This month, a Ralph Wood Staffordshire pottery figure titled Worshiper found a new home on my shelf, and I am particularly pleased to have another pearlware figure by this skilled early potter (active 1782-1795).  Adding to  my delight in the figure itself is the oh-so-sweet price...but more on that later. ​

​As you see, the figure is enamel-painted in a typical Ralph Wood palette.

This figure has a couple of special features. For one, it is impressed on the reverse with the number "69" (on the back of the base). Ralph Wood sometimes numbered figures in this way.

Next, look at the figure's VERY large hands. Each hand is as long as each forearm! Collectors have long noted that extraordinarily large hands feature exclusively on some Ralph Wood figures, and this figure certainly has them.

How many figure models can you recall that are deeper than they are wide? I know of only this one. It measures 3" across and 4.5" deep, so it has a really impressive footprint. Worshiper has spent the last few days on the island in my kitchen, where I have been able to enjoy it from all angles.

As I contemplated writing this, I thought of other examples of this figure that I have seen, and I quickly realized that there are very few. Interestingly, no two are alike because this figure comes with several variations. 

• The figure may have no impressed number, or it may be impressed "68" or "69" or "70"
• The figure is sometimes titled Peafant Worfhiping or sometimes simply  Worship.
• The hat may be placed in assorted places.

I think all the variations in the figure are easily explained.

• The hat was made of molds that were quite separate from the figure, and potters simply placed it where they saw fit. My favorite is the hat on the sheep's rump!
• As for numbering variations, we know those happened routinely on other Ralph Wood figures, and I tend to think that human error alone accounts for them.
• The difference in titling could be explained by simple human error, or perhaps it was decided to change the figure's title.

Of course, my explanations are purely guesses. What I do know is that this figure is quite rare. In addition to the examples shown here, I know of only one other (Schkolne, Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, vol. 2, fig 109.38). It is titled Worshiper, no number, and the hat is on the ground behind the man. 

So what did I pay for my fine 240-year old figure? Believe it or not, only $101. I bought it on eBay. It had a chip and some flaking to the hat, two chipped finger tips, and the end of one sheep's ear was chipped, all of which were disclosed. Not disclosed was the fact that the hands had been broken off and reattached, but the join was very tight, so I can understand the seller having missed it. Importantly the hands were there, and that's what counts. The restoration was so minor that I did it myself. I don't often get a bargain--on the contrary in fact! Far more satisfying than the price I paid is the beauty of this glorious treasure, and I am thrilled to add it to my collection.

PS: A word of caution, lest I encourage you to shop for figures on eBay: eBay is a minefield for all but the most knowledgeable collector. 

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I assist a collector who loves early Staffordshire pottery cradles, but each must have a baby in it. Such cradles are usually quite small, but some can be larger, as you see in this selection of cradles, courtesy of the Hunt collection.

The collectors' husband, on the other hand, has hitherto dismissed cradles as rather trivial. To his mind, cradles are merely decorative and have no historical significance....and until now, I haven't been able to contradict him.

Last month, our mindsets changed with the discovery of the cradle on the left below.

The wording on the cradle, Le Roi de Rome (The King of Rome) indicates that it was made to mark the birth of Napoleon's son and heir, who Napoleon titled the King of Rome at his birth in 1811. 

So, at last, a cradle of historical significance has joined my collector friend's much- loved cradle collection. This new addition also suggests an answer to a big question: what was the purpose of these little cradles? We have never really known WHY they were made. Some think they were given to couples as wedding gifts that symbolized a hoped-for family; others think they were made to celebrate a birth. The cradle impressed  Le Roi de Rome clearly falls into the latter camp, so perhaps all cradles were made as gifts to be given in the same celebratory spirit.

While it suggests an answer to one big question, the little cradles raises several additional questions:

• Do we know of any other figures with French writing on them? I think not.
• Why at the height of the Napoleonic Wars would English potters make a cradle to celebrate the birth of their arch-enemy's heir? 
• Who would the intended buyer of this cradle be? England was not exporting to France in the midst of war, so why the French wording?

Again, I am puzzled--but if I knew all the answers, collecting would not be nearly as much fun.