Early Staffordshire pearlware and creamware pottery figures

Britannia and an emancipated slave: 1834

7/23/2013

The figure below is, I think, what early Staffordshire pottery is all about. It would make it onto my short list of the five finest early Staffordshire figures of all time. You will find this photo in the chapter on slavery in volume 2 of my next book, and I will admit that I have been wow-ed by it for months.

The figure portrays a pivotal moment in history: the abolition of slavery throughout the British colonies in 1834. Our jubilant couple are a petite Britannia and an emancipated slave (his broken shackles lie on the ground) dancing side by side in celebration.

The figure does more than chronicle history. It captures the joy of the moment and connects us to the past in a very engaging and human way. You can almost hear the music in the background as a small, very white, decorously-clothed Britannia dances alongside a huge, very black, scantily clad free slave.
The figure is 7 inches tall, and the pearlware body is of superb quality. The glaze is silkily tactile. Despite its fineness, it retains the charm of pottery because the modeling and decorating is that little bit endearingly clumsy--Britannia's plump arms, the expressions on the faces. To top it, there is soft gilding across Britannia's breast.

This figure group is unique. I know of no other.

Now if all this were not enough, here's the clincher: the figure is perfect, with no repairs or restorations.

I have enjoyed this image on one of my monitors for a long time, and it often distracts me from work. My words can't do it justice. A picture is supposedly worth a thousand words, so I thought I would share it with you.

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Roman Charity or Grecian Daughter

7/16/2013

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I was pleased to find the figure below on my travels last year. The subject is Roman Charity, and the title ROMAN CHARITY is impressed on the side, on the rock the elderly man sits upon. Notice that he is chained to the rock...and the chain is part of the story.

Roman Charity shows Pero, who gives milk from her breast to her father Cimon, unjustly condemned to death by starvation. Cimon is chained to the rock because he is imprisoned. In the first century, the Roman historian Valerian Maximus’s Memorable Acts and Sayings of the Ancient Romans upheld Pero’s deed as the utmost example of filial piety and respect. The subject has been popular in art since Roman times, and engravings of works by imminent artist such as Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio established the theme in the European art.

The group above is painted in enamel paints, and it is a particularly uncommon figure. It is somewhat better known from its color-glazed look-alike, and you see an example below. Interestingly, both groups are from the same molds.

The difference extends to more than the means of decorating. Clearly, the colored glaze figure is far, far sharper. It is absolutely stunning and riveting--and it has just been sold from the stock of John Howard. Why the difference? The color-glazed figure has an impressed number on the back, and this number helps attribute the figure to Ralph Wood. The number is 92, but the figure can occur with 93 instead--or with no number at all. The quality of the glazes and the modeling simply scream of Ralph Wood at his finest. So what went wrong with the enamel-painted figure? I think that the enamel-painted figure was made from a much-used mold. It is possible that Ralph Wood made it too, but I think it more likely that the molds passed into the hands of some other pot bank after Ralph's demise.

So, big admission: much as it pains me to admit it, in this instance, the better figure is clearly the color-glazed figure, hands down!

I love this print in the British Museum, and surely it (or something similar) assisted Ralph Wood with the modeling.

Roman Charity. Published by Carington Bowles, London, 1780–1790. © The Trustees of the British Museum

If the whole Roman Charity yarn sounds vaguely familiar, perhaps it is because you recall the Grecian Daughter figure group telling the same story, the same moral...but the tale is presented somewhat more lewdly. As you see below, why bother with a cup if you can feed straight from the breast? This group is also from the sold stock archive of John Howard. A fabulous example, I think.

The Grecian Daughter also portrays the saga of Pero and her father, but this group was made a good 30 to 40 years after Roman Charity. Why the different title? Well, in the eighteenth century, Arthur Murