Anyone can make a mistake, and a mistake was made around 1790 when this figure was produced.

This figure is easily recognizable as the classical god Jupiter. It looks to be a Ralph Wood figure, but the black marbled base is out of place. We think Ralph Wood never used black marbled bases.  But looking closely reveals a solid line painted under the marbling, and the line goes around three sides of the base only. This three-sided line is a strong Ralph Wood pointer.  And looking even more closely reveals Hercules painted under the marbling in a typical Ralph Wood script.  But this figure is not Hercules. Rather it is Jupiter!

Now all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place: Ralph Wood made this figure....but with the wrong title.  Oops!  When it emerged from the kiln, someone realized that Jupiter had been given the wrong name. What was to be done?  It was impossible to erase and replace....but how about concealing?  A little black enameling covered the mistake, as well as the rest of the base.  How nice that it was marbled rather than solid, for today we can see exactly what happened.  BTW, this figure is titled Jupiter beneath, just to give this god his due!

The mis-titled Jupiter is coming up at auction at Bonhams next month.  When I mentioned it to Andrew Dando, he recalled having one just like this in stock many years ago. He added that Aurea Carter had an identical Jupiter (also with Hercules covered with black marbling) in stock at the same time. Aurea confirms this was indeed the case. So we know that at least two of these figures were made---and to the best of my knowledge they are the only two Ralph Wood figures on black marbled bases.

I have had lots of emails in past weeks about items coming up at various auctions.  Please be careful.  Most often, auction houses  do not supply complete condition reports--Bonhams, London, where Jupiter is to be sold, is most thorough. When the hammer goes down the sale is final.  Please only bid at auction if you have the experience to assess price.  Don't forget to factor in buyer's premium and shipping costs.  Figure it all out, set yourself a limit--and stop your bidding right there.  When I 'win' at auction, I temper my jubiliation with a sobering reminder: the winner is sometimes the biggest fool. Today's auctions are so well publicized internationally. It's not the greatest feeling to know that you have paid more than any other collector or dealer was prepared to pay....but if you get something you have coveted for ages, something you probably will not get another shot at, it was worth it.  Anything else?  Think again!

A collector asked me which figure in my collection I would keep if I could only keep one. Impossible to answer. How would I choose?  But this modest pair of danides is one group I would be very sad to leave behind. 

This pair is a past purchase from John Howard. My collection does not lack dandies, this model is not that unusual, and yet  this couple almost made me swoon at first sight. Why? Firstly, this dandy and his dandizette are fantastically modeled with great expressions on their faces. Next, the enamels are subtle and soft, making these dandies appear to have just stepped out of the past. To top it,  the group has absolutely no restoration; also no damage aside from a base chip and a teeny chip to the last flower on her bonnet. And note the beautiful garland on her bonnet!  To hold this group is to touch the past.

John Howard's web site prices items by letter categories A through E.  This one should be price group P.  P for priceless. I just love it.

Did you notice that our dandizette holds an umbrella while her gentleman carries a handbag?  Male earthenware dandies sometimes have handbags because that was the fashion in the early 1800s.  In those times, gentleman might wear loosely fitting trousers for casual wear, but formal wear mandated tightly fitting pantaloons or breeches. These garments had to fit SO snuggly that underwear was not worn lest it disturb fit! Pockets could not be tolerated for the same reason, so dandy gentlemen carried little handbags called 'reticules'--and we see these in earthenware dandies, and in the pair pictured here.  The first manbag?  There is no end to what I learn from Staffordshire pottery!

These important figures give me goosebumps each time I look at them--and I expect they always will.  They were made by James Neale & Co. beween 1778 and 1789. Neale figures are instantly recognizable by the quality of their decoration. Miraculously, their fineness is akin to that of the early porcelains, yet they exude an earthy warmth and charm unique to pottery.

Have you ever seen more scrumptious enamels?   The male is marked NEALE & CO beneath; the female is not. Despite the differences in the coloring of the supporting stump, I do believe these figures have lived together as a pair always.  I think figures such as these were made as singles, but you could buy both if you wished. These were probably painted at around the same time, which accounts for the similarities in the decoration of the clothing. When it got to the bases....perhaps paint pots had been changed?

I cannot tell you how pleased I am to own these figures and I thank Aurea Carter for providing them. I have stalked a pair of figures like this for a long time. There is a pair in The Potteries Museum.  Another pair was in Jonathan Horne's 1981 Exhibition.  A pair sold at Christies London almost 20 years later, in September 2000. I am unsure about the markings on all these pairs, but I do know the Christies pair, like mine, had only the male marked.

