Sunbonnet Babies

Q. My aunt gave me these dishes 50 years ago. They don’t quite match, although all feature children on green grass with a blue sky above. The cake plate shows children in pinafores and bonnets washing clothes, and is marked with the Royal Bayreuth crest. The rest of the pieces show Dutch children in a landscape with windmills. They have a different mark (see sketch). They’re all china; the cups are translucent and very lightweight. Can you tell me anything about history or value?

A. Your set may not match, but you have a treasure. The 10-inch cake plate is in the “Sunbonnet Babies” series made by Royal Bayreuth of Tettau, Bavaria, Germany, in the early 1900s. It was based on illustrations in the 1902 book, Sunbonnet Babies Primer by Eulalie Osgood Grover and illustrated by Bertha L. Corbett. Value of the plate: $595.

The mark on the other pieces was used between 1927 and 1932 by Schoenau, Swaine & Co. of Huttensteinach, Germany. The style of the Sunbonnet series was so popular that several firms made similar designs. A cup, saucer, and tea plate with the SCH mark recently sold for $90.

Many items in the Sunbonnet series are illustrated in Royal Bayreuth, Book II, by Mary J. McCaslin (Antique Publications, PO Box 553, Marietta, OH 45750, c2000).

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