Nana HN1766, Royal Doulton Figurine

Nana (HN1766) was designed by Leslie Harradine and issued by Royal Doulton from 1936 to 1949, standing 4.75 inches tall as part of the Child Classics series. The piece presents a small girl in a pretty pink dress with a frilled front, her hair in ringlets beneath a blue hat set at a delightfully jaunty angle, an open fan held in her hand — dressed up and entirely pleased with herself, as only a child in good clothes can be.

Harradine's child studies are among the most warmly regarded of all his work, and Nana captures the particular brand of unconscious charm he brought to the series. At under five inches she is a compact piece, but the modelling carries real personality — the tilt of the hat, the fan, the ringlets all contribute to a portrait of childhood self-possession that is both specific and immediately recognisable.

Retired in 1949 after a thirteen-year run, Nana has had over seven decades off the production line, and clean examples are consistently described by dealers as genuinely hard to find. The combination of pre-war issue date, small scale — which makes condition vulnerabilities more likely — and enduring appeal within the Child Classics collecting community means that well-preserved examples attract serious attention whenever they surface.