Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840
  • Home
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Figures etc.
    • Some Fabulous Figures
    • Restoring Antique Staffordshire Pottery
    • Reproductions of Antique Staffordshire Pottery Figures
    • Believe It?
    • Dealers in Antique Staffordshire Pottery
    • Books on Staffordshire Pottery
    • Interesting Web Sites
  • Videos

The Rev. George Whitefield

2/25/2014

3 Comments

 
The bust of a cleric just added to Aurea Carter's stock oozes quality. It clearly is a cut above, so then it comes as no surprise to discover impressed Ralph Wood numerals in the socle.
Picture
Courtesy Aurea Carter
Picture
Courtesy Aurea Carter
The number "82" is listed by Falkner as a "bust of a divine".  But just who might this divine be??  In my opinion, the bust represents the Rev. George Whitefield (pronounced, I am told, as Whitfield).
The Rev. George Whitefield, an evangelical Anglican preacher and a contemporary of the Rev. John Wesley, was born on December 17, 1714. He and Wesley were friends, but by 1741, the two men had chosen separate paths: Whitefield helped establish Calvinistic Methodism, while Wesley and his supporters established Wesleyan Arminianism. 

Whitefield was a dramatic emotional speaker, cross-eyed and of small stature, with a booming voice that reached huge crowds. He popularized preaching in the open, a practice that enabled him to reach people who would not have entered a church. He preached in Scotland, Ireland, and Europe, but his impact was most profound in America, which he visited seven times and where his name became a household word. He died in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on September 30, 1770, and he was buried beneath the pulpit of Newburyport’s First Presbyterian Church. 

Given the importance of Whitefield in his time, it is not surprising to discover that others too made his bust.  Enoch Wood/Wood & Caldwell made the bust below. It is impressed on a medallion on the back “THE REVD. GEORGE WHITFIELD, DIED SEPT. 30, 1770. AGED 56. ENOCH WOOD SCULP. BURSLEM”. An identical bust in the Victoria and Albert Museum  (83-1874)  is impressed “Neale & Co”, suggesting that Enoch Wood may have modeled this bust while in Neale’s employ and before he became an independent potter in 1783. 
Picture
Courtesy John Howard
I would guess that the Ralph Wood bust of Whitefield was made circa 1787, in the midst of the relatively short Ralph Wood era. The Enoch Wood bust on the other hand, is not as easy to date because it could have been made over a longer period of time, either by Enoch Wood or by the Wood and Caldwell partnership. 

I don't know who made the bust below, but isn't it nice to see a titled example?
Picture
Courtesy John Howard
I used to think of busts as rather boring, but I have learned the error of my ways. I have been working with a collection that has a fabulous selection of busts, and they are fantastic pieces of pot that offer amazing glimpses of the people that shaped the world then and now. Without Whitefield, our western world would look quite different. He is considered to have been a key figure in the Great Awakening that was critical in the development of democracy. His teaching that all men are equal before God is thought to have played a pivotal role in the evolution of the principles that established the American nation. 

With apologies for the varying fonts in this posting. I just can't fix it!
3 Comments

"Sherratt" bull baitings: missing links

2/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Most of us are familiar with the oh-so-loved (but relatively rare) "Sherratt" bull baiting. It is the poster-child for pottery of the circa 1830 period.
Picture
"Sherratt" bull baiting on marbled table base.
There is no doubt that this iconic group is "Sherratt"--in fact, bull baiting groups of this very sort were the first figure groups attributed to the Burslem potter Obadiah Sherratt.  Did Obadiah Sherratt actually make them?  Well, we will never know because, although Sherratt existed, he did not mark his figures. However, this bull baiting model and a host of related figures share features that tell us they originated from the same pot bank, and so, for convenience, we attach the "Sherratt" label to them. The example you see here is on a table base, one that I loosely describe as a marbled table base.

