Royal Doulton Figurine Yeoman of the Guard HN688

Yeoman of the Guard (HN688) was designed by Leslie Harradine and issued from 1924 to 1938, standing 5.75 inches tall. With an HN number in the 600s, it belongs to the earliest stratum of Harradine's output for Royal Doulton — pieces modelled within the first few years of his celebrated freelance partnership with the Burslem factory, at a time when the figurine range was still finding its vocabulary and Harradine was already setting its standard.

The figure depicts a Yeoman Warder of the Tower of London in full Tudor ceremonial uniform: the distinctive red and gold livery with its deep brown accents, the pleated tunic and hose, the flat bonnet — one of the most immediately recognisable figures in English pageantry and a subject that Harradine rendered with the crisp, confident modelling that characterised his character work from the outset. The Yeomen Warders, popularly known as Beefeaters, have guarded the Tower since the fifteenth century and have become one of the defining symbols of English heritage, which gives the figure broad and enduring appeal well beyond specialist collecting circles.

The 1924–1938 production window is among the most desirable in the HN range. Every example is a piece of the earliest Harradine era, hand-painted with the depth of colour and quality of finish that the pre-war Doulton painters brought to the range. A second version was produced as HN2122 from 1954, but HN688 is the original — and for collectors who know the range, the original is always the one that matters.

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