Myrna Schkolne: Early Staffordshire Figures

Neale pearlware figures may be marked NEALE & Co., such as the four Neale figures of the Seasons above. These figures are distinctly modeled and decorated. Each figure stands on a rococo scrollwork mound, picked out in bright pink/puce and turquoise, which is in turn mounted on a square base. The enamels are sweet, like the figures themselves.Sometimes the figures are impressed beneath with the subject’s name. Most commonly, that name belongs to one of the Four Seasons, or it will be Apollo or Ceres.

Base of a marked pearlware figure of Ceres.

This pearlware figure of Ceres bears the Neale mark.

Unmarked pearlware figure of Ceres.

James Neale was the proprietor of a potbank in Hanley from 1778. By 1783, Robert Wilson was his partner. By 1791, Neale had retired and the partnership dissolved in 1792. Thereafter, the potbank continued in the Wilson family until 1820.

Figures impressed NEALE & CO. date from between about 1780 to 1791, this being the period of Neale's involvement in the trade. After Neale's retirement, the same figures continued in production, sometimes marked with an impressed crown above the letter G.The same figures can also be found with no maker's mark.

Clearly we know NEALE & CO figures are 18th century, but other unmarked figures from identical molds may be 18th or 19th century.The 18th century enamel coloring was timeless and so well suited to the figures' delicate modeling that the Wilsons may have retained the pretty palette. The Wilsons probably realized the ideal match between the style and the decoration of these molds and did not tamper with the petite NEALE & CO figures.

Marked Neale figures go beyond the small figures discussed above. Toby jugs decorated in enamel colors and marked NEALE & CO are usually on marbled bases, and Toby customarily has a particularly warty nose. The enamels are brighter than I would expect for the 1780-90 period, but they retain a delicate silkiness--and what do we really know anyway?

Other Neale Staffordshire figures can be seen in the scant pages devoted to them in Diane Edwards's book "Neale Pottery and Porcelain." You will also find reference to other Neale and Wilson marks, none of which seems to have popped up on a pearlware figure--yet. Tell us about your Neale figures by commenting on this blog.

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