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Commonly uncommon

1/6/2015

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Ten years ago, I knew a lot less about early figures than I know now.  One thing that time has taught me is that pearlware figures I have always thought of as common and readily available are frequently quite uncommon. Back in those days, my exposure to the collections of others perhaps spoiled me. In 2004, I photographed this little pair of gardeners marked SALT in the home of Griselda Lewis. 
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Very nice, I thought.  I should get a pair....but I am still waiting! I have yet to find another good pair of gardeners marked SALT. I am not saying I haven't seen another pair in the past ten years.....but if I have, they were not worth remembering.  That same year, I photographed this pair of gardeners in the collection of my friend Nick Burton.

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Yes, I know his arm is missing, but when all else is original and quite splendid, who cares? This pair can be attributed to the pot bank dubbed "Tunstall". Again, I admired them and started watching out for a similar pair....and I am still looking!

That's not to say my quest for a pair of gardeners has been totally futile, but it certainly has not been easy. I did finally buy this little pair at auction in Canada---not a simple process, but that's what it took to add a pair of gardeners to my shelf.
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The pair is particularly pretty, I think. Also, although not immediately obvious to the uninitiated, they can be attributed to "Sherratt". Several features suggest the attribution, but the clincher is the presence of tiny four-petalled flowers on his flower pot and at the edges of her sleeves. You only find these on "Sherratt" figures. Alongside is a cluster of these flowers, photographed on the head of a lady in a "Sherratt" TEE TOTAL group.


The dearth of good pairs of gardeners hasn't stopped me from buying fine unusual single figures, like the two lovely ladies below.
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This lady gardener (attributed to the Patriotic Group pot bank) has gilded shoes and a feather. She is a firm favorite in my collection....but I have yet to see the male gardener that I am sure was made to accompany her.

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I know not which pot bank made this fine lady gardener. The bocage is correct and complete as shown here. I have seen this lady's companion. However, I have only seen him with a restored bocage...not a pretty sight at all!
I bought the lady gardener in the pair below for my "academic shelf" because I had not seen her bocage form before. A few years later, I got lucky when I found the gentleman gardener who completes the pair. Making up good pairs in this manner is so sweet!
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If you aspire to a grand collection, don't turn your nose up at good examples of "ordinary" subjects. As I have learned, they can be even harder to find than their more impressive brethren, 
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    Myrna Schkolne, antique Staffordshire pottery, expert
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