I have been working with several collections recently, and this has given me the opportunity to see some splendid dandies. Who does not like dandies? I don't think any collection can ever have too many. The little couple below--I call them "dumpy dandies"--is quite rare. It measures all of 4.5" in height, and the somber expressions and stumpy bodies are adorable. This couple lacks that air of superior indifference that fashionable dandies strove to exude--but they tried to dress the part anyway.
As you see, the back is a bit unusual. I wish I had photographed the interior for you. The glaze is a heavy blue, and in parts it did not coat the interior. Very pretty if you are into bases, and I, of course, am!
I also photographed this spiffy pair. They can be attributed to the Patriotic Group (see Vol. 1 of my new book this fall for details....and Vol. 3 has a chapter on just Dandies.) If you look carefully, you can see that the couple on the right is just a bit bigger, a tad chunkier. Clearly, this is a pair, but I wondered if they perhaps might have been fired at different times or in different places in the kiln, resulting in varying shrinkage rates in firing.
Then I noticed the same discrepancy in the pairs below. Again, the couple where the lady has the flat hat is slightly bigger. These pairs, however, were made by the "Sherratt" pot bank. Despite the close similarity to the Patriotic Group dandies above, the molds are actually different. I wish I could explain...but it is what it is.
Below you see the "Sherratt" dandies we have just looked at, but now they flank another pair from the same molds and with bocages. Yes, these are all "Sherratt." A wonderful sight, is it not?
And to bring us full circle, below are the dumpy dandies that started this post, now standing between the "Sherratt" pair.
Sometimes words fail me, but the pictures say it all.
