Digger

An English pottery company producing tableware and collectables, Royal Doulton was established in 1815. The company produced a number of figurines of high quality workmanships which resulted in the popularity and highly sought after nature of its products. Several figurines related to Australia were produced and from 1918 to 1938, the Australian 'Digger' figures were sold. It is likely that Digger was based on a portrait of John A.A. B. Shorter, the son of Doulton's Australian agents, who imported the porcelain into Australia for many years. The Australian 'Digger' was one of a series that also included an English soldier, 'Blighty' and 'Digger (New Zealand). While the pose of the Australian Digger is consistent throughout the editions- a soldier in khaki uniform standing at ease, with his hands in his pockets, standing on a shaped circular base- there are subtle differences between the faces of the soldier depicted. Two versions of Australian Digger were produced; one painted in khaki enamel and the other in a Titanium green glaze. The artist who modelled the figures was Ernest W. Light (active at Royal Doulton, England, c. 1912-1918). Light was a sculptor and modeller who created a number of figure designs for Doulton and produced small scale stone sculptures of animals and birds. He was the 'master in charge' at Stoke School of Art between 1920-1932.