Van Briggle Animal Figurines: Rabbits, Elephants, Cats & More

The Van Briggle bunny is the pottery’s best-known animal. Designer J. Emma Kinkead recorded that the first one was made in 1916, in green, and the rabbit mold stayed in use for nearly a century: the pottery handed out bunnies to mothers at the opening of its Tejon Street location in 2009. Elephants, donkeys, cats, owls, a turtle, a duck, and a swan followed over the decades, mostly small enough to sit on a windowsill.

Most Van Briggle figurines sell for $45 to $120 at auction. The early dated pieces are scarce and bring more.

Rabbits & Bunnies

Kinkead’s first bunny of 1916 was green. An early postcard shows a version with separated ears sold as a place-card holder, and a matte blue-green rabbit about 2½ inches tall, impressed with the AA and “1916,” sold at auction in 2023. The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum has a Kinkead rabbit in its collection.

Later bunnies come in Ming Turquoise, blue and rose mattes, Persian Rose, Moonglo white, and, from 2010, a glaze called Roundhouse Blue. The crouching Moonglo rabbit pictured above, on buff clay with the squared AA, is a late commercial piece; our Novelties guide shows its bottom mark. At least one turquoise rabbit is autographed by Craig Stevenson, the pottery’s last owner.

Elephants & Donkeys

Elephants and donkeys were made in the mid-century years. Elephants are usually 3 to 4½ inches tall, striding with the trunk raised, in Ming Blue turquoise, blue, teal, or gloss black. The black ones often look blue: the gloss black was topped with a white overglaze that reads bluish against the black, which collectors call white frost. Marks turn up under the belly or on the feet. A donkey about 5 inches long is recorded in matte turquoise-blue.

Cats & the Chimney Cat

Tall standing cats, 15 to 16 inches, are the Van Briggle cats seen most often at auction, in brown, matte blue, royal blue, and black. Small kittens in teal matte also exist.

The pottery’s most famous cat is architectural. A black ceramic cat sat on a chimney of the 1908 Memorial Pottery on Uintah Street until it disappeared; one account says it was stolen in the 1960s, and Colorado College reported in 2011 that it had been missing for more than 30 years before artist Larry Terrafranca recreated it. Van Briggle also made a reproduction of the Chimney Cat in Midnight matte black, a glaze in production from 1979 to 1984. We have not found anything confirming that the tall standing cats sold at auction are Chimney Cat reproductions.

Owls

The teens-era owl night light, which also held a candle, is shown in our Novelties guide and has turned up in matte mulberry with glass eyes. Turquoise owl figures from later decades appear in auction lots. Owl bookends are covered in our bookends guide.

Turtles, Ducks, Frogs & Others

• Turtle and duck: green teens-era pieces with streaked glaze on the base. One turtle dated 1915 was made as a flower frog, and an old advertisement shows a turtle with a slit back sold as a card holder.
• Sleepy Frog: a 2005 Commemorative First Edition figurine made for members of the Van Briggle Collector’s Society and marked “CFE.” Everything else called a Van Briggle frog is a flower frog, the floral insert covered in our flower frog guide.
• Swan: a small blue swan about 3¾ inches tall, catalogued by one auction house as 1950s, and the later black swan planter in our Novelties guide.
• Horses: a solid black gloss rearing horse from the late commercial era and an 8-inch brown horse. Horse heads also appear on late bookends.
• Horned toad and Kissing Camels: a teens-era paperweight and an early-1980s souvenir of the Garden of the Gods rock formation, both on our Novelties page.

Looking for a Van Briggle bear? “Climbing for Honey” is a vase, not a figurine: two bears climbing a beehive, made from 1904 and repeated into the 1930s. Climbing Bear vases have sold for $2,250 to $12,700 at auction, and David Rago appraised a 1904 example at $30,000–$40,000 on Antiques Roadshow. Bears also appear on early bookends. We have not found a free-standing Van Briggle bear, dog, or squirrel figurine in any catalog or auction record; squirrels exist as bookends and a lamp.

1. Find the mark. Look for the AA monogram and an incised “Van Briggle” or “Van Briggle Colo Spgs,” under the base, under the belly, or on the feet. A few genuine pieces are unmarked, but an unmarked figure is an attribution, not a confirmed Van Briggle. The Van Briggle pottery marks guide shows the styles.
2. Check the clay. White clay means the 1930s through 1969; buff clay means 1970 or later (Clay Body History). Streaked glaze on the base points to the teens.
3. Look for a year or date code. Teens pieces can carry an impressed year beside the AA. From 2000 to 2014 the pottery used letter codes: V0 through V9 for 2000–2009 and A0 through A4 for 2010–2014. A bunny marked “V5” is from 2005. VB100 marks the 2000 centennial and CFE the 2005 Commemorative First Editions.
4. Read the finisher initials. Late figurines often have two or three initials near the mark. Our Artist & Maker Mark Directory lists the known ones.
5. Use the glaze. Moonglo and Persian Rose date from 1946; Moonglo was reformulated brighter in 1979; Midnight matte black ran 1979–1984. Details are in the Glaze Reference.

These ranges come from completed auction sales between 2014 and 2025. Small chips to ears and trunks are common and pull prices down.

For values across all Van Briggle forms, see our Van Briggle value guide.

Figurines go through regional and online estate auctions all over the country, often in mixed Van Briggle lots. Specialist houses such as Skinner, Cottone, and Jeffrey S. Evans handle the better groups, and Crafted Auctions in Illinois runs Van Briggle-heavy sales. On eBay and Etsy, filter for sold listings and ask for a photo of the mark and the clay before you buy.