Antique Pears Soap “Bubbles” Advertising Figure — c.1900

An exceptional antique Pears Soap advertising figure, depicting the famous “Bubbles” child — one of the most recognisable images in Victorian commercial history.

The figure is based on Sir John Everett Millais’ 1886 painting Bubbles, which was later acquired by Pears Soap and transformed into one of the earliest and most influential brand advertising campaigns in the world.

Seated on a rustic stump, the child delicately blows soap bubbles from a bowl, while the base is boldly moulded with the name “PEARS”, firmly identifying this as an authentic branded advertising piece rather than a generic nursery figure.

Produced in continental Europe around the turn of the 20th century for the British market, figures such as this were sold as decorative household ornaments and occasionally used in shop displays — bridging fine art, domestic décor, and early consumer branding.

A rare survival from the formative years of modern advertising.

Historical Context

When Pears Soap adopted Millais’ Bubbles image in the late 1880s, it marked a turning point in marketing history — associating fine art, innocence, and domestic virtue directly with a commercial product.

The campaign ran internationally for decades and established Pears as one of the world’s first truly global consumer brands.

Objects like this represent the physical legacy of that moment.

Few Victorian brands achieved the cultural penetration of Pears Soap — and fewer still left behind tangible objects of this quality.