1988 Royal Doulton English Fine Bone China Bunnykins Baby Bowl:
10,100 ppm Lead on the FOOD surface.
The 1988 backmark is for pieces made between 1988 and 1993.
The amount of Lead that is considered illegal/ unsafe in a newly-manufactured item intended for use by children is anything 90 ppm Lead or higher in the glaze, paint, or coating of the item. As a result, this particular bowl would be considered illegal by current standards.
Of particular interest with this piece: The outside surface (the surface NOT intended for contact with the child’s food) is relatively low Lead. It is only the inside food-surface that showed incredibly high results for Lead.
Note: While the bottom mark has the year “1988,” I don’t know if this exact design was made in that year or later as the 1988 appears to just be a copyright year.
This bowl had the following specific readings when tested with an XRF instrument:
Inside (food surface) of the bowl:
- Lead (Pb): 10, 100 +/- 200 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative
- Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
- Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
- Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative
- Chromium (Cr): 1,678 +/- 145 ppm
- Tin (Sn): 83 +/- 17 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): 948 +/- 66 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 2,641 +/- 239 ppm
- Vandium (V): 785 +/- 67 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 491 +/- 66 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): 254 +/- 82 ppm
- Cobalt (Co): 386 +/- 101 ppm
Outside (non-food-surface) of the bowl:
- Lead (Pb): 245 +/- 21ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative
- Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
- Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
- Antimony (Sb): Non-Detect / Negative
- Chromium (Cr): Non-Detect / Negative
- Tin (Sn): Non-Detect / Negative
- Zinc (Zn): 157 +/- 26 ppm
- Iron (Fe): 1,927 +/- 197 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 35 +/- 12 ppm
- Vandium (V): 132 +/- 30 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 284 +/- 45 ppm
- Platinum (Pt): Non-Detect / Negative
- Cobalt (Co): Non-Detect / Negative
Learn more about XRF instruments and XRF testing here and here.
For safer choices for your family, please check out THIS post and THIS post!
#SimpleSolution: Frame this in a shadow box with a note on the back about how you came to have it (who gave it to you) and a note on the inside of the shadow box warning anyone who opens the box that the dish is high Lead and should not be used for food-use purposes. Hang your shadow box on the wall. It’s a lovely piece of art, actually!
These are available for sale on Amazon* (LINK) but I encourage you NOT to purchase these as I have never tested a set that was either Lead-safe or Lead-free.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and sharing these results!
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
For those new to this website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic). All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times to confirm the test results for each component tested. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
I have the Royal Doulton Classique China manufactured in 1984 that my boss actually purchased for me in England. Its Royal Doulton Fine China 5 Classique Pattern Vogue Style Gold Trim made in England. Can you tell me the likelihood it has lead in it?