adorable vintage lefton napco porcelain ceramic japan bunnies rabbits figurines

Description

the pair of the long ears
i can find no issues. only displayed. good vintage condition. adorable vintage pair of bunnies in different motions. their ears are particularly adorable. it took a lot of study to realize they weren't born a pair. their eyes and feet are painted differently, seemingly following different templates. so it looks like at some time, the caretaker of one of the bunnies saw another bunny like the one they already had that was almost a perfect match and got the second bunny to keep the first one company. i don't know who came first: one is made by napco, the other, lefton (you can read more about those companies below). the molds for this are very well designed. the depiction of the fur is fantastic for a mold. just an adorable pair of two cutie pies!
the bunny standing on only his back feet
measurements
he is 4 1/2" tall.
his fantastic long ears are 1 1/2" long.
from toe to end of tail is 3"
marks [see last image]
stamped in black: c-6390
gold foil sticker
napcoware
[n logo]
import ~ japan
the bunny sitting on all four feet
measurements
he is 4 1/2" tall.
his wonderful long ears are 1 1/4" long.
from tip of toe to end of tail is 4".
from toe to top of heads is 3".
marks [see second-to-last image]
stamped in black: h880
gold foil sticker
lefton
trade mark
exclusives
japan
about inarco, lefton, and napco
from: mizfooty.blogspot.com/2008/07/brief-history-of-inarco-lefton-and.html
the inarco company known as international art ware corporation started in cleveland ohio, founded by irwin garber in 1960. the company began with the name international art ware corporation, better known as inarco. a designer by trade, garber had a penchant for the artistic side of figurines; indeed, his own wife, roselle, is believed to have been a model for a number of the company's head vases. in its beginnings, the company imported ceramic and glass floral containers and giftware. in 1986, inarco moved to jacksonville, florida, after it was purchased by japanese giftware distributor, napco.
the lefton company was founded in 1041 by george lefton. he was a hungarian immigrant who arrived in chicago in 1939. although his background was in marketing and designing specialty clothing, he had a passion for collecting fine porcelain. lefton traveled to Japan in 1945 to seal an importing agreement and the first lefton china product marked «made in occupied japan» reached the united states in 1946.
over the years the lefton company has produced numerous products that are highly sought after by collectors including: cookie jars, holiday items, figurines, teapots, jam jars, planters, pitchers, shakers, Red Hat pieces, wall pockets, head vases and lighthouses. at one point in time, over 10,000 retail shops carried lefton products nationwide.
vintage lefton products have a wide variety of marks and many times a paper label. marks include the words lefton, lefton china, geo. z. lefton, g.z.l., as well as just the letter «l». the lefton company was purchased by omt enterprises in 2005 and moved to california. today's lefton products include the ever popular lighthouse series and adorable christopher girl birthday figurines. some vintage lefton pieces are ornate with gold trim, lots of flowers and look like they might have been made two centuries ago, or perhaps a collector might be drawn to the cute and whimsical salt and pepper shakers or wall pockets that are the stuff of the 1950s. it's all appealing to vintage collectors and today's lighthouses are just as avidly collected by folks who are most likely not aware of the rich history of the lefton company.
the napco company or national potteries corporation is located in bedford, oh and began production of porcelain and glass in 1938. ceramic pieces sold by napco (national potteries corporation) are distinctive and popular again today. since its prolific output of the 1950s and 1960s, Napco has held the interest of collectors because the ceramic items are consistently well-designed.
owned and operated in the midwest, napco distributed a variety of collectibles, including decorative wall accessories, ashtrays, ceramic and wood house wares, floral arrangements, ceramic planters, decorative glass, novelty figurines, mugs, trivets, and christmas ceramics. napco used a wide array of marks for its head vases—some transfer marks and some paper labels. the paper labels feature various wording, such as: «a napco collection», «napco originals by giftware», «national potteries co., cleveland, oh, made in japan», and «napcoware, import japan».
maker's and/or other marks
the bunny standing on only his back feet [see last image]
stamped in black: c-6390
gold foil sticker
napcoware
[n logo]
import ~ japan
the bunny sitting on all four feet [see second-to-last image]
stamped in black: h880
gold foil sticker
lefton
trade mark
exclusives
japan
dimensions
the bunny standing on only his back feet
he is 4 1/2" tall.
his fantastic long ears are 1 1/2" long.
from toe to end of tail is 3"
the bunny sitting on all four feet
he is 4 1/2" tall.
his wonderful long ears are 1 1/4" long.
from tip of toe to end of tail is 4".
from toe to top of heads is 3".
condition
i can find no issues. only displayed. good vintage condition.
the fine print
the images are the majority of the listing description, so take a look at them closely.
shipping costs have really increased—this is calculated into the buy-it-now price.
i am not able to sell individual items from items i have listed as a group. i just don't have the stamina to create new listings for those. i apologize for that. i haven't initially individually listed items because i don't have enough listing slots to so.
trying to downsize some, though extremely melancholically.
shipping time: i otherwise work more than full time and my health isn't great, so kindly excuse the longer handling time. if i am able to ship sooner, i absolutely will do that
. i appreciate you taking the time to view my listing.