A Charming c.1930s Crawford & Sons Ltd Tin Biscuit Barrel Money Box; 'Bicky House' by Mabel Lucie Attwell

Origin: English
Period: Early / Mid 20thC
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1930-35
Height: 7”
Width: 8”
Depth: 4.5”

Hailing from the Art Deco period, the William Crawford & Sons Ltd tin biscuit barrel 'Bicky House', by Mabel Lucie Attwell, in the form a quaint cottage, the barrel being decorated throughout with Attwell’s distinctive ‘Kiddibics’ imagery, featuring a child standing in a cottage doorway accompanied by a black cat, with further cottage scenes wrapping around the sides, the hinged roof lifting to reveal the original storage compartment, whilst a coin slot to the chimney roof allows the piece to function as a savings bank as well as a biscuit tin abnd the whole surviving from 1930s England.

The piece displays the honest wear one would hope to find on an example of this age, with surface rubbing, oxidation and losses to the original lithography throughout, particularly to the roof and elevations. The hinge remains functional and the interior is clean and untouched, retaining a pleasing untouched patina.

English artist Mabel Lucie Attwell was born in London in 1879 and died in Cornwell 1964. She was a shy child and liked nothing more than to sit with one of her sisters and make up little stories to which she would draw the illustrations. From the very beginning her work was in constant demand. She not only illustrated for children as she was equally famous for her unique ability to reach adults through the drawings of children. Mabel's illustrations can be found in many of the popular fairy tale and nursery rhyme books, including Peter Pan and Wendy, Alice in Wonderland, The Water Babies, and Andersen's and Grimm's Fairy Tales and the Lucie Attwell Annuals. Produced during the golden age of character merchandising between the wars, Attwell’s illustrations became enormously popular across Britain and were licensed for everything from books and postcards to nursery wares and confectionery packaging. Surviving novelty tins and money boxes are now highly collectable, particularly those retaining their original form and decorative charm.

A delightful piece of nursery nostalgia that combines decorative appeal with genuine period character, equally suited to a collection of advertising tins, children’s ephemera or country-house style interiors.