Royal Doulton Figurine Barliman Butterbur HN2923

Barliman Butterbur (HN2923) was designed by David Lyttleton and produced by Royal Doulton from 1982 to 1984. Standing 5.25 inches (13.3 cm) tall, this finely crafted bone china figure is part of Royal Doulton's celebrated Middle Earth series — one of the most significant licensed character collections ever produced by the Burslem studio, and today among the most avidly collected of all Royal Doulton figurines.

Barliman Butterbur is the innkeeper of The Prancing Pony at Bree, the hospitable if forgetful host who plays a pivotal role in Frodo and his companions' early journey in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Lyttleton captures his genial, rotund character with evident affection — a figure of warmth and earthy good humour, rendered with the hand-painted detail and fine bone china quality that define the series at its best.

Within the twelve-piece Middle Earth series, Barliman Butterbur occupies a distinctly privileged position. Produced during the final phase of the series run, he was manufactured in significantly smaller quantities than the earlier, better-known characters — Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn and their companions — and is consistently the hardest of the twelve figures to locate in the secondary market. Collector price guides place his value at three to four times that of the core series characters, making him the most prized individual piece for Middle Earth set completists and Tolkien enthusiasts alike.

An exceptional opportunity to acquire the key piece in one of Royal Doulton's most beloved and collectible series. Fully insured shipping across Canada with tracking.