Oh Those Halcyon Days – The Story and Collecting of Halcyon Days Enamel Boxes

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Small enough to sit in the palm of the hand but often decorated with remarkably detailed miniature paintings, Halcyon Days enamel boxes have become one of the most recognisable forms of modern English decorative enamel.

The story of Halcyon Days began in London in 1950 when Susan Benjamin, together with her business partner Gerda Bram, established an antiques shop in Avery Row, Mayfair. Benjamin had developed an interest in decorative enamel boxes from an early age, inspired in part by her mother’s collection.

The original Halcyon Days was an antiques emporium specialising in 18th and 19th century objets d’art. Its success came at a time when the English tradition of producing decorative enamel boxes had itself virtually disappeared.

Reviving a Lost English Craft

Enamelling on copper had flourished in England during the 18th century. Centres including Battersea and Bilston became particularly associated with small enamel objects such as boxes, snuff boxes, patch boxes, candlesticks and other decorative pieces.

By the middle of the 19th century, however, the industry had largely vanished.

Susan Benjamin wanted not merely to sell surviving antique enamels but to revive their manufacture. In 1970 she established links with craftspeople in the West Midlands and began producing new decorative enamel boxes inspired by their 18th-century predecessors.

Success was not immediate. Halcyon Days has recorded that its first presentation of the new enamels at a trade fair in Blackpool was something of a disaster. Nevertheless, Benjamin persevered and the revival gathered momentum during the 1970s and 1980s.

Halcyon Days Winnie Pooh Tigger Snowman Christmas Enamel Trinket Box. This example sold for US $479.99 (£355.36) on ebay, July 2026.

The small boxes became closely associated with the Halcyon Days name and found an international collecting audience.

Producing an enamel box remains a highly skilled process. Copper provides the underlying form, onto which layers of enamel are applied and repeatedly fired in a kiln. Decoration can then involve numerous stages of painting and further firing. Halcyon Days states that an individual enamel may pass through the hands of its craftspeople as many as 100 times during its production.

Although Halcyon Days has subsequently expanded into fine bone china, accessories and other luxury goods, its enamel boxes remain at the heart of the company’s identity.

Halcyon Days and the Royal Family

Royal connections have also played an important part in the history of Halcyon Days.

A particularly significant moment came in 1970 when Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother commissioned an enamel box depicting Clarence House, her London residence.

In 1972, The Queen Mother granted Halcyon Days its first Royal Warrant as a supplier of objets d’art. Further Royal Warrants followed and by the late 1980s the company held all four Royal Warrants then available, from Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen Mother, The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales.

Following the accession of King Charles III, Halcyon Days received a new Royal Warrant from the King in 2024, continuing a Royal association extending for more than half a century.

Royal events have naturally provided subjects for many collectable Halcyon Days pieces, including Royal weddings, anniversaries, jubilees, birthdays and commemorations.

Collecting Halcyon Days Enamel Boxes

One of the attractions of collecting Halcyon Days is the enormous variety of subjects produced over more than half a century.

Designs range from flowers, animals and traditional landscapes to literary subjects, famous paintings, historic buildings and personalities. There have also been collaborations with museums, galleries, artists and cultural institutions.

Limited editions can be particularly interesting. When World Collectors Net originally featured Halcyon Days, for example, we illustrated a box based on Scottish artist Jack Vettriano’s 1994 painting Billy Boys. The Halcyon Days version was produced as a limited edition of 350.

Halcyon Days Limited Edition The Billy Boys By Jack Vettriano Enamel Box

Another box featured in our original article commemorated Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, in an edition of just 250.

Such pieces demonstrate how Halcyon Days boxes can cross several collecting fields. A Royal commemorative box may appeal to collectors of Royal memorabilia as well as enamel collectors, while boxes featuring artists, historic figures, museums or popular culture can attract collectors from those areas.

Halcyon Days Life of Ronald Reagan Enamel Box

Dated annual editions form another collecting category. The Halcyon Days Annual Christmas Box series began in 1973 and has continued for more than half a century, with a different festive design providing collectors with a chronological series to pursue.

Condition is important when buying older examples. Collectors should examine the enamel for chips, cracks and restoration and check the condition and operation of the metal mounts and hinge. Original presentation boxes and accompanying certificates or documentation are also desirable, particularly with numbered limited editions.

The large number of designs produced means values vary considerably. Age alone does not necessarily make a Halcyon Days box rare or valuable. Subject, edition size, condition, desirability and original packaging can all influence demand.

Halcyon Days Today

More than 75 years after Susan Benjamin opened her Mayfair shop, Halcyon Days continues to produce decorative enamels in the West Midlands alongside its English fine bone china production.

For collectors, however, the enamel boxes remain the company’s defining creation. They combine a revived 18th-century English craft with subjects that document Royal occasions, Christmases, anniversaries, art, personalities and changing tastes across more than five decades.

Susan Benjamin’s decision in 1970 to attempt to revive an almost vanished craft therefore achieved something rather remarkable. Instead of English enamel boxes becoming solely objects from the past, Halcyon Days gave the tradition a new chapter – and created an entirely new field of collecting along the way.

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