Our latest collaboration with Charlie Bears is finally here and has already created such a buzz in the collecting world!
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Debuting on the April 2024 Charlie Bears Cuddle Time Show, Charlie, the founder of Charlie Bears, introduced 5 charming ceramic bears made by the English Ladies Co, with matching teaware that truly compliments the collection!
If you are new to the ELC, here is a bit of an introduction of our founders and wonderful team:
The English Ladies Co. brand was launched in 2011 by two ceramic industry experts, Malini Pashley, and Wayne Nutbeen. Wayne had been the global group CEO of world-renowned company, Royal Doulton, and has over 40 years’ experience of luxury brands such as Wedgwood, Lalique and Baccarat. Mal was the category manager for the Minton and Prestige brands in the Royal Doulton portfolio, and brings much of that experience to The English Ladies Co.
Mal and Wayne met Charlie and Will at an overseas trade fair in February 2023 and immediately hit it off. Over breakfast, Mal turned to Charlie and said ‘I would love to do your bears in ceramic form!’, so the idea was born and the English Ladies Co became the very first Charlie Bears licensee.
These two quintessentially English brands share a passion for quality, craftsmanship and excellence, putting their collectors at the heart of everything they do, which made for a very seamless collaboration. Over the following months, both teams met for several design meetings to develop the first range, which tells the story of Charlie Bears in fine ceramics.
In reality, Mal was a little nervous to transform ‘all that fur!’ into ceramic form and have it still look like fur! However, as many agree, the execution of the Charlie Bears figurines is sublime, with the finest of details achieved.
Every product from the English Ladies Co. is hand-painted and hand-modelled. It can take up to 12 months for a product to go from design to distribution! The master craftsmanship has been perfected over time to produce the finest quality of ceramic giftware. You can read more about our manufacturing process in our Charlie Bears at the Factory blog!
As you may know, the English Ladies Co. are only producing 600 pieces of each ceramic Charlie Bear. When deciding on the quantity in production, Charlie suggested 600 pieces as this was the same product quantity of her bears at the very beginning. This limited collection of bears will all be hand-numbered and presented with a certificate of authenticity, signed by Mal & Charlie.
The ELC also year-mark each product per year of manufacture. That means that all products made in 2024 will have a unique cypher on their backstamp to symbolise the year.
The 2024 Year-Mark is the special Key from Charlie Bears’ Labyrinth Catalogue theme.
I wonder what next years’ will be…? If you have a suggestion don’t be shy! Let us know!
