Myrna Schkolne: Early Staffordshire Figures

Inebriated characters from a Scottish poem are improbable Staffordshire figure subjects, but Robert Burns's Tam O'Shanter, telling of drunken Tam's encounter with witches and warlocks, hit home in 19th century England. Ultimately, the tale's popularity turned poetry into pottery. Two collectors have generously shared their collections of Tam figures with us.

Staffordshire figures of Tam and Johnnie mimic the life-sized stone statues created around 1828 by a self-taught Scottish stonemason, James Thom. Thom’s statues--see below-- were first exhibited in Ayr in 1828. Their exhibition in London in 1829 was well received, and critics applauded the natural genius of the journeyman mason who had hitherto earned his keep chiseling tombstones. Thom produced replicas of the Tam and Johnnie statues in England between 1828 and 1835. He sent some to Philadelphia for exhibit and in 1836 sailed to America and ultimately settled there.

Because Staffordshire figures of Tam O’Shanter and Souter Johnnie copy Thom’s stone statues, we conclude they were potted no earlier than 1828, the year in which Thom’s statues debuted. (See how knowing a figure's design source guides in dating it?) Possibly the figures were not modeled directly from Thom’s statues. Perhaps a Scottish pot bank, inspired by Thom’s work, produced the first clay Tam and Johnnie figures. Or perhaps a print--such as the one below-- prompted the potting of the first figures.

“Tam O’Shanter” remains one of Burns’s best loved works, and figures of Tam and Johnnie abounded into the Victorian era. Such later versions are not a patch on the early figures. They are clunky and crude.

More than one early 19th century figure potter made Tam and Johnnie. The most popular figures are in the "Sherratt" style—as are the smaller pair and the table- based pair in our collectors' photos above. These figures are a lovely size—around 7”. But they are dwarfed by the rare large pair at over 15”.  Whatever the size, figures of Tam and Souter are not that common, although several potters made them. In this case, I would avoid a single figure. Hold out for a pair!