Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840

Enamel-painted Staffordshire figure groups similar to the one below occur  titled COCK FIGHTERS, but just look at the sweet scene and the lady cuddling a chicken of sorts. Hardly redolent of the vicious cock fighting ring, is it?  I have owned this figure for quite a while--originally purchased from John Howard--and it continues to give me pleasure. I love the woman's glorious hat. Interestingly, the bocage leaves are single sided. In other words, the back of each bocage leaf is flat--it has not been paired up with a similarly molded leaf to form a double-sided structure. All in all, a charming figure.

Square-based versions of this figure are never as finely decorated or modeled. They become rather mundane objects.  But I was tickled to note a Pratt ware version on Andrew Dando's site. For the uninitiated, Pratt ware figures are colored by applying colors UNDER the glaze. Enamel-painted figures are colored by painting colors ON the glaze.  The latter technique enables a broader color palette to be used but it requires additional firing--resulting in more expensive wares, at that time.

I don't like most Pratt ware figures. Because they were in their day less expensive, they often are what you would expect of the lower end of the market: crude little things. But there are exceptions, and I have succumbed to fine examples in the past. At their best, these figures glow because the glaze is right on top, no enamel painted over to dull it. The figure can look as good as the day it was made. The trouble is finding these gems.

So my enamel-painted cockerels group has a beautiful Pratt ware counterpart, made from the same molds. If I didn't already have my group, I might be tempted. But I am sure this figure too will find a loving home.

I collect enamel-painted earthenware figures but, as this blog posting and the previous one show, I am fascinated by the linkages between 'my' wares and all others, both pottery and porcelain.  Their interconnections shouldn't surprise me because we are dealing with quite a short time period in which these treasures were wrought.

And for all of you who write me about my beloved pup and the blog's co-author, Johnny Be Goode. Here he is at 4 months and a few days, doing what he loves best: chewing. I am in love!