What do normal people think about when they can’t sleep at night? Last night, I tossed and turned thinking about figures made by the Sunderland Pottery and marked “Dixon, Austin, & Co.” Conveniently for collectors, this partnership has always been dated to the 1820-1826 period, meaning that we can date figures with that mark to just those dates. My friend Stephen Smith published a great blog piece on Feb 29 on his oh-so-fantastic site, www.matesoundthepump.com. As you can read, we can now date the partnership to December 1818.
But what about when the partnership ended? That remains a little fuzzy...and that's what kept me awake. I did a little more digging this morning and came up with an entry in The London Gazette of January 7 1840, announcing the dissolution of “the firm of Dixon, Austin, and Company,” effective December 31, 1839. The partners signing the notice are Robert Dixon, William Austin, and Alexander Phillips. So I think we can comfortably declare 1839 as the final year of operation.
In summary, revise your thinking. A "Dixon, Austin, & Co." mark no longer means 1820-1826. Instead, think December 1818 to December 1839. This leaves me much more comfortable, as I did think that some of the figures of the Seasons made by the partnership appeared to be circa 1830. The watch stand below bears a Dixon, Austin, & Co. mark...how can we have this important piece of news without a picture?
But what about when the partnership ended? That remains a little fuzzy...and that's what kept me awake. I did a little more digging this morning and came up with an entry in The London Gazette of January 7 1840, announcing the dissolution of “the firm of Dixon, Austin, and Company,” effective December 31, 1839. The partners signing the notice are Robert Dixon, William Austin, and Alexander Phillips. So I think we can comfortably declare 1839 as the final year of operation.
In summary, revise your thinking. A "Dixon, Austin, & Co." mark no longer means 1820-1826. Instead, think December 1818 to December 1839. This leaves me much more comfortable, as I did think that some of the figures of the Seasons made by the partnership appeared to be circa 1830. The watch stand below bears a Dixon, Austin, & Co. mark...how can we have this important piece of news without a picture?
And what do you DO when you should be sleeping? A couple of weeks ago, I landed in South Africa. This was a 34 hour door-to-door trip endurance test that included three flights, an 18 hour transcontinental flight, and sorting out everything from connections to rental cars and accommodation along the way. I was exhausted, my eyes were burning….but worst of all, I had been without the Internet for far too long. Before I could collapse at the end of my marathon trek, I just HAD to see what might have floated into cyberspace while I was floating in the clouds. I was rewarded by finding this little pair.
Nice, are they not? She carries a parrot and he has a cockerel. Oddly enough, just the day before setting out on my trip I had noticed a similar assembled pair in an old catalog. I made a mental note that I had not seen the male figure before…and then I got about the business of going away. Is it not amazing that this pair was the very first thing I should find at the other end of my trip? Is it not enough to make you believe in a Pottery God?
I caught this listing on the web this week, and I recognized it because the very nice explanation of the group has been lifted straight out of my book.
STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERY DR SYNTAX FIGURE GROUP CIRCA 1825 Sherratt type, the figures seated at a table, engaged in a game of cards 16cm high, 23cm wide Note:Doctor Syntax was one of the early nineteenth century`s most popular literary characters. He was the brainchild of Thomas Rowlandson, the eminent caricaturist and watercolorist. Traditionally, a book`s text inspires its illustrations, but in the case of Doctor Syntax, the text was written by William Combe in verse form to accompany Rowlandson`s artwork. Doctor Syntax appealed to the English love of the absurd, and Staffordshire`s figure potters capitalized on the comic theme by producing their own interpretations of the eccentric clergyman. Doctor Syntax does indeed play cards in the book published in 1821, but that illustration differs markedly from this figure group. It seems that the story alone inspired the creation of the group.
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I caught this listing on the web this week, and I recognized it because the very nice explanation of the group has been lifted straight out of my book.
STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERY DR SYNTAX FIGURE GROUP CIRCA 1825 Sherratt type, the figures seated at a table, engaged in a game of cards 16cm high, 23cm wide Note:Doctor Syntax was one of the early nineteenth century`s most popular literary characters. He was the brainchild of Thomas Rowlandson, the eminent caricaturist and watercolorist. Traditionally, a book`s text inspires its illustrations, but in the case of Doctor Syntax, the text was written by William Combe in verse form to accompany Rowlandson`s artwork. Doctor Syntax appealed to the English love of the absurd, and Staffordshire`s figure potters capitalized on the comic theme by producing their own interpretations of the eccentric clergyman. Doctor Syntax does indeed play cards in the book published in 1821, but that illustration differs markedly from this figure group. It seems that the story alone inspired the creation of the group.
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Yes, on occasion I recognize my own writing! This example is interesting because it seems to have had a bocage that spanned the figure in an arc. The piece on the right is original, but the piece on the left is restored. Also, the little table and all that are on it are totally restored. “Sherratt” rectangular tables are always painted to simulate wood grain, so restorations simply jump out at you. The example below is unrestored.
If you are contemplating buying a group like this, check the table. Also, check the figures' heads. Their positioning leaves them quite vulnerable to damage, and I have seen several examples with one or other of the heads restored. If you want to buy it that way, that's fine. But know what you are buying. As always, buyer beware!