What do we make of the bull baiting below?  Actually, it too is "Sherratt". No   marbled table base here. Instead, we have a brown table base with heavy clawed feet, and this base is a distinctive "Sherratt" feature.
Picture
"Sherratt" bull baiting on brown clawed table base. (c) Christie's.
If you are new to collecting, I can understand your skepticism. Comparing the two models carefully, you notice that the bull is not from the same molds. Obviously the man to the side is different, and one group has a man beneath the bull. The little dog atop the bull is also different--and the rope is quite definitely different. Also, the one group is titled, the other is not. So what do the two groups have in common?  All I can come up with are:
  • The dog on each base is from the same molds
  • The bases are the same size on the top
  • The floral swags on the aprons of the base are from the same molds.

Let's focus for a moment on the "Sherratt" brown clawed base. You will not see it on the many figure groups that we can date from their subject matter to post-1827. I have concluded that the brown clawed base is an early "Sherratt" base that was displaced by other designs--in particular the marbled table base-- as the years rolled on. So if the brown clawed base is early and the marbled table base is later, it seems that "Sherratt" made two quite different bull baiting groups over a number of years.

Last month, I was thrilled to discover a "Sherratt" bull baiting group that fits right in between the two extremes we have just looked at. Call it a hybrid of sorts. It has some of the features of both groups.

Picture
Bull baiting on brown table base.
Here the man and the bull are from the same molds as those on the brown clawed base group . This time though, the second man has been omitted. (He really is hard to see back there behind the bull, so leaving him off must have seemed a logical decision.)  

This group is very like the marbled base group in that it has the same BULL BEATING and NOW CAPTIN LAD title plaques. Also, the base (including the feet) is of the same shape.  




Picture
Picture
Picture
In the three bull baiting groups shown here, we see the evolution of a design. 

The "Sherratt" pot bank was not a fly-by-night operation. It functioned over an extended period of time, and I suspect changes in design were incremental.

What of the smaller dog atop the two earlier bull baitings?  That little dog seems to have been abandoned. Interestingly, I  have found him on this bull baiting.  
Picture
From "Circus & Sport"
I think that the "Sherratt" rainbow base you see on this bull baiting is an earlier, pre-1830 base. I have no convincing argument, just my gut feeling from handling it many times on other groups. The inclusion of the small dog--a feature on the earliest "Sherratt" bull baitings--reinforces my belief.

One other point: I have seen the two titled "Sherratt" bull baiting models( the marbled base and the brown table base) side by side, and I am still reeling. I have always thought the traditional marble-base group to be over-the-top fantastic, and it is. But wait till you see the brown table base example. OMG! The base may be the same size, but all else is larger. The man is significantly bigger, as is the bull.  Even the rope is chunky rather than puny. The bull's coat colors are just glorious, and the man is so life-like that you almost want to pick him up off the base. Add blazingly stunning enamels, and it is enough to make any collector swoon. (My thanks to the generous collector for this photo, but, frankly, it just doesn't do the group justice!) By the way, notice how the bull has his paw atop the dog in the earlier model. It really adds oomph to this very vigorous, gutsy composition

Fun Discovery.
I assisted the collector who bought the bull baiting on the titled brown table base. It was bought sight unseen, based on a condition report that had probably been compiled with the assistance of a black light. Black lights in inexperienced hands are notorious for misinterpreting and missing issues. In this case, the black light had done an excellent job of pointing out what seemed to be restoration. The restoration was exactly where I expected it to be on a bull baiting group: both bulls horns and ears, the dogs tails, the projecting legs on the top dog, the man's hand, and the feet of the table base. Things that stick out invite damage. If you want a perhaps-unique group like this, be prepared to suck up some restoration. Here all the important elements were intact. I told the collector that if I could have changed one thing, I would have wanted the man's raised hand to be original. That hand is so focal....but collecting is all about compromising.

