We live in a Golden Age for collecting early figures....all those images that are now instantly available to us. But one of the problems with pictures is that they don't convey scale. A while ago, I was at an antiques show when a collector came to see a Perswation group that a dealer had on hold for her. She knew what the group looked liked--after all, she came armed with a checkbook, ready to pay. But when the dealer took Perswation out of his cupboard and put it on the counter, the collector gasped audibly. All the pictures in the world could not convey the depth of the group, its very sizable foot print, its absolute glory.
Think for a moment of all those little 3 to 4 inch cradles that you have seen, and now look at the cradle below. Your first thought might be that it is nicer than most because of the wiggle pattern on the cradle, the large child, and the pretty coloring. What the picture doesn't convey is that this is a very sizable cradle, measuring over 7 inches in length.
Think for a moment of all those little 3 to 4 inch cradles that you have seen, and now look at the cradle below. Your first thought might be that it is nicer than most because of the wiggle pattern on the cradle, the large child, and the pretty coloring. What the picture doesn't convey is that this is a very sizable cradle, measuring over 7 inches in length.
Courtesy the William Herbert and Nancy Hunt Collection
Below you see the big cradle alongside smaller examples and you can begin to sense its size....but even this picture doesn't cannot convey the largeness of the cradle when held in your hand.
Courtesy the William Herbert and Nancy Hunt Collection
Courtesy Andrew Dando
Similarly, the pearlware bird above is much bigger than you might expect. After all, most bird figures are quite petite at well under 4 inches. But Big Bird measures a whopping TEN inches--that's taller than a Toby jug!--and I have never seen another like it.
The best known (but far from common) figure of Britannia measures a statuesque 9 to 10 inches to the top of her plume and was made by Wood and Caldwell.
But did you know there is a smaller Britannia? The less well-known figure of Britannia below is amazingly petite, measuring under 7 inches. You can see another example titled BRITANNIA in Staffordshire Figures 1780 -1840, Vol. 2
I was intrigued to see a porcelaneous example of the petite Britannia on Andrew Dando's site. It was probably made circa 1840 from the same molds used for the pearlware version above.
Courtesy Andrew Dando
And, as I have noted before, Wood and Caldwell's George and the Dragon also comes in two sizes.You can read about it on this site by clicking here.
