A Magnificent Royal Crown Derby Hippopotamus Paperweight. Gold Stopper & Box

  

A Royal Crown Derby Paperweight - Hippopotamus. A substantial piece of bone china, this is one of the largest in my collection.

I can't help but think when looking at this paperweight of the 1957 Flanders and Swann song. A bold hippopotamus was standing one day. On the banks of the cool Shalimar. He gazed at the bottom as he peacefully lay.

By the light of the evening star. Away on the hilltop sat combing her hair. The hippopotamus was no ignoramus. And sang her this sweet serenade. Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood. So follow me, follow down to the hollow. And there let us wallow in glorious mud.

The fair hippopotama he aimed to entice. From her seat on that hilltop above??

Measures approximately 11cm in height and 20cm in length. Box in very good order.

The photographs are of the item you will receive, I have not used any stock photographs. All items will be well packed and protected.

Thank you for taking the time to view. Royal Crown Derby paperweights are hand-made and hand-decorated. Each piece is crafted and decorated by skilled artisans, resulting in subtle variations that make every paperweight unique.

They are known for their exceptional British craftsmanship and are highly collectable. The paperweights were sculpted by Robert Jefferson and hand-decorated with the firm's signature Imari pattern, highlighted with 22 carat gold. Early production examples were filled with sand and fitted with gold stoppers, suggesting that the firm intended that at least some of these paperweights would be put to work in their new owners' offices. This created a new problem however, as collectors disliked the resulting plain appearance.

The perfect compromise had been found. The paperweights' stoppers also serve as an indicator of the firms strict quality control. Gold stoppers indicate'best', while silver stoppers are assigned to paperweights that Royal Crown Derby describe as slightly imperfect. That said, the firm's extremely high standards mean that these flaws can consist of almost imperceptible manufacturing issues and can offer collectors the opportunity to obtain a sought-after design for a very reasonable price.