This time John Howard almost made me a liar. In my last blog posting, I noted that there was not much I had not seen….so John promptly added to his stock a figure I haven't encountered. The WOW addition to stock is a pair of military figures.
Pair of Staffordshire pearlware figures in the stock of John Howard. Right figure marked Stephan P. Circa 1795.
"Duke of Wellington." Potteries Museum, Hanley, UK.
Firstly, John's figure on the left. This, I believe, portrays the Duke of Wellington. I have encountered a few other examples over time. Their owners and I have speculated on the subject’s identity, but this example titled Duke of Wellington in the Potteries Museum settled that debate. You can read about it here.
Oddly enough, there is an example of this figure in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection attributed to the porcelain modeler Pierre Stephan. I expect it is also marked thus and have emailed the museum to enquire. Stay tuned for my update. This will help us attribute John's figure with certainty to Stephan.
Courtesy the National Portrait Gallery.
But what about the other figure, the figure in the red coat, the figure that almost made me a liar? This figure I have NOT seen before. The figure has very Hanoverian facial features, and that's because he is a member of the royal family. He is Prince William (1765-1837) and he became King William IV in 1830. The figure is after a portrait of Prince William, seen here. Painted by Sir Martin Archer Shee, the portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. But Prince William never led forces to any great victory. In his youth, he served in New York at the tail end of the American War of Independence (1775-1783). Thereafter he served under Nelson in the West Indes. In 1789, he was created Duke of Clarence and ceased active service.
John’s figure of Prince William is probably unique, but it is special in another way:it does bear the mark of Pierre Stephan, the famed Derby modeler. Yes, the name of a porcelain artiste on a piece of Staffordshire is a first in my experience.
Well, portraits are intended to flatter, so William’s portrait portrays him as the Conquering Hero. The flag behind William in the portrait is, I believe, the flag that flew over Britain’s American colonies. But the flag behind the earthenware figure is the first American flag, called the Grand Union flag. This flag had 13 red and white stripes…and I am sure the painter tried to get as many of those as he could onto the earthenware flag.
Let's get back to the Derby modeler Pierre Stephan. In his book Derby Porcelain Figures 1750-1848 (pp 405. 406, 460), Peter Bradshaw notes that the very last soft-paste models were created at Derby between 1792 and 1810 and among them were four figures portraying four renowned admirals: Admiral Hood, Admiral Duncan, Lord Rodney, and John Drinkwater. These four models are stylistically similar to the Derby figure of Admiral Lord Howe, an example of which occurs marked P. Stephan. Pierre Stephan freelanced from about 1773 until 1798, working for Wedgwood and others. Bradshaw concludes that “The evidence suggests that the five portrait Derby figures were all created by Stephan between about 1794 and 1798.”
At this point, it seems reasonable to conclude that both John's Staffordshire pottery figures were also modeled by Pierre Stephan between 1794 and 1798. And in addition to the distinguished admirals he modeled in porcelain, Stephan modeled an earthenware figure of a prince who never became an admiral: Prince William Duke of Clarence.
Disclaimer: My knowledge of American history is scant, and I know even less about flags, so shout if I need to correct anything. Any porcelain collectors who can shed light, please comment.
Let's get back to the Derby modeler Pierre Stephan. In his book Derby Porcelain Figures 1750-1848 (pp 405. 406, 460), Peter Bradshaw notes that the very last soft-paste models were created at Derby between 1792 and 1810 and among them were four figures portraying four renowned admirals: Admiral Hood, Admiral Duncan, Lord Rodney, and John Drinkwater. These four models are stylistically similar to the Derby figure of Admiral Lord Howe, an example of which occurs marked P. Stephan. Pierre Stephan freelanced from about 1773 until 1798, working for Wedgwood and others. Bradshaw concludes that “The evidence suggests that the five portrait Derby figures were all created by Stephan between about 1794 and 1798.”
At this point, it seems reasonable to conclude that both John's Staffordshire pottery figures were also modeled by Pierre Stephan between 1794 and 1798. And in addition to the distinguished admirals he modeled in porcelain, Stephan modeled an earthenware figure of a prince who never became an admiral: Prince William Duke of Clarence.
Disclaimer: My knowledge of American history is scant, and I know even less about flags, so shout if I need to correct anything. Any porcelain collectors who can shed light, please comment.
