Every six months or so, I brace for the tedious task of updating my other website, earlystaffordshirefigures.com. That site hosts newly discovered Staffordshire figures, variations on figures, and anything and everything I have gleaned since publishing Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, vols. 1-4. Each time I update, I am amazed at how much I have learned in the process.
Several of the new additions to earlystaffordshirefigures.com have helped me fill in blanks in our knowledge base. For example, I have long owned the single figure of the season Summer, seen below. The figure is of dazzlingly fine quality, and she stands well on her own. The garlands on the base are akin to "Sherratt'' signatures, so I confidently attribute the figure to "Sherratt." Perplexingly, she has been the only "Sherratt" Season known to me, but I have firmly believed that "Sherratt" would have made all four Seasons, not just one.
Several of the new additions to earlystaffordshirefigures.com have helped me fill in blanks in our knowledge base. For example, I have long owned the single figure of the season Summer, seen below. The figure is of dazzlingly fine quality, and she stands well on her own. The garlands on the base are akin to "Sherratt'' signatures, so I confidently attribute the figure to "Sherratt." Perplexingly, she has been the only "Sherratt" Season known to me, but I have firmly believed that "Sherratt" would have made all four Seasons, not just one.
The long dry spell on "Sherratt" Seasons ended last month with the appearance of the figure below, a "Sherratt" Autumn.
Courtesy ebay seller thomafishe72.
The "Sherratt" Autumn appears to be of the same fine quality as the "Sherratt" Summer, and, as you see, those same garlands are atop his base. Although these two figures had different homes for Lord knows how long, I am working on reuniting them. May I only live long enough to discover the remaining "Sherratt" Seasons!
The little reading boy below has long been an attribution riddle. I have always been sure he was made by John Dale--the facial features are so like those of many other Dale figures--but I lacked evidence that would stand up in court!
The little reading boy below has long been an attribution riddle. I have always been sure he was made by John Dale--the facial features are so like those of many other Dale figures--but I lacked evidence that would stand up in court!
I was doubly delighted when not one but two figures appeared recently confirming a Dale attribution. The floral garlands on the base of the boy below are a definitive Dale feature, and the companion girl--a hitherto unrecorded figure--has them too.
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The sweet small pair below are new additions to my knowledge base, and like all things newly discovered or unrecorded in today's post, you will also find them at earlystaffordshirefigures.com
A collector contacted me recently about the little bust below. Any idea who she is? Her hauntingly sweet face is impressed on my mind, but I am stumped as to whom she might portray. If you know, please shout. I will be adding her to earlystaffordshirefigures.com next go-around, and I hope we can collectively identify her by then.
A new discovery that may not be everyone's cup of tea is the figure of St. Anne below. It would have been made by Enoch Wood in the mid-1820sa for the Portuguese market.
This plump theatrical figure portrays an actor in the role of the broom lady, and I have not seen another quite like it. The figure's rather beefy form hints at it being Mr. Liston, the renowned comic, who appeared as the Broom Lady in the 1820s. The figure is decorated in colors that suggest it was made in Scotland or perhaps by one of the northeast pot banks.
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I had not seen the model of Shakespeare below until it cropped up recently. It is quite unlike the more classical, refined models we usually see. In short, it looks more like pottery than porcelain, and the red and yellow enamels are eye-catching.
Courtesy Bob Moores at Nestegg Antiques.
The figure below was known to me only from a small black and white photo, so I was thrilled to see it in full color when it went through auction at Skinners recently. The carefully posed youth is Adonis, known to the Greeks for his remarkable beauty. The figure is important because it is unique and it is marked WEDGWOOD, so it was made by Ralph Wedgwood in the late eighteenth century. Its rarity was appreciated, and it made a good price at auction.
The Grand Finale for my roundup of some recent discoveries is this very large figure that probably portrays the nymph Salmacis, whose body was united with that of Hermaphroditus to form a single being that was both male and female. At 73 cms or 28.74 inches, it is the second tallest figure on record.
Courtesy Fieldings Auctions.
Collecting for pure beauty is pleasurable enough, but knowing the features that make a figure rare or unusual adds another very rewarding dimension to my collecting journey.