Stay with me...the story goes on. When this group got to the restorer, the collector had a pleasant surprise.  The restoration was far LESS than the black light indicated. An amateur restorer had restored one horn and ear. Because he had difficulty matching the color to the original horn and ear, he simply painted both the new color!!  Removing that paint revealed the original horn and ear, as good as the day they were made. Very best of all, the man's raised hand was original: three chipped finger tips had been 'restored' with a new coat of paint to the entire hand. The black light had detected the new paint--stripping it off revealed the hand in all its glory. Similarly, the restoration to the dogs was less than expected (for example a tail tip on the larger dog rather than the whole tail and part of the back, as a black light suggested), and only two of the six feet of the base were replaced. Collectors who buy sight unseen and not from a top dealer seldom have pleasant surprises....but there is a first time for everything. 

Removing dirt was the best part of the whole restoration process. This figure group had two centuries of black grease on it.  Every nook and cranny was coated. 
Picture
All this dirt cleaned off to reveal a man with an unscarred face an a bull with a glowing coat.
Picture
0 Comments

Discoveries

2/4/2014

0 Comments

 
Don't we all love small "Sherratt" figures? For that reason, the lady below has floated around my house for many years, awaiting her mate. In Vol. 1 of Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, figure 30.31, you can see her with LONDON CRYERS impressed in her base. 
Picture
The figure in my book was made without a bocage, but my LONDON CRYERS lady has a distinctive "Sherratt" bocage.  After ten or so years, my hopes for finding  her mate were fading...and then I got a teeny step closer.
The companion male LONDON CRYERS that I tracked down was made without a bocage. Drat! Now I have two figures needing mates!  Ah well, the hunt continues.

This little dandies pair (made without bocage) below flew off John Howard's stand at the recent New York Ceramics Fair. I haven't seen this dandies model before.  They stand just 6 inches high and ooze charm.
Picture
In their time, real flesh-and-blood dandies were such pretentious people. Attitude was everything, and dandies oozed an air of superiority. Of course, fashion trickled down to the lower classes, and people who just couldn't emulate that mandatory dandy demeanor still aped dandy tastes. You see the result in figure groups such as this one: a quite homely couple dressed to the nines in an attempt to keep up with fashion.

Again, the New York fair was a dazzling success. Admittedly, weather marred the opening and the first day, but attendance thereafter more than made up for it. When my cab stalled in heavy snow en route to the preview, I walked a good distance on foot (wrong shoes too!), as did other die-hard addicts. John Howard had THE display of figures--hands down the biggest and the best. Other dealers too had figures in stock, so there was plenty to look at and to buy. Figures are now very thin on the ground, so when you see one you like, grab it!
0 Comments
    Myrna Schkolne, antique Staffordshire pottery, expert
    antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, bocage, antique Staffordshire, Myrna Schkolne
    Staffordshire figure, Myrna Schkolne, pearlware figure, creamware, bocage figure, antique Staffordshire pottery
    Staffordshire figure, Myrna Schkolne, pearlware figure, creamware, bocage figure, antique Staffordshire pottery
    Staffordshire figure, Myrna Schkolne, pearlware figure, creamware, bocage figure, antique Staffordshire pottery
    Staffordshire figure, Myrna Schkolne, pearlware figure, creamware, bocage figure, antique Staffordshire pottery
    Staffordshire figure, Myrna Schkolne, pearlware figure, creamware, bocage figure, antique Staffordshire pottery
    antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, bocage, antique Staffordshire, Myrna Schkolnecture
    antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, bocage, antique Staffordshire, Myrna Schkolne
    antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, bocage, antique Staffordshire, Myrna Schkolne
    antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, Ralph Wood, antique Staffordshire, Myrna Schkolne
    antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, Obadiah Sherratt, antique Staffordshire, Myrna Schkolne

    Archives

    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008

    All material on this website is protected by copyright law. You may link to this site from your site, but please contact Myrna if you wish to reproduce any of this material elsewhere.


Visit earlystaffordshirefigures.com