Early Staffordshire pearlware and creamware pottery figures

A Natural Family

6/6/2025

I want to call to your attention to a small group of figures that comprise a "Natural Family"--a term that my friend the late Malcolm Hodkinson coined to describe figures made by the same pottery. The figures all have distinctive bases of the same form. Among them is this charming pair of musicians.

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As you see, like all figures in this group, they were made without bocages.

You may recall from my previous post this sweet pair on bases formed in much the same way. Clearly, they originated from the same pottery.

These figures all share a haunting naivety, and, for that reason, it has been suggested that Sherratt made them, but there is little doubt in my mind that they originated from some other unidentified pottery. Largest and most striking of all are the soldier and sailor below. Both are over 8 inches tall, and, I suspect, intended as companion models.

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Pictureantique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, Staffordshire, pearlware figure, pearlware, antique pottery, sailor, midshipman, Myrna Schkolne

The slightly smaller figure below depicts the actress Maria Foote in the role of Ariette in The Little Jockey. Clearly, it is on the same base and belongs to this "natural family." As Miss Foote appeared in this role in January 1831, we can date this figure to no earlier than 1831---and I suspect that all the figures above were made in the 1830s too.

Miss Foote, Maria Foote, Arinette, Little Jockey, antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, Staffordshire, pearlware figure, pearlware, antique pottery, Myrna Schkolne

Courtesy the Victoria and Albert Museum

The design source is Orlando Hodgson's print titled ‘Miss Foote as the Little Jockey," and, as noted in the previous blog post, the figures of a boy and a girl-with-doll are also after prints.

And now, I digress. Miss Foote was a mediocre actress, but when she appeared, as Ariette in breeches, she was the talk of the town. To add to her allure, she had a scandalous past, which included illegitimate children by the son of the Earl of Berkeley and a breach of promise suit against another suitor. By 1831, she was getting long in the tooth, by the standards of the day, so she retired that March to marry Charles Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Harrington.

Figures of Miss Foote as the Little Jockey were made into the Victorian era, even though her stage career was over. That seems surprising from today's perspective, but remember that The Death of Munrow figures were made into the 1830s, more than forty years after Lt. Munro succumbed to a tiger in 1792.

Miss Foote was not a great actress, but she was lauded for her beauty. Sherratt made the bust of her below, most likely in the 1830s when she was no longer a stage name.

Miss Foote, bust, Obadiah Sherratt, Maria Foote, Arinette, Little Jockey, antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, Staffordshire, pearlware figure, pearlware, antique pottery, Myrna Schkolne

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Children of the Past

4/5/2025

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Collecting early Staffordshire figures is as much about collecting memories as it is about amassing objects. More than twenty years ago, my good friend Nick Burton found an early Staffordshire figure of a girl holding her doll, and he acquired her for me. I seldom look at her, below, without remembering Nick's mother, who enjoyed early doll houses and admired this small treasure as we had tea in her lovely home.

pearlware, Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire, early Staffordshire figure, girl with doll, staffordshire boy, Myrna Schkolne

The majority of early figures were made to pair, and this little girl too had a mate: a boy with his hands in his pockets. It irks me that in all the years I have not been able to find a perfect companion for her. Potential matches were always too tall, too short, or a poor color match. The boy below left, for example, was too tall by almost an inch, and, whereas her pot is creamy, his was glaringly white. Better no marriage than a bad marriage. The boy on the right would have worked. At six inches, he was the correct height, but he had sold.

Image courtesy of Andrew Dando.

These figures were all made without bocages. but each has a tree-like stump behind. I am not sure what purpose it served, but there it is.

Andrew Dando has told me that the design source for these figures was a pair of prints. That of the girl is titled "See My Baby" and the boy "Just Breeched," a reference to his having shed the long garment that small boys usually wore for his first pair of breeches.

To my mind, these figures are all charming. How did we get from these to Ken and Barbie? The pottery that made them made two versions of the girl. As you see below (currently in the stock of RTS Antiques), the girl has a different, perhaps smaller, head.

Some of the girls and boys below appear to have porcellaneous bodies, and I suspect another pottery made some, if not all, of them.

