New collectors are often intimidated by the potential price of purchases. The thought of only being able to afford to collect the crumbs off the table is not very encouraging. So I remind collectors that you can buy a very nice figure for less than the price of a night in a London or New York hotel. I have just bought one, and I am pleased with it.:)
Early 19thC Staffordshire figure, pearlware, depicting a broadside vendor.
This little figure represents a broadside vendor. In the early 1800s, much printed material was sold on long rectangular strips of paper, aptly called 'broadsides'. They might contain the news of the day (salacious news boosted sales), a popular ballad, or whatever the printer thought would entice customers to part with a penny. Newspapers in those days were costly, heavily taxed items--so broadsides provided the most affordable reading material for much of the public, or at least for those who could read!
Early 19thC Staffordshire figures were made in the days before photography was invented. As a result, they capture in clay images of everyday life that would otherwise not have been recorded. My little broadside vendor is such a case, and, because social history is at the heart of my collection, I had to have him.
Early 19thC Staffordshire figures were made in the days before photography was invented. As a result, they capture in clay images of everyday life that would otherwise not have been recorded. My little broadside vendor is such a case, and, because social history is at the heart of my collection, I had to have him.
I have seen only one other example of our broadside vendor. That example can be seen alongside--and also on page 308 of my book and among the figures attributed to Ralph Wood on this site. Interestingly, this little figure has S. F BURDILL written on his broadside. That is, no doubt, intended to read S.F. BURDETT, and the news was probably all about the radical reformer Sir Francis Burdett.
I especially like my version of the figure because it is in spiffy condition, with great enamels and glazes. Just how I like my figures. A dealer friend has long maintained that black lines on the base indicate that a figure was a reject or a second. But my figure is banded with two black lines and he was made to perfection. Certainly no second. So I rest my case.
PS: Since writing this, I have located one more example of this figure form. It sold at Lawrence, Taunton, the Reed Fitt Collection, Feb 2000, lot 7.
