The Whitefriars duck was first produced in 1955, and continued right up until the closure of the factory in 1980. During that time the size, colour, overall shape and the finer detail, all changed quite a lot, if you know what to look for, more on that later. Today I am focusing on colours. Here we have our collection of the Early ducks, produced from 1955 to 1958.
From left to right they are Golden Amber, Flint, Sea Green, Sapphire Blue & Twilight. They are shown here in both the Large 7", and Small 5.5". These early examples can be readily identified as they are a single solid colour, except Ruby. They were made in Ruby during this period, and are quite elusive, having not been catalogued. The Ruby ducks were shown as "S/Ruby" in the factory production records for this period,
the Foot & Beak were Flint (clear) glass and the main Body and Head were Ruby, cased in Flint. Ducks in Sea Green & Sapphire Blue were discontinued at the end of 1958. The style also changed slightly for 1959.
The Whitefriars Glass duck is an enduring and highly collectable figure. The earliest records currently available show they were produced from 1955, continuously up to 1980 when the factory closed. During that time, four main styles were produced, in a dozen or so colours, and various sizes between 5 & 7 inches tall. As you can see from this first picture, their overall style changed quite dramatically over the years, as did some of the smaller details. From left to right we have a developmental time-line, spanning the entire period of production. To the left is the early style made from 1955 to 1958, then an intermediate style made for a short period from 1959, 3rd from the left the later and most commonly found style produced from 1960 until around 1975, and finally to the right the Full Lead Crystal (FLC) style made between 1975 & the 1980 closure. Throughout this blog I will try and continue to use these four terms, early, intermediate, later & FLC as I go on to describe and compare features, tabulate colours and availability, and maybe touch on the thorny subject of rarity. Valuation is an area I will purposely avoid. It will suffice to say, you could pay anything from a few pounds upwards, and literally anything could affect that, they bring their own priceless pleasure. With new information coming to light all the time, and with much of the Whitefriars archive at the Museum of London still yet to be researched and made publicly available, it is not possible to be conclusive about many aspects of the subject. Information, expert advice and opinions on Whitefriars Glass, including ducks, and the occasional bit of fun are available in the various facebook groups. Thank you for visiting and reading, please come back soon or follow this blog. I hope to add new posts every few weeks with more interesting and informative Whitefriars Glass duck facts for your enjoyment. ~(:-)
