Royal Doulton Figurine The News Vendor HN2891

The News Vendor (HN2891) was designed by W.K. Harper and issued by Royal Doulton in 1986 as part of the Street Vendor series, standing 8 inches tall in a limited edition of 2,500 individually numbered pieces. The subject draws on the long tradition of London street life that runs through the very heart of the Street Vendor series — the newspaper seller was as much a fixture of the British urban landscape as the balloon seller or the orange vendor, and Harper brings the same careful occupational detail to this figure that distinguished his work across the range.

The Street Vendor series was among Doulton's most consistently collected themes of the late twentieth century, connecting the tradition of Harradine's mid-century street characters with a new generation of collectors. Harper's News Vendor carries that tradition forward — a working figure rendered with enough specificity of dress and posture to feel genuinely observed rather than generic.

With the edition ceiling at 2,500 and production now long closed, numbered examples have become progressively harder to locate in first-quality condition. The combination of limited edition status, a well-loved series, and Harp