A while back, I was annoyed to see a rather generic unmarked Toby jug described as almost certainly made by Walton. And how did the seller reach this profound conclusion? Well, the decoration and colors were pretty-pretty! Ouch! Nearly all of us know that Walton did not have the monopoly on pretty decorative techniques. Oh, if only attribution were that simple! In fact, several pot banks decorated in the same style as Walton.
Case in point are figures on vermicular bases--those pretty bases with their red and blue worm-like squiggles. On the whole, figures on vermicular bases are of superior quality and are prettily painted. But are they all Walton or even all from the same pot bank? Definitely not. Many, many years ago, I acquired the TENDERNESS below on a vermicular base. My young daughter asked me if it was brand new because it was as good as the day it was made. The colors are not unlike those Walton used, so the challenged among us might want to attribute this figure group to Walton. Don’t do that! There is not a single feature that supports a Walton attribution. (Note that Walton figures are never titled in this way. Also, this three-leaflet bocage frond is not found on a single one of the 80-plus marked Walton figure models.)
Case in point are figures on vermicular bases--those pretty bases with their red and blue worm-like squiggles. On the whole, figures on vermicular bases are of superior quality and are prettily painted. But are they all Walton or even all from the same pot bank? Definitely not. Many, many years ago, I acquired the TENDERNESS below on a vermicular base. My young daughter asked me if it was brand new because it was as good as the day it was made. The colors are not unlike those Walton used, so the challenged among us might want to attribute this figure group to Walton. Don’t do that! There is not a single feature that supports a Walton attribution. (Note that Walton figures are never titled in this way. Also, this three-leaflet bocage frond is not found on a single one of the 80-plus marked Walton figure models.)
Did John Walton use a vermicular base? Yes, he did, but strangely enough, to the best of my knowledge, he only used a vermicular base on his figure of Diana. Below, you see Diana marked Walton.
Which other potters used vermicular bases? The possibilities are enormous, but I point to the figure of Apollo on the left that is marked FELL (the mark of Thomas Fell, the Newcastle potter active from 1817). On the right is an unmarked figure of Apollo. Perhaps Fell made it too….but other potters also made this model of Apollo, so perhaps one of them copied Fell’s decoration or vice versa. I would lean towards a Fell attribution here, but I certainly couldn't swear to it in court!
 Christies, April 1994 |  In the stock of Madelena |
The figure of APOLLO alongside is in a lot of figures coming up at Pook and Pook shortly I haven't recorded Apollo on a vermicular base hitherto, so I was pleased to see this figure--and it is titled in the same manner as TENDERNESS at the top of this blog posting.
This very pretty Venus is another figure on a vermicular base that I hadn't seen until it came up at auction earlier this month. The variety of early figures never ceases to amaze me.
The more I dig around, the less I seem to know with any certainty. But I am certain that I don't know who made figures on vermicular bases, and that more than one pot bank used this decorative style. To leave you equally puzzled, I show you one last comparison: two figures of Diana on vermicular bases.
 |  In the stock of Madelena |
Diana on the left is the figure we saw above, and she is marked Walton. Diana on the right is unmarked. Do you think Walton made her too and simply forgot to mark her? I wouldn't leap to that conclusion. Look at the figures closely and you will see notable differences in the molds. Her head is different, as is her bow and clothing. Both are in the same style, but only the figure on the left was definitely made by Walton.
A PS to add to your knowledge of pottery trivia:
Walton made Diana
Walton made Diana
- on a vermicular base with bocage
- on a vermicular base without bocage
- on a brown base.
- the only classical figure marked Walton
- the only marked Walton figure found on a vermicular base
- the only marked Walton figure found on a brown base
- one of very, very, few Walton figures found without a bocage
And a not-so-trivial PS on molds:
The Walton mark is integral to the molds used to make figures. If you line up several of the same Walton figure models, you will see that the mark is identically placed on each one. In other words, the mark was not slapped on afterwards--and it was next to impossible to omit the mark.
Because WALTON is integral to the mold, you would expect to see it on all Walton toby jugs. If it was on the mold, there was no forgeting it!
And on a last note, I have posted some updates to the BELIEVE IT? page, which you can access by clicking here or from the drop-down FIGURES tab at the top of this page
The Walton mark is integral to the molds used to make figures. If you line up several of the same Walton figure models, you will see that the mark is identically placed on each one. In other words, the mark was not slapped on afterwards--and it was next to impossible to omit the mark.
Because WALTON is integral to the mold, you would expect to see it on all Walton toby jugs. If it was on the mold, there was no forgeting it!
And on a last note, I have posted some updates to the BELIEVE IT? page, which you can access by clicking here or from the drop-down FIGURES tab at the top of this page
