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Beatrix Potter Backstamps
 
Beswick and Royal Albert Backstamps
 
The Beswick and Royal Albert Backstamps used on Beatrix Potter Figures have changed many times since 1948 and they can be useful to aid in dating a particular piece.   The figures did not retain their original mark but as backstamps changed all figures in current production  were marked with the new backtamp.   Broadly speaking there are three styles of backstamp Beswick Gold, Beswick Brown and Royal Albert.   However the backstamps are a little more complex than this. 
 
Here is a brief explanation of the different
Beswick and Royal Albert Backstamps:
 
Beswick Gold
 
BP1a      Beswick Gold Circle  'Beswick' and 'England' written in a Circle - 
                'BEATRIX POTTER' written in upper case - Character Name
                written in Italics - The word 'copywright' may or may not appear - 
                Issued 1948-1954
 
BP1b      Beswick Gold Parallel Lines  'Beswick' and 'England' written in
                parallel lines - the word 'Copyright' is in script - designed to fit on to
                the base of 'The Tailor of Gloucester' but in fact used in error on 7
                other figures.
                Issued 1949-1954
 
BP2a      Beswick Gold Oval  - The words 'Beswick' and 'England' written
                in an Oval shape - Issued 1955 - 1972

                It appeared in different forms:
                (1)  Beatrix Potter in upper case type.  character's name in Italic
                      script, sometimes within quotation marks.   Can occur with 
                      'copyright' in italic script.
                (2)  Beatrix Potter in upper case type.  Character's name in upper
                      case type within quotation marks.
                (3)  Beatrix Potter and Character's name in handwritten style
                      script.
                (4)  Beatrix Potter in upper case type, Character's name in Script
                      From 1961.
                (5)  Bearix Potter in upper case type, Character's name in lower
                      case type.  Can occur with Beatrix Potter in slanted type -
                      From 1971.
                (6)  Beatrix Potter in upper case type, Character's name in upper
                      case type.  From 1971 - 1972
 
BP2b      Transitional Gold/Brown - 'Beatrix Potter' and the Character's
                name appear in gold and the last 3 lines - (i.e. F. Warne and Co.
                Ltd: Copyright (date): BESWICK ENGLAND:) appear  in brown.
                These were on a very limited number of figures
                Issued 1971 - 1972      
 
Beswick Brown
 
BP3         Beswick Brown Line - The words 'Beswick' and 'England' appear
                 in brown either in a straight line or with 'Beswick' atop 'England'
                 depending on the shape and size of the base.  
                 Issued 1973 - 1988 
               
                 BP3a -  line 1 - BEATRIX POTTER'S with apostrophe S
                               line 2 - Character Name within quotations
                               line 3 - F Warne & Co. Ltd.  
                               line 4 - Copyright with no date
                               line 5 - BESWICK ENGLAND
                               Issued 1973 - 1974
 
                BP3b    The same as BP3a apart from:
                               line 4 - ©  Copyright with date
                               Issued 1974 - 1985
 
                BP3c     line 1 - BEATRIX POTTER with no S
                               line 2 - Character Name within quotations
                               line 3©  F. Warne & Co. (date)
                               line 4 - Licensed by Copyrights
                               line 5 - BESWICK ENGLAND
                               Issued 1985 - 1988 
 
BP4        Beswick Signature - At this time the Beswick backstamp
                was replaced by the Royal Doulton backstamp.   However the 
                Beswick connection was sustained by the inclusion of the John
                Beswick signature on the backstamp 
                               line 1 - BEATRIX POTTER
                               line 2 - Character's Name within quotations
                               line 3© F Warne & Co. with date
                               line 4 - John Beswick Signature
                               line 5 - Studio of Royal Doulton
                               line 6 - England   
                               Issued 1988 - 1989 
 
BP5       Royal Albert Gold Crown - The Backstamp was now changed
               from Doulton/Beswick to Royal Albert.  To mark this significant 
               change the gold backstamp was once again used for just one year
                              line 1- The Royal Albert Crown in Gold
                              line 2 - ROYAL ALBERT (R)
                              line 3 - England
                              line 4 - Character Name
                              line 5 - Beatrix Potter
                              line 6 - © F. Warne & Co. 1948
                              line 7 - © 1989 ROYAL ALBERT LTD
                              Issued in 1989 only
 
BP6        Royal Albert Brown Crown - There were two sizes issued in this
                backstamp.
                Issued 1989 to 1998
                BP6a - Small Brown Crown - This was used on the figures that
                were of standard size.   It was issued in 1989 and was used on 90
                figurines.  For small based figures there was a variation without the
                crown 
                              line 1 - The Royal Albert Crown in Brown
                              line 2 - ROYAL ALBERT
                              line 3 - England
                              line 4 - Character Name
                              line 5 - Beatrix Potter
                              line 6 - F.Warne & Co. 1948
                              line 7 -    1989 ROYAL ALBERT LTD
                       
                BP6b - Large Brown Crown - This was issued in 1993 and was
                used on ten figurines.
                              Line Lay-out as BP6a above 
 
BP7        Beswick Brown Oval
                This Backstamp was issued to commemorate the 100th
                Anniversary of Peter Rabbit - 1983 - 1993 and was only used on the
                Large Size Peter Rabbit          
                Issued 1993