Myrna Schkolne: Early Staffordshire Figures

My friend Malcolm Hodkinson shares a huge photo archive with me. We have well over 10,000 images between us. So it is not often that a figure appears that neither of us has seen.  And that happened this week.

Clearly, our mystery figure is damaged, but it is pearlware C1820, very much in the style of Enoch Wood.

Despite its problems, the figure is hauntingly beautiful and the embellishments on the base, as well as the flag, seemed to support a military connotation.

Andrew Dando supplied the answer to my identification mystery by providing this  image of a later pair of Staffordshire figures that he had in his 2007 Exhibition.

Thankfully--and, in particular, thanks to Andrew-- the mystery is solved. The Victorian figures, by Thomas Parr, are lovely, but give me an early figure any day. I far prefer the detailed modeling and vibrant coloring of the earlier figure. Also, note the attributes of peace at the feet of the early figure--details discarded in later decades. I remain puzzled by the scars on the early cherub's torso. Did something once touch there? Above all, I remain perplexed as to why other early examples of Peace have not been found--and I am even more puzzled by the lack of any known early examples of War.

Because Peace is traditionally depicted winged, a putto was appropriate for its representation in clay. Note that our pearlware figure of Peace holds a dove--emblematic of peace because Genesis describes a dove as returning to the ark holding an olive leaf.  I am guessing that the objects at the putto's feet are intended to be the discarded emblems of war. You can see these on more traditional early pearlware portrayals of Peace. Please click here to see an August 2009 blog posting showing such a figure.

A further thought: Is our winged putto intended to represent Victory rather than Peace? The flag at half mast has me wondering. Victory would also be winged and would also have discarded elements of war. If you know, please share!