In the internet age, auctioneers have become hybrid retailers-wholesalers. Recently, Sotheby's took a step into what is definitely retail space with its new direct selling platform, Sotheby's Home. You can access it at Sotheby'shome.com.

Good news: the Sotheby's Home site has just added a selection of early figures from a private American collection. Searching "Staffordshire" or "pearlware" will pull them up. Pricing is aggressive, and offers are accepted. Plus there is an additional discount of 15%.

I welcome Sotheby's Home as space for selling good figures that don't quite make the price cut-off for single lots at auction---and don't we all hate it when multiple figures are bunched into a lot just to make that minimum?  

Another big positive: condition reports. In my experience, Sotheby's condition reports are the best. I have not yet been disappointed in one, and I certainly cannot say the same about condition reports from most other auction houses or most dealers. 

This January, Sotheby's auctioned the property of legendary decorator Mario Buatta. Known as the Prince of Chintz, Buatta inspired the "English Country house look" of the 1980s. His lavish interiors stuffed with beautiful objects reflected the age of excess--and an era when  "antiques" had not yet become a dirty word! But afficianados of beautiful objects still survive, and Sotheby's catalog---two fat volumes--sold out before the sale commenced.

Dealers in early Staffordshire pottery repeatedly bemoan the fact that their customers only want to buy "special" figures. Well, if you wanted something special, this beauty at the Buatta sale may have been just up your alley.

Made circa 1820 of undecorated pearlware, the bust portrays Queen Caroline, wife of King George IV. Her goings-on make today's royal family look like monks and nuns! In Caroline's day, there was no divorce law, so her husband, then the Prince Regent, tried to get a special divorce bill through Parliament. He failed, but in the process he aired a ton of dirty laundry--much in the spirit of Bill Clinton and that infamous blue dress.

The bust of Queen Caroline is reminiscent of the bust below, which portrays her daughter, the ill-fated Princess Charlotte. I suspect that both busts were modeled by the same hand. Some might think that the Sotheby's bust is also Charlotte, but I believe it has been correctly catalogued as Queen Caroline.

Also in Mears and Boyer's stock is another particularly early figure. The Hay Maker shown below left was made by Ralph Wood circa 1785 and is impressed "33". Amazingly, traces of original gilding remain. The figure was special enough in its day to have that gilding added, and it remains special, by my standards. I  took the image below for inclusion in Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840. Why do I not buy the figure? Again, I already have a similar hay maker, shown below right. My example is impressed "33" and was made by Ralph Wood in the same period. Ralph Wood designed his lady Hay Maker to stand with a gentleman Mower, but I have yet to see a Ralph Wood pair. In short, a single is a very respectable purchase, and a lovely addition to any collection.

Figures made by Neale & Co. in the 1780s are all really special, by my definition of that word. They typically sport the finest enamels, and I never miss an opportunity to acquire one. So I am puzzled that no collector has snapped up the little Neale & Co. figure of Apollo offered by Pickle Herring Antiques at a modest price.

Again, I would have bought this small gem if I did not already own one. Apollo was designed to stand alongside a similarly sized figure of Ceres, and I have examples of both. I first acquired Ceres and then waited for Apollo to turn up. It took a little patience, but collecting in this way is so interesting and rewarding.  Collectors who only want big/important/expensive figures have really lost the plot!

Andrew Dando has an array of delightful figures to fit every budget. In particular, he has a small pair of Turks that I would have snapped up if I did not already own a similar pair, which I assembled at a greater price than Andrew is asking. 

​I have only recorded one other example of this musician on this base--in that instance, the base was blue, so not particularly pretty. You may never find this gentleman's companion female figure, but so what? This example stands very well on its own, and it is special, to my way of thinking.

I shan't work my way through every dealer's stock, but I assure you each has special figures that are modestly (often too modestly) priced. In particular, John Howard, our very own Prince of Pottery, has figures that I deem special even though they do not cost a lot of money or require a chunk of shelf space.

When I started collecting, I wanted to acquire examples of figures I had seen in the few books then available. These were all impressive figures of the sort that today's collectors deem "special."  Then, I had a life-changing experience. I visited a UK collection that housed many such "special" figures....but scattered generously throughout  were many others. That collection was a living entity. Its owner had imbued it with his intellectual curiosity---and it inspired my collecting journey.

I correspond with several collectors who have assembled really interesting collections of figures in all price ranges---some bought for their sheer beauty, others because of their superb quality, or simply because they are interesting for one reason or another ( a maker's mark, a rare or unusual model, an attribution, or a reflection of history). I relish seeing these collections grow, and could spend hours perusing their contents.  If your collection is all "big hat and no cattle," you are missing out--but it's never too late to set that right.