History of PenDelfin rabbit figurines

Pendelfin was started in the beautiful Pendle Hill area of Burnley. This area of England is where Jean Walmsley and Jeanie Todd first met at an exhibition of the Burnley Artist's Society. They were the founders of PenDelfin, the renowned rabbit family, born in the shadow of the legendary "Witches Hill" Pendle whose folk lore first inspired them.

Jean and Jeanie became very close friends. In 1953 their combined talents resulted in the creation of the first Pendelfin, a deep relief wall plaque.Their first PenDelfin rabbit models were created as a hobby in Jeannie's garden hut, to produce gifts for their friends and family. Their enthusiasm had been fire and soon their hobby had grown into a full time vocation.

They each contributed a share in the "capital" (about five pounds) and would never then have believed that they had produced a line of Pendelfin collectible figurines that would be sought after worldwide.

Living in the shadow of Pendle hill (the old Witch Hill of 'Mist over Pendle') and creating elfin like characters, the name PenDelfin was decided (Pendle and Elfin - hence, 'PenDelfin'). In 1954 Doreen Noel Roberts was initiated into the heady mystique of production and design. The foundations of the design team of J.W.H. and D.N.R. which would create the family begining with father rabbit in 1955 and continue to this day making the Pendelfin range a true collectable.

PenDelfin models are made in durable stone-based compound, an excellent medium for reproducing their superbly detailed modelling.
They are hand painted in the finest quality artist's colours, changeless and fadeless in all normal temperatures.

Each rabbit figurine is produced entirely by hand and is the work of skilled craftsmen. The painting by special trained artists is only one of the many processes needed to produce the perfect PenDelfin model.

It is a gradual process of shading, tinting, and highlighting, colour painting and decorating, before a final coat of varnish can be added and they can be boxed in their familiar turquoise and black boxes and distributed all over the world.