Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840

"You get what you pay for" goes the saying, and the more we pay, the more we apparently value our purchase.  Look at overpriced fashion accessories: the price paid seemingly determines the 'value' placed on an otherwise junky item.  Within my family, the same applies.  I dole out PLENTY of excellent advice.  My advice is totally free. It costs nothing. The result: it is valued at nothing!  Nobody listens. And it goes without saying  that I am ALWAYS right and never in doubt!

Of course, nobody ever has to wonder what I am thinking, and that includes you, dear reader, for, like it or not, I give plenty of free advice. So it comes as no surprise that the many people who enjoy my blog don't follow my advice! That's just fine. I love you all anyway and thank you for simply hearing me out.....but let me assure you I follow the very advice I give you!

Case in point: I jump up and down encouraging you to buy things in wonderful condition and to grab a marked piece. I am not saying buy a tired little thing that happens to have a mark. It goes without saying we don't buy purely for a mark. But when the piece is spiffy AND it has a mark....well, what are you waiting for?  I didn't wait. I hopped right onto this pair of deer.

This is a superb pair with only restoration to one ear. Those bocages are totally original. The glazes and enameling are great, and they are marked SALT.  I checked my SALT page (as can you by going to the MAKERS tab at the top of this page.)  I had not documented a true pair of Salt deer. This pair was a first. Interestingly, Salt only made female deer in this size. Both the left and right hand side of this pair are ladies, and my archive revealed that this is as it should be. Salt must have been a smart man. He just knew those antlers were destined to break. Or was Salt foreseeing the era of same sex marriages? Who knows.  Anyway, I bought these for a very reasonable price from John Howard. John immediately pointed out the most endearing feature on the deers' coats.  The painter painted the white spots by using his/her finger to remove the red-brown paint. As a result, each spot has a finger print smudged in red on it.

Above all, I am very grateful to readers who listen to my needs enough to let me know when they have something special in their collections. It really does help my research enormously.  When I immerse myself in a topic, it is amazing what I learn. Sometimes I genuinely feel that there is a Pottery God who rewards my efforts by tossing information my way.  I have been lost in the world of Ralph Wood figures for months now. And, to my joy, this pair of figures came to light this month.

These figures are very definitely attributable to Ralph Wood and were made circa 1790.  About 210 years old! Is that not amazing?  Look at the silky enamels, and the yummy, creamy color palette. And don't you love the way the glaze has puddled at the base of each figure?--you can really see this on the picture of the backs. 

To top it all, the figures are impressed 71 and 73.  If this were not enough, there is more: I have only seen one enamel-painted Ralph Wood male Spanish Dancer. It was heavily restored and not numbered. Number 71 is a new addition to my ever-growing list of Ralph Wood enamel figure-number combinations. I have the female Spanish Dancer figure, unnumbered, twice. Now I have verification of a figure-number combination with this pair. Sweet, is it not? 

For any unfortunate soul reading this who actually prefers porcelain to pottery, here is some free advice.  Have a look at the Derby porcelain figure of van Dunder currently on eBay ( item 260820821378) and compare it to the pottery figure made at the same time.

 I am sure the porcelain figure is probably just lovely...if you are a porcelain collector. But the pottery figure is SO much nicer. And remember,  I am never wrong and never in doubt!!:)

If you want to read more about the Van Dunder figure, go to the FIGURES tab at the top of the page. Scroll quite far down and you will read all you could want to know about the greatest comic actor of the early 19th century. Fame is not fleeting if your image is captured in clay!