Disney American Pottery Alice in Wonderland Dormouse - eBay item 260552384503
DISNEY ALICE IN WONDERLAND DORMOUSE CERAMIC SHAW POTTERY - eBay item 290403996131
The cover is actually a wraparound cover, the back half featuring additional figures of the White Rabbit, the Tweedles and the Walrus.
The remaining 3 character figures (Mad Hatter, March Hare, and Dormouse) along with the teapots is pictured on the first page.
although I must say I don't think I'd ever create a center piece like the Alice one they pictured.
Inside back cover is the price list. I must admit I was a little surprised at how much these figures were, at least what the suggested retail prices were. Alice was $3.50, which works out to about $28.75 today according to the inflation calculator. What does a park figure go for these days?
This first teapot is called Tea 'n Cream in the catalog. I love the angular handle, looks like it is arguing with the Mad Tea Party guests with arms akimbo.
This second teapot is called Magic Tea and resembles Aladdin's magic lamp. Unfortunately at some point in its history it has lost the top finial of its lid, but still, I've not come across any other examples of any of these teapots since.
I would love to find the other two teapots, Tea 'n Sugar and Tea for Three, they must be out there somewhere.
And he wouldn't be complete without an interesting fact of his own. This is the same figure as the Baby Mouse from the Cinderella set, just with a different paint job. Shaw did that twice that I'm aware of: Baby Mouse / Dormouse and Pluto / Bruno.
First, and most obvious, they are the same figure just with a stenciled name on the collar to distinguish them. This name is also applied over-glaze, like the White Rabbit's heart from yesterday. Also, most likely because of the whole "can't have a true red color" issue, their color is a little odd. In the film they sport a vivid yellow and red color scheme, but here that red has been muted down to a sort of dull maroon. I'm pretty sure this was so they could paint the majority of this figure under-glaze.
Interestingly, the red heart is cold painted over-glaze, as is most true red paint on ceramic figures. There's something about red that doesn't agree with the firing process on these older figures, so that color had to be painted after firing over-glaze. As such, you see lots of these White Rabbits with flaking or missing hearts. If any of you out there besides me collect Santa figures from the 1950s you'll know what I'm talking about.
It has been said that this Alice figure is the most beautiful of all the Shaw figures ever produced, and who am I to argue. She and her cohorts were produced probably only in 1951-52, so relatively speaking they are pretty scarce as far as Shaw figures go. As far as relative scarcity is concerned, Alice is somewhere in the middle.
Alice, as with all the Shaw figures, is identified only by this red foil sticker, which is almost never present. I have mixed feelings about the stickers. On the one hand it is cool to have what amounts to original packaging, but on the other hand sometimes these stickers are placed weirdly and distract from the beauty of the figure itself. Fortunately for me, the Alice has her sticker on the side that you don't look at.
This first teapot is called Tea 'n Cream in the catalog. I love the angular handle, looks like it is arguing with the Mad Tea Party guests with arms akimbo.This second teapot is called Magic Tea and resembles Aladdin's magic lamp. Unfortunately at some point in its history it has lost the top finial of its lid, but still, I've not come across any other examples of any of these teapots since.I would love to find the other two teapots, Tea 'n Sugar and Tea for Three, they must be out there somewhere.
Anyone who collects Alice or even Disney in general is probably aware of the great set of figures produced by the Evan K. Shaw company when the film was released in 1951. Eight figures were produced (Alice, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Dormouse, Walrus, Tweedledee, Tweedledum), and are arguably the nicest vintage Disney figures ever produced.
And some of you may be aware of the Australian company Modern Ceramic Products, who also produced a set of eight figures, based on the same designs as the Shaw figures, only LARGER.
But did you know that there was a Norwegian company that produced a set also based on the same designs? The name of this company was Galligani, and the figures they produced are extremely odd. First, they are made of plaster. Second, the colors are bizarre. I have only seen the Alice of the set (perhaps the only one?), but have seen other figures from other sets (Snow White dwarfs). I would very much like to hear from anyone who has any additional information on this company and their figures.
