This very rare set of sculptural bookends are an original design by the Malibu Pottery, a California company, which was in business from 1926-32. References note they are Malibu's 'Tipsy Monks'. They measure just shy of 6" high by 5.25" across by 5" deep. This handsome bookend set is made of a heavy, dense red clay, akin to brick. They are glazed in a very organic mat blue glaze, with hints of green. The glaze thins at the high points allowing the clay color to peek through, a very handsome glaze effect. This set weighs nearly 8 pounds, with the front facing Monk at 4 pounds even and the side-facing Monk 3 pounds and 12 ounces. The front facing Monk is impressed 'MALIBU 1926' on the backside. The side-facing Monk appears to have some notation under the glaze, but it is not legible. According to a reference by Robert & Donna Seecof on their site 'The Bookend Collector', they show a pretty good chronology for the design of this set, first made by Malibu in 1926, then Catalina had a similar design soon after, and Gladding McBean Pottery followed producing a set in the early 1930s of a white semi-porcelain body. It appears that all three are pretty scarce, with the Malibu and Catalina sets being the harder ones to find.This Malibu set is in time-worn condition, with a few bumps and bruises, most superficial and mostly limited to the glaze. The chip to the side-facing Monk's nose is into the clay. I found two references to this Malibu set and both had blemishes of a similar nature, which likely comes from nearly 100 years of service. All said and done, this is a fairly rare set of bookends from Malibu Pottery nearing the later period of the Arts & Crafts movement and they are really quite impressive. I trust someone will LOVE them.