Myrna Schkolne: Early Staffordshire Figures

The Internet makes our world smaller, so I hear from people from as far afield as Norway and New Zealand. Staffordshire figure collectors are everywhere.  I love connecting with collectors, but somehow last Monday's issues were vexing. My mailbox was flooded with enquiries from people who had bought figures that didn't resemble any Staffordshire I had ever seen, and from people who had bought very modern reproductions. What really pushed my button though: two eBay listings of what purported to be Ralph Wood figures. Coincidentally, both figures depicted Charity. Very common figures these are, and neither had a single attribute linking it to Ralph Wood. 

After many emails, the seller of this figure removed "Ralph Wood" from her listing title but left it in the body of the auction. You have my humble opinion. Have a look at the information on Ralph Wood (under the MAKERS tab on the top menu bar of this site) and judge for yourself. For now, you can see the auction by clicking here.

And another seller had the same idea with his figure, described as "not signed on the underside of the base but undoubtedly is the work of Ralph Wood of Burslem." This seller took my concern seriously. He read our pages here on Ralph Wood, and promptly amended his listing. Thank you, thank you! My faith in humanity is restored....at least until I see the next repro listed as The Real Thing. You can see this auction    here.

Because I check my email before switching off my light at night, Monday ended well. That night, I couldn't believe the news. A collector had read my Ralph Wood pages and he had TWO numbered figures to add to the list. In doing so, the numbering system got extended. It now reaches 170.

Each of these figures has a RW impressed number! Elijah is number 169 (a number thought to be on a figure of Fortune or Plenty) and the Widow is 170.  No RW figure has been recorded with a number higher than 169, so our list has grown.

It may take a village to do some things, but it takes a world of enthusiastic collectors to build our knowledge base about Staffordshire figures. A million thanks to the collector who shared this information with us--and thank you to all of you who share your collections, your new purchases, and your questions.

To the dealer who told me no more than 3 people in the world are interested in Ralph Wood: you would be amazed at the emails I have had as a result of the Ralph Wood pages!