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Two Royal Doulton figures with the same name, the same pose and the same bonnet. Put them side by side and the difference is not the colour of the gown. It is the flowers she is holding.
The flowers are the whole story
On the earlier figure every little flower in the bouquet was made separately and applied to the sculpture by hand, one at a time. Somebody sat at a bench and did nothing else all day. On the later one the whole arrangement is moulded in a single piece, with nothing added to it. That is what Royal Doulton changed so the figure would be quicker to make and cost less to produce.
It is also why the two are priced the way they are. The red is the rarer colour and the one collectors go looking for, and the first thing they ask is what the flowers are like.
Ed on the two of them
If the video does not load, it is here on YouTube.
Both are in the gallery
Marguerite
HN1946, issued 1940 to 1949. Eight inches. The flowers applied by hand.
$750
Marguerite
HN1928, issued 1940 to 1959. Eight inches. The bouquet moulded in one piece.
$200
About Leslie Harradine
Harradine modelled for Royal Doulton for more than thirty years and never set foot in the factory. He worked at home and posted the figures in, and most of the Doulton ladies a collector recognises on sight are his.