Bigger can be better, and the figure of a girl with a doll that I covet is the whopper below. She is 11 inches tall, and I have only recorded two examples of her.

These big figures are entirely free-standing, with no stump behind them. They differ in the placement of the doll and other small details, so perhaps they come from two different potteries, but aren't both wonderful? My inner child craves one. I have yet to record the companion boy, but I live in hope.

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Sherratt: Size Small

1/11/2025

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At last, my set of pearlware figures of the Three Graces, Faith, Hope, and Charity, is complete. Obadiah Sherratt made these petite figures circa 1825, measuring just under 6 inches at most. Sadly, anyone who buys a full set will never know the satisfaction of building a set.

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Figures of these three ladies, with a few exceptions, are large clunkers that I don't want to own, but I have held out for a good while to complete this sweet little set.

I visited the late Malcolm Hodkinson and his wife Judith about twenty years ago. Malcolm was an extraordinary man, brilliant and endlessly generous in sharing his knowledge. He pioneered the field of attribution, and he had a particular interest in Sherratt. His display of small Sherratt figures, unlike any I had seen before, blew me away. I was hooked! Malcolm sold me the small pair below from his collection, and in later years he and I shared the thrill of hunting down more tiny gems.

Staffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, shepherd, musician

Over the years, other collectors have helped me complete pairs.

Staffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, gardeners

PictureStaffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, girl with basket

Some pairs are not a true pairing. These musicians have different bocage flowers, but that doesn't bother me in the least. Who is to say they haven't lived that way always?

Even less conventional is this "pair," bought together.

The group below left suggests that the companion figure for the piper is probably the shepherdess you see below right, but I have yet to find one that is a reasonable color match.

Staffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, shepherd, musicianPicture

I have not found companions for the two girls below, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? Therein lies the thrill of collecting.

PictureStaffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, reading girl

PictureStaffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, girl with bird

And then several teeny figures are related but don't necessarily pair. What's to be made of these three dogs and a cat? They are nigh impossible to find, and I speculate that because of their small size they were readily lost or discarded in bygone times.

PictureStaffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, cat, dog

Or are any of these intended to pair? The man with the hurdy-gurdy and the lady with the tambourine occur on Sherratt menageries and, like some of the other small figures above, are also found in larger groups.

PictureStaffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, truk, musician

PictureStaffordshire figure, antique Staffordshire, pearlware, Sherratt , Obadiah Sherratt, Myrna Schkolne, hurdy gurdy player, musician

Small figures spice up any display. They draw the eye immediately. But, because of their relatively modest price, don't expect to find them in a dealer's stock. If you see one, grab it!

P.S. Need Hope???
Now that my set of the three Graces is complete, I have a spare Hope, If you need one, please contact me.

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Military Might

12/4/2024

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Pearlware figure, Staffordshire, early, military, equestrian, Myrna Schkolne, early Staffordshire figure, Staffordshire pottery figure.

I recently had the pleasure and privilege of photographing this military equestrian, and I must admit he has stolen my heart. He is beautifully modeled--note the super-crisp details of his attire--and the enameling is as pretty as possible. The whole figure has vigor and movement. Who could resist it?

Look at his determined expression, and even the teeny spurs are as sharp as could be.

I first encountered an equestrian of this form at Bonhams, London, about twenty years ago, and the figure above is the only other I have since seen.

Military equestrians are uncommon, and the next closest model is the one below, where the horse is prancing rather than rearing. This model is lovely and very difficult to procure, and this example is also super-sharp, although the prize goes to the figure with the rearing horse.

The vast majority of early Staffordshire figures are paired, and non-military equestrian figures were routinely made to partner, as you see in the pairs of assorted sizes below.

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Courtesy Andrew Dando

When it comes to finding the partner for the equestrian on the prancing pony (blue coat) I am stumped, but I believe he would have had one. The equestrian on the rearing horse definitely has a partner, and she is below.

Courtesy of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Not as gorgeous as her mate, I think, but I would grab her if I could. Unfortunately, they will never be reunited. In 1910, she sold for GBP7 (now about $10) at Christie's, London, to Dr. Glaisher, who bequeathed her along with the rest of his splendid collection to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. There she has resided ever since for nigh on a century. I traveled to the museum a few years back, but alas, she was in "reserve," where probably she will languish in darkness forever more. If I ruled the world, museums would own no more than they can display!

