Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840

Oh, how I wish I could step back in time, for just one day. Put me on Hot Lane Burslem, so I could ask all my questions. On one of my visits to Stoke, I sought out Hot Lane--the site of the Sherratt manufactory--and stood there waiting for the earth to shake, or for some visible sign of a message from the other side. But the quiet little road went about its business as usual. Ah well, I live in hope....but I think Enoch Wood is just the person I would want to visit because his life spanned the period in which my figures were made, and his journals attest to his great memory.

One of the many things we don't know about figures is how they were marketed and sold. It would be nice to know who bought them, but it would also be great to know what they bought. Were Elijah and the Widow always sold as a pair, or could you buy them individually? What of the Seasons and Elements? Could you buy just one?  I suspect that you could buy one of most things, but there were figures that you of course would only want as a pair. I think the potters were savvy enough to cater to all tastes....and for that reason I believe that mix and match was the order of the day. If you wanted to buy Spring, but not Winter, Summer, or Autumn that was just fine.

As I devour the pictures some of you have been sending me this week (thank you), I am struck by how very many figures that I had thought of as singles can actually be paired. They look fine as singles, but at the point of purchase you probably could have bought a pair. For example, we never think of dandies as figure pairs. Two figures on a base seem to be a pair unto themselves, but very many of the dandy models do indeed have another "side."  

I know large dandies sometimes come in twos. The figure group on the dust jacket of my book would have had another to go with it--and you could buy it or not, as you liked.  I have noticed that some of the square-based dandies of a good size can be paired, like these two pairs above. These may have  been together always, simply because their original purchaser chose to buy a pair rather than a single. As I dig through my dandy archive, more pairs become apparent. I can't go so far as to say that EVERY dandy group has another to pair with it, but if we assemble enough examples of dandies, we may reach that conclusion. So please keep your pictures coming.

Above are two pairs of mid-sized dandies attributable to "Sherratt."  Tell me that they weren't made to stand together?  Allowing for minor color differences due to photography with different cameras in different countries, do these not look like they were painted on the same day by the same person?  (I know, I know! When I Photoshopped them together for you, I should have put them the other way around, so the two men stood on the outside).  I think these are drop-dead gorgeous, but then I am so partial to dandies. These pairs are both perfect, right down to the little flowers projecting from the baskets the men hold. So don't believe anyone who tells you there is no such thing as a perfect figure!

My current pairing dilemma centers around these two small figures.

Yes, I know these are not a pair! I bought the man in the green coat first. I call him the Green Man and I haven't seen another like him. The fellow alongside came home with me a while later. I was fascinated by the way the molds evolved to reflect the change in gentlemen's fashion. I never ever thought that either of these figures might have a mate. After all, the figure world is full of singletons, is it not?  Then this week, this little figure whizzed into my email box.

Charming is she not? I wish she was mine....but then I would have a trio and I am not going there! Of course I am now looking at every figure as if I can see double. What does it pair with? Look at your shelves, think about it, and if you can't come up with the answers send me a picture. You just never know   what we may discover.