Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840

You don't see this inkstand often. This example was formerly in the stock of Aurea Carter.

The inkstand below appears similar, but I wonder why it lacks a quiver to serve as a quill holder. Was it made that way? Was the quiver broken off? This illustrates the importance of knowing what a figure should look like before committing to buy. What is NOT on the figure is often as important as what is.

Then again, I have recorded another version of our putto--with a quiver on his back!

Could be that all three versions of the figure are correct. Trouble is you don't know if you are buying from an unreliable source. Aurea's putto would have come with full details of restoration, if any....and that is the advantage of buying from a reputable dealer.

To complicate the issue further, I have seen two putto inkstands where the putto wears a hat. Yes, a hat. Isn't that what every putto needs? The head/face is from a different mold, best I can tell. One of these inkstands is in the Earle Collection (item 664 if you have the book.) The other is quite important because it has written beneath it "John Foster made this at Hanley August the 29 1820." Like the Earle putto, this fellow was made with hat and quiver (quiver now missing.)

We know John Forster made one putto astride a dolphin on a summer's day in 1820--yet we know of not a single other item he made, and he must have made a fair number. Of course, I will always wonder if he made the look-alike figure in the Earle Collection. But who was John Forster and what else did he make??? Our figure potters were small operators. Sadly, the identities of many of these men has, like their fragile wares,  vanished into the mists of time.