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Fortuitous Finds

9/3/2024

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As I have said repeatedly, I take enormous pleasure in finding unusual or rare small or damaged figures that might not make it onto dealer's shelves. The economics is against them because a puny price brings with it a puny profit. Lest you question my commitment, the only addition to our family collection this entire year is the little figure on the left below.

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I have had the male equestrian for several years, and I bought him because I had not seen another like him, although RTS Antiques (Damon Revans-Turner) recently had one. Then by chance this year the companion female appeared. Is she a dead match? No, but she is as close as I will ever get, and they stand happily together. So much pleasure for a very modest outlay.

I am always saving images to add to earlystaffordshirefigures.com, where I record enamel-painted figures that I have learned of since publishing Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840. It also shows the very many figures decorated in other modes that were not included in those books. I probably add at least 300 images each year, and the task keeps me sharp! I am blown away by some of the unusual things that pop up. Recently, I came across the unrecorded Sherratt figures of a Turk on the left. Hitherto, the little Turk on the right has been the only recorded Sherratt Turk.

antique Staffordshire figure, antique spaffrodshire pottery, pearlware figure, Turk, Myrna Schkolne

Clearly both figures use some common mold parts, but what prompted Sherratt to create two versions of a figure that, in relation to all else made then, was quite insignificant? We will never know.

I recently discovered the 8-inch lady below in the Museum of Denmark, of all places, and, of course, added her to earlystaffordshirefigures.com . I suspect she is English, although her base is atypical. I am not sure if she once was mounted on a larger base, but I live in hope of finding another that will solve this mystery.

antique Staffordshire figure, antique spaffrodshire pottery, pearlware figure, pratt ware, Myrna Schkolne

Do you know what differentiates a Kashmir goat from a common-or-garden goat? It's the horns! Kashmir goats have dramatically long curly horns. A Staffordshire version came to auction recently. The bocage appeared too restored for my taste, but, nonetheless, I loaded it onto earlystaffordshirefigures.com. I have only seen one other Kashmir goat, a charming example with a quite different base and bocage, below, which too is on my site.

antique Staffordshire figure, antique spaffrodshire pottery, pearlware figure, bocage, goat, Myrna Schkolne

Courtesy Mears and Boyer

Courtesy John Howard

As I loaded the new addition to the site, my eye caught this particularly engaging fluffy goat formerly with John Howard that has now moved on to greener pastures. Adorable, isn't he?

antique Staffordshire figure, antique spaffrodshire pottery, pearlware figure, pratt ware, goat, Myrna Schkolne

Courtesy Andrew Dando.

And if "cute" is your thing, this splendid--and possibly unique-- nanny goat from Andrew Dando would check that box. Alas, like all the goats shown here, it has a new home, but fortunately the internet allows us to peep at figures we would almost certainly not otherwise have seen.

But I get distracted and ramble, as always happens when I work on earlystaffordshirefigures.com. One figure or one train of thought leads to another. The sheer number of Staffordshire figures is mind-blowing, and tracking them keeps my neural networks in overdrive! The brain is a strange thing. I am face-blind (embarrassing in social situations) but I seldom forget a figure.

When I prepared Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, the elegant pair below in the Brighton and Hove Museums grabbed my heart. Unforgettable! I didn't know how to categorize them by subject, so they had to endure the ignominy of being placed in the chapter titled "Miscellaneous Subjects" towards the end of the book.

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The figures are around nine inches tall. Both have lost their bases, and she has lost a hand. Despite this, I would happily give this handsome couple space on my shelves. The closest I have come is the single figure below lumped into a mixed lot at auction recently. Alas, she has had a hard life, but she will make a spendid addition to an interesting collection.

I suspect--but can't prove--that Leeds Pottery may have made these figures. The bocage is formed in the manner of Leeds bocages. Add to that, the lady, to my mind, somewhat resembles the figure below, which is impressed with the Leeds Pottery mark.

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Oh, thievery, oh, calamity.

