I am having a tough time scrounging the Internet looking for 'sightings' to report. Where have all the good wares gone? Collectors and dealers alike are having trouble finding fine early figures. Those who own them know they are better than gold...and they are holding on tight. I don't want to keep hitting on the same few dealers with good stuff because the blog will start reading like an infomercial, but in reality if you want a great figure right now, you need to go to a great dealer. In my search today, I came across this figure.
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From http://www.antiqueszone.co.uk/zone4/staffordshiremusiciansfigure.html
Described thus.

"This fabulous piece of antique English Staffordshire pottery is one of the finest examples of an early Staffordshire pearlware figure group we have offered online for some time. Musicians is a good quality early - circa 1795-1810, Staffordshire pottery figure group of a couple on a typical stylized grassy knoll. She is seated with a mandolin and he standing playing a penny whistle, the whole on a characteristic hollow raised plinth base. A quality transitional piece decorated with bright semi-opaque overglaze enamel colours. Stylistically this unmarked piece resembles and is influenced by the work of the Ralph Wood family of Staffordshire potters. One for the connoisseur and only the best and most discerning collectors of best antique English pottery and antiques!" Antiques Expert Hamilton Bear.

Condition: Very good. As with most antique pottery figures some restoration is to be expected. Here the outstretched hand/arm of  the penny whistle player has been restored. This appears to be the extent of any large area of restoration. This does not spoil the aesthetic qualities of the piece from any conventional display/viewing angle
  Please study all images carefully forming part of this description before you buy ...

When an online listing cautions that images are part of the listing and must be studied carefully, a red light goes on for me. Am I expected to SEE something that hasn’t been described? In this case, it is what I am not seeing that bothers me. Where’s the bocage? Have a look at the back and you will see the crude patch job on the stump where it broke off. You can also see the rough patch where the now-gone bocage rested against the back of the man’s coat.

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Also,  I believe the 'penny whistle' was once a horn.  And lastly, this figure is probably by Enoch Wood, cousin to Ralph Wood….but then the Ralph Wood name is so much more prestigious.

Below is a version of the figure in the form it should take.
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Interestingly, there is a pair to this figure--the man to the other side of the woman of course, and different instruments in their hands. Again, a fine single is perfectly lovely to own...but by 'fine' I mean it should at the very least include its bocage!

Note the rectangular base with stepped edge. Several other figures, also believed to be by Enoch Wood, are found on similar bases.
 


Comments

frances
04/15/2010 14:39

Thank you for the research. I love the figure playing the horn - where did you find it?

It could be that the male figure with a whistle in one hand is actually playing the three-holed pipe. This is seen in ceramic and also in real life in the 18th and 19th centuries, usually holding a drum, with drumstick in the right hand.

Do let me know if you find any similar figures.

frances
archivist The Taborers Society

Reply
Myrna
04/15/2010 18:01

Hi Frances,
No pastime is more frequently represented in early pottery than music, so you should have no trouble finding figures that mesh with your interest. I will post some more musical figures in the next few weeks. We have another blog reader who is particularly fascinated by the instruments--and the transverse flute in particular. I will admit to trying to research musical instruments for my book, but I gave up. I think this is a specialized area and I wasn't sure if the earthenware instruments had been accurately formed. I do appreciate your contribution. I will try to learn!

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