Royal Doulton Figurine Pecksniff HN2098

Pecksniff (HN2098) was designed by Leslie Harradine and issued by Royal Doulton from 1952 to 1967, standing 7.25 inches tall as part of the Dickens Series Three. The character is Seth Pecksniff from Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit — the novel's magnificent villain, an architect of spectacular moral flexibility whose name has passed into the English language as a synonym for sanctimonious hypocrisy delivered with unctuous charm.

Harradine's interpretation captures the essential Pecksniff with characteristic precision — the studied benevolence of the pose, the self-satisfied composure of a man entirely convinced of his own virtue. Dickens gave English literature few more satisfying targets for satire, and Harradine gave collectors few more satisfying renderings of that target in bone china. The figure belongs naturally alongside its Series Three companions — Micawber, Mr. Pickwick, and the rest — and the set assembled on a shelf reads as a proper roll call of Dickensian archetypes.

Issued as the third version of Pecksniff in the Royal Doulton canon and retired in 1967 after a fifteen-year run, HN2098 has been off production for nearly six decades. Clean examples in first quality condition are the standard collectors apply, and the enduring literary pedigree of the subject ensures steady demand well beyond the dedicated Doulton collecting community.