7/29/2024

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Oh, thievery, oh, calamity. Is that a weird title for a discussion on early Staffordshire figures? Read on, and all will, sadly, become apparent

Recently, a collector friend emailed me a picture of the two figures above that he was interested in buying. Both are decorated under the glaze in a typical Pratt palette. The female is titled SPORTSMANS WIFE, and the male HELENDER BOY. What, my friend asked, might a Helender Boy be? My friend is usually a step ahead of me in tracking down obscure sources, and for the next few hours we both ransacked material of the period in our determination to find out who this little fella was. And then, by luck, the penny dropped and I realized that our Helender Boy was meant to be a Highlander Boy! We well know that spelling was not the potters' strong point, and this is just another instance of that. To seal the argument, the same little figure occurs decorated in enamels, and here his Scottish garb is quite obvious.

My friend has one of the most interesting collections I know of, so I was pleased when he acquired the Helender Boy and Sportsmans Wife , along with a pair of sweet bocage figures, similarly decorated under the glaze.

As I had not recorded these figures before, I was relieved to see them go to a deserving and appreciative home. And then disaster struck. A few days later, I received an email from him The subject line, you may have guessed, was "Oh, thievery, oh calamity." The figures had been stolen on arrival at a London address.

I suspect that the thief was disappointed that his/her haul didn't contain something with quick street value, and I shudder to think that he/she may have tossed them because, small as they are, they are special. If you come across them, please let me know, and I will do the necessary to reunite them with their rightful owner.

On my watch, a handful of other items have been stolen. Notably, the two figures below, a stirrup cup and a unique equestrian figure, were stolen in transit to the US about ten years ago. Sadly, the latter too is the only one of its kind, and both have been lost forever.

And then there is the story of an armorial vase impressed with the Walton mark that was stolen. If complete, it would have looked like the beauty below, but in this instance both the lion and the unicorn had been lost. This did not stop an unscrupulous dealer selling what was left of the object to American collectors several decades ago--back in those days when images in books were few and far between, some in the trade got away with anything.

When I spotted the sadly depleted spill vase in their collection, I broke the news to the collectors, who dumped it on an estate sale with a token price ticket of $100, a tiny fraction of what they had paid. Believe it or not, it was stolen, and it landed up in the UK, where dealer after dealer declined to purchase it. It was then offered at auction, and, given its trivial value, the rightful owner decided not to take matters further.

I never fail to look at one of these Walton vases without wondering whether they were indeed vases. The opening is small for spills, and much too small for flowers. Did they originally have a stopper of sorts that has been lost over time? To my eye, the top seems unfinished in its present form. After all, the coat of arms of that period had a lion atop.

I have recorded one armorial vase from another pot bank that does have a little stopper...and a very cute little stopper at that. As might be expected, it is a lion,

I don't know if I will live long enought to encounter a Walton spill vase with a stopper, but, in my mind, these "vases" were containers, and a stopper was part of the deal.

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A Gory Event

5/9/2024

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The year 2023 was a so-so collecting year, with fewer and fewer pieces of early Staffordshire coming on the market. But it went out with a bang for me, thanks to this unrecorded felid that strolled into Bonhams, London, looking for a new victim, and I was happy to become its prey.

The figure depicts the death of "a young boy of about 11 years of age," as told in newspaper reports of 1834 relating the escape of a lion and tiger from Wombwell's menagerie. I unearthed the gory story, which is covered in all my books, after purchasing the figure below almost twenty years ago.

As you see, this time the tiger mauls a mother and child, presumably the "mother with a child in her arms" described in the press. Importantly, the seemingly odd title, MENAGERIE, pointed my search in the right direction. Today, the internet would make that search relatively easy, but back then I had to travel to the British Library Newspaper Archive in Colingdale and painstakingly scan through microfilm of newspapers of the period. Pinpointing the story that inspired figure groups on this theme made it worthwhile, and I admit to arrogance in thinking I own this story. Learning later that it had been fake news has not diminished my pleasure one iota.

Sherratt made these two figure groups in around 1834, and he made a few others on the same theme. I guess these models had a short life because the public soon learned that the event had not happened. The few that survive today are all somewhat different, and I have tracked them through the years. Again, they are all illustrated in my various works. Significantly, they are among the very few figures that can be dated with accuracy.

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A Cautionary Tale

2/13/2024

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These gentlemen portray loyal volunteers, the men who volunteered to serve in Britain's army in the war-torn years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They are by no means itty-bitty, and each stands a good eight inches tall. I’ve recorded loyal volunteers decorated in underglaze colors, but our collection focuses on enamel-painted figures, and this was the first enamel-painted pair to come my way. Like so many things fine and rare, these historical gems came to our family's shelves from the stock of John Howard. And with them comes a cautionary tale.

Not so long ago I spied these two soldiers at an upcoming auction in the UK. Who doesn’t like a bargain? Of course, we all do, and when it comes to buying Staffordshire pottery figures a bargain seems particularly sweet. For that reason buying at auction is tempting. After all, traditionally auctions have been dealers’ prime wholesale sources. But auctions are fraught with risks, and once the hammer goes down there is no going back. For better or worse, the buyer is the new owner, even if the description and condition report prove to have been totally misleading. Of course, my heart skipped a beat at first glance, but slowly common sense prevailed as I thought of the pitfalls.

As you see, both soldiers seemed firmly attached to marble plinths of a sort, and I feared separating them (not always a simple task) might harm them.
And what of the condition of figures? Without their plinths, they stand tall on relatively small bases, so quite possibly at some point they had been knocked over and broken into multiple pieces. Perhaps a restorer had patched them up and mounted them on those monumental bases to prevent that recurring. In an ideal world, the auction houses condition report would have clarified this. Buyers pay a premium that can exceed 30% of the hammer price, but, sad to say, condition reports typically come with a disclaimer and the vast majority are unreliable. If I were to bid, I would be buying blind, and I hate making mistakes. I don’t live with them easily!
If I won at auction, I would then have to arrange overseas payment as well as collection and packing— most shippers that pack for auction houses are extortionate and seem to delight in packing the smallest object in the hugest box to boost the shipping cost. Also, some seem to think they are doing me a favor, and it can take weeks and multiple emails and calls to get my parcel on its way.
And after the soldiers arrived, I would have to send them, plinths and all, off to a restorer. At that point, I would have full knowledge of all their problems, and my heart might not be singing at the thought of sinking yet more money into what might ultimately be patched up, once-fragmented figures.

With all that in mind, the thought of waking up in the middle of the night to bid on a UK auction seemed sheer stupidity. I left the soldiers for someone else.

Some things are meant to be, and I was over the moon at acquiring these plucky men from John. His restorer had been able to remove them from their plinths uneventfully, and apparently those heavy structures had saved the figures from being toppled and smashed. To top it, they arrived on my doorstep with warp speed, and I opened the box with anticipatory delight rather than dread! Thank you, John Howard!!

In our haste to get an auction bargain, we too often forget the value a knowledgable dealer adds. He or she is essentially a curator, who guides us to desirable objects. Add to that the dealer puts his money at risk. He bets his wallet and his reputation on every auction purchase. His neck, rather than yours or mine, is on the block. When he gets burned at auction (and trust me, the smartest is caught on more than one occasion), he won’t attempt to sell his mistake. Instead, he sends it to another auction. Dealers send their mistakes to auction, so next time an auction “bargain” beckons, beware!

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Video on Figures of Pugilists

11/8/2023

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My video portraying all known figure models of early pugilists is now on YouTube. These amazing men, the very first modern-day sports stars, have always fascinated me. I share their enthralling story and my admiration of figures of them in this video. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/qIRo6g-ZTDk

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Courtship, Marriage, Family. A new YouTube video.

9/13/2023

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Three or so years ago, I made four YouTube videos on various aspects of Staffordshire pottery. The process was torturous, frustrating, and technically challenging, and I swore I would not go down that road again. In subsequent years, I have received so many encouraging emails, so this summer I escaped Dallas's triple-digit temperatures by hunkering down in my office and doing it again!

My latest video showcases the charming figures that depict courtship, marriage, and all aspects of family life in the 1780-1840 period. You can watch it on YouTube by clicking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=680AoPGPKsM. You can also access this link on the Videos menu at the top of this page.

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