Myrna Schkolne: Early Staffordshire Figures

Thought you might like to see this charming whistle, which I came across recently.

Formed as a bright, perky hen, this whistle is only around 3" tall. Whistles such as this are understandably rare. How easy to break them or throw them away, yet this survivor has almost 2 centuries under its belt. If you scroll down to my blog posting of Feb 17, you will see a parrot whistle that I believe came from the same pot bank.

Small items such as whistles really 'pop' among bigger items in a collection. I notice that some collectors seem not to consider anything that is not Substantial in size. Their collections tend to be boring because most of the large figure forms are so well known and they lack charm. But there is endless variety among the smaller figures, and with luck, they can be found at very affordable prices.