You can see that the Potteries Museum and Christies' pairs also have mismatches in the painting while sharing coloring similarities that suggest they have lived together from inception. Likewise, Jonathan Horne's pair.

I am fortunate to already own a single marked Neale piper. You can read about him in my January 24, 2009, blog entry.  I still think he is delicious and I am keeping him, despite the duplication. Greedy, I know, but I can never have enough figures of this quality .  I did stand the three figures in a row, and, as you can see below, my single figure has a creamier body and a more muted color palette than does my pair. BTW, the man-bag he carries has a divine animal-skin pattern. Truly a modern man!

I will eventually add this new pair to our data on Neale figures, on this site under MAKERS/NEALE & CO.  I await one more picture: a hitherto unrecorded Neale figure, which I will share with you when I can.

Tomorrow, I promise a piece on a new topic, as I do each fourth day.  But so many of you have been sympathetic to my "why do Staffordshire sheep have red spots" problem that here goes again! I swear this will be my last word on the subject.  Stephen Smith sent these pictures to ease my pain--and I want to share them with you so we know that sheep with red spots (albeit dyed ones) exist now and probably have been around for centuries.

My blog posting of two weeks ago on sheep with initials painted on their backs has prompted many guesses.  Martyn Edgell tells me that he has seen a mezzotint of a shepherdess with her flock, and the flock had her initials painted on each one, so he believes initials were put on sheep to prove ownership.  Interesting concept. I had never thought of the initials being the farmer's brand. Instead I assumed they catered to customer vanity.  

And as for why sheep have red spots:  Stephen Smith points out that sheep are sometimes marked with red dye, and he is right, of course....but why are nearly ALL Staffordshire sheep red?  Nick Burton told me a long time ago that spots are red "because they look pretty that way, of course" and Nick is seldom, if ever, wrong on the aesthetics of pottery. I have seen black sheep. I have on file a black and white sheep, and a pair of black sheep, all reclining....and a friend has just sent me a picture of a solid black sheep standing in front of a spill holder (it looks very Walton-like).

Andrew Dando sent me this link to a modern-day farmer with orange sheep. Enjoy the story!  And thanks to all for the input.

This large group is commonly called a Songsters group--but as there is no titled example, you may call it whatever you wish, especially if its yours.

The same group also occurs with a spill holder in place of a bocage.

These are the most common variants of this large group. Of these two, I prefer the bocage model. It looks natural. On the other, the spill holder is so very big and prominent that it dwarfs the figures.  Clearly, some potter was bothered by this too, because the example below was made with the spill holder set lower.

Now doesn't that look better?  Contemplate for a moment the dozens of mold parts that were needed to assemble one of these groups. I couldn't begin to work it out. Mold parts were costly, so enterprising potters used them in varied ways. That's why we have this figure group with either a bocage or a spill holder. In addition, the molds were used to make a pair of figure groups--one being the couple on the left of our large group, its mate being the couple on the right.

The groups in this photograph should stand the other way round to line up with the arrangement on our large Songsters groups, but the figures are the same. A bocage and a title has been added. Each bears the WALTON mark behind.  Clever, are they not?

In the early 1800s, music was the one pastime that united people of all classes because the same music might be played at a country fair or at an aristocratic ball. So it is not surprising that we have very many Staffordshire musicians, as couples resembling these were made by many pot banks. Some are titled.  Here we have VILLAGE GROUP and PASTIME. PASTIME was probably paired with a group titled RURAL.

No collection is complete with out musicians. When shopping, watch out for restorations. Yes, they are acceptable and expected, but check that a missing instrument has been replaced with the correct one!

For a giggle, glance at the new addition to BELIEVE IT?

And if I failed to reply to your recent email, I apologize. Computer issues!! Please resend.

Back in the mid 1980s, I had been badly bitten by the pottery bug. I didn't know WHAT I was seeking, but I needed to find out! Having returned from England with a few pieces in hand in June (the exchange rate was almost 1:1), I couldn't wait to return. That winter, I was back, along with my long-suffering husband and a two-year old, diapers, toys, and all else.  It snowed heavily and our rental car's wipers died, so we found ourselves stranded in Tunbridge Wells. And nearby was a shop called Dunsdale Lodge. It was packed with ceramics. Every shelf and drawer held early figures, cottages, and Toby jugs. I wasn't comfortable buying from the proprietor--nothing was simple and knowledge was not forthcoming. But I did make a tiny purchase, and I bought a book.

The book was Griselds Lewis's A Collectors History of English Pottery, 2nd edition. On the cover was the most beautiful pair of dandies.  I was smitten! Now I knew exactly what I wanted to buy.

When I returned home, I wrote to Dunsdale Lodge asking if a pair of dandies like that on the cover was available. Two nasty polaroid pictures arrived. The prices were high, the figures lacked charm.  I passed....but I knew that one day I would find THAT pair of dandies.

My first bocage figure was purchased on my next trip to England, and it was a pair of dandies. Over the years, I acquired several more pairs.  Finally, almost 20 years after I had bought Griselda Lewis's book, I bought the dandies on the cover. This amazing pair of dandies came up at a small auction in a remote location. The receipt simply described my purchase as "china". 

Somehow I had always known that I would find this group, and they were worth the wait. Have you ever seen a perkier or prettier pair?  The enamels are exquisite, almost unreal. The blue has an irridescent quality, and the orange on the inside of the bonnet brim is just beautiful.

Griselda Lewis subsequently told me that this pair of dandies belonged to her old friend, John Hadfield. He wrote several books, the most famous being A Book of Beauty, and he also edited an annual publication called The Saturday Book.  After his death, a family member inherited the dandies and put them at auction.

Of course, my search for wonderful dandies continues---and I put a stunning pair on the cover of my book. But this pair will always have a special place in my collection and heart.  The Yiddish word beshert means destined: it was meant to be. Almost, but not quite, like the French que sera sera. For me, this dandy group was beshert.

Couple of other things to share:

• John Howard has just added two pairs of Ralph Wood enamel figures to his stock. Both are lovely and are true pairs. One has impressed mold numbers.
  
• The 2011 American Ceramics Circle Journal, to be in members' mailboxes shortly, has a detailed article about figures made by Walton. I wrote the article.  What prompted this?  Weariness at seeing everything with a bocage attributed to Walton!  You can also find all you need to know under the MAKERS/Walton menu on this site, but the ACC did a beautiful job of presenting my material with a full color index of known Walton models.  
  

Sheep with initials on their coats occur now and again. Currently, Andrew Dando has two spiffy examples in stock.  

Why the initials on the back? We really don't know but it is assumed these figures were customized as gifts.  The whole issue has me a little perplexed.  Did you order an initialed sheep from the Potteries?  Seems unlikely that the production process accommodated that.  Or did you get your initials painted on afterwards--perhaps enterprising retailers allowed customers to have this detail added and gently fired at the point of purchase, rather like we have linen monogrammed today.  Neither explanation satisfies me.  Nevertheless, I live in hope of finding my initials on a sheep. Yes, I know a restorer can add my initials upon request--and believe me, I have seen worse added to figures to accommodate our collecting quirks--but I want original initials!  Meanwhile Andrew's sheep are simply charming in their own right. Each has great character and individuality, not to mention lovely enameling and a good bocage. So each deserves space in your flock, even if your initials are neither MO nor HB.

BTW, have you ever seen a red and white sheep?  Do you know why Staffordshire sheep invariably have red spots? if you know, please share.

There has long been speculation about figures marked WEDGWOOD (see blog posting of July 14, 2009).  To start with, there is no evidence that Josiah Wedgwood's manufactory ever produced figures....yet we find figures marked WEDGWOOD. Some argue that these figures were made for Josiah Wedgwood  by other potters (including Enoch Wood), and the Wedgwood manufactory then stamped its name on them.  If this is the case, why do the detailed Wedgwood factory records not record them?   Others speculate that the figures were made by Ralph Wedgwood, a nephew of Josiah's who operated his own manufactory.  We may never know the answer, but recently this unusual figure came on the market. Rather than be marked WEDGWOOD,  it is marked WEDGWOOD &CO

The figure is a whopping 19 1/2" tall. It is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, I have never seen it before and I have no idea who the lady respresents. Secondly, the mark WEDGWOOD & CO is not one I have seen hitherto on a figure.  This mark was NOT used by Josiah Wedgwood. On the contrary, it was used by his nephew Ralph Wedgwood, apparently for a very short period at a pottery in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.

The Knottingley Pottery commenced in 1793 and operated under the name Tomlinson, Foster and Co.  In June 1798, Ralph Wedgwood joined the Knottingley partnership, which was promptly renamed Tomlinson, Foster, Wedgwood  and Co.--any smart business man would have wanted to add the famed Wedgwood name to the firm's letterhead.  Ralph had lots of new ideas but alas the partnership did not have the capital to support them, so it was dissolved a mere eighteen months later. Our unknown lady dates from the period 1798-99.  Nice to be able to date a figure with precision. Now we need to find out who she is. Any guesses?


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