I check auctions obsessively in my determination to find unusual pearlware figures, and so it was that I came across a lot, listed without a picture, that included an "antique Staffordshire pottery marriage group with sheep." Somewhere in the wording, the group was described as early nineteenth century, and I knew something was wrong because I have yet to record an early marriage group that included sheep. I requested a picture, and look what I found!
This petite couple is not at the altar. Rather, they are a dandy and dandizette going about the business of being fashionable, albeit with a sheep, a goat, and two dogs at their feet. I have never seen anything quite like it.
| Small dandy groups sometimes occur with bocage, like the pair (attributed to Dale) alongside, but I have yet to see them with a hoop-shaped bocage or even a lone attendant animal. |  |
The condition report that I requested stated that a small animal might be missing from the base, but I decided to go for the group anyway. I am NOT a morning person. The hardest thing I do each day is get out of bed, but, despite that, I was up at 4 a.m. US Central time to bid on the mid-morning auction the UK. I was successful, but also had to acquire two tacky Victorian figures and a sweet little yellow ware cup that the auction house lumped into the same lot!
When my parcel arrived, I could not wait to open it. The dandies group was covered in a black sooty like substance, all except for the center front of the base. This was sparkling clean because the auction house had rubbed it in an attempt to see if the two specks of clay/kiln dirt in that area indicated a missing beastie. Fortunately, nothing was missing. All was as it should be, as you see below, with the two offending bits of clay well glazed over..
When my parcel arrived, I could not wait to open it. The dandies group was covered in a black sooty like substance, all except for the center front of the base. This was sparkling clean because the auction house had rubbed it in an attempt to see if the two specks of clay/kiln dirt in that area indicated a missing beastie. Fortunately, nothing was missing. All was as it should be, as you see below, with the two offending bits of clay well glazed over..
Note that the base is rather unusual in that it is has a dish-like recess on the top to accommodate the cast of characters.
I always look beneath a figure first thing. I love the way the light plays on the unpainted but glazed surface. It never fails to please me.
I am thrilled with my new acquisition. Once again, it reminds me that the best things so often come in small parcels!
