.
I've never seen another one, but have seen something similar, a part of a collection I guess.
I would love to know a bit more about my figurine, and indeed would love to see the rest of the collection.
Any help/info would be greatfully received.
Albany Zandra Rhodes
by: AnonymouDermot

Is there any way of uploading pictures onto this page, it would be very advantageous.
How to upload pictures onto comments
by: Peter (admin)

Hi Dermot

Yes, you can upload by doing the following:-

- Put your photos online somewhere (Flickr or, Tumblr, or photobucket etc etc )

- Go to the page the image can be seen online

- Right click on the image

- Scroll down the drop down menu to where it says "copy image location"

- you will then have the image source on your clipboard - it will look something like this

http://blahblah.com/images/photo1.jpg

- Paste this into the following html code as shown below...

<img src="http://blahblah.com/images/photo1.jpg">

- Paste this code into the comments text box here on this site. Each image will need to have its own source location code.

Good luck!

Peter (admin)
I was their photographer!
by: Chris Bestall

Yes, back in the day I did quite a lot of the photography for Albany. They used the studios at Kays of Worcester as well, mostly for the stuff that couldn't be transported to my studio in Codsall near Wolverhampton. I still did a lot for them though, and sometimes did the pictures at their premises in Lowesmoor.
I dealt mostly with Bill Nichols, who was their Sales and Marketing Manager and a good client, but he could be a little unpredictable and quite feisty.
Bill set the standards required for the photography very high, as you would imagine, and I feel lucky to have included Albany in my portfolio of the day.
I freelanced for 11 years and left commercial photography in '93 to work in Forensics for West Mercia Police. I retired in June 2015. See a selection of more recent photography at www.chrisbestall.co.uk. Small world or what?
former Albany decorators
by: Anonymous

I have read the comments above as I have a collection of Albany pieces. I was happy to read former employees read this column as sadly, that art is becoming lost with time.

I have a studio near Hereford who produces my bone china range of horse figurines and she is so overloaded with orders and work she needs to hire an additional (or two) experienced decorators. You can see some of her work at; www.animalartistry.co.uk She is a lovely, honest woman who has a cottage business but in need of an additional, legit decorator. I hope someone here may see this and contact her for possible employment.

It is a shame this form of artistry is becoming extinct and rather quickly. If I knew how to attach photos I would share pix of the product she does for me, it is outstanding ... just need another decorator or two to help speed up production. Tom
Albany History
by: Jacky York

Hi, For a short time, the Albany factory in Worcester was owned by Lilliput Holdings. I was the marketing manager for the whole group in 1989. It was sold to Worcester at the end of 89/early 1990 when the Lilliput group was split up. The Zandra Rhodes collection - think there were 5 figurines - was launched the year before I started in 1988.

The peacocks were part of the 1989 collection and were amazing. Without looking up - I think there was 25 made but it could be 25 pairs. I know there were production problems with the metal framework that made up the tail plumage. Some of the large sculptures that they created were amazing. One, a 4 foot sculpture of an Egret was just outstanding.

One of the owners of the Lilliput Group - Bill Dodd - Albany was his pet project. He was trying to keep it from going under. However, business life in the late 80s and early 90s was really challenging. Interest rates and high pound were all relatively high. The 1990s saw the UK economy crash out of the ERM and Black Wednesday when the stock market went into meltdown. So a tough time for the gift market.

I didn't do so much work on Albany marketing - just organising some PR work and some print work. In marketing, sometimes what seem like a small detail can take ages to get right and resolve.

At the same time as the peacocks were launched there was sculputure of two elephants with a female figure standing between them. The elephants 'rugs' (sorry can't recall the correct terminology) were all decorated with precious jewels such as rubies and saphires. Someone had come up with the bright idea to call the piece 'She'. I had to organise the limited edition certificate that went with the piece. I remember spending hours looking for ideas that I could use to bring a sense of drama and create the idea of a story to describe the scene in just a few words to go on this certificate. I had bugger all budget as by then the Lilliput Group was going under financially! Given free reign, I would have commissioned a poet to write something really special for the piece. Marketers love attention to details - they are what make or break the experience of owning a piece of art.

Are they rare
by: Anonymous

I have bought several figurines over 5 years have there many been produced the lido,lady in a car,one on the deck of a ship holding hand rail,Ami Johnson with large propeller at rear of figure and a few more .i would appreciate any information , I do not want to sell information only
Figurine of Lucerne
by: Optional

In 1998 I worked in a large gift shop in Salisbury, Wiltshire. While there I purchased several figurines one of which was named "Lucerne" it was put out by the Albany Fine China Co. It is modeled by David Geenty. It was a limited edition of 350 copies and numbered 332. Could you possibly give me any idea of it’s worth, if anything, it is @ beautiful piece.
Albany fine china NEW
by: Previous owner

I am interested in buying a copy of the original brochure for Albany which was created after the Lilliput days? I am also interested in buying an pieces where the certificate is sign by James Thomas who as a director around 1993-96.

Contact details: jithomas@hotmail.co.uk
Albany Fine China
by: frank

I have a beautiful Albany piece of a jack Russell on a bronze stand & wooden base which I would like to sell
if anyone is interested please contact me
fjwalsh@outlook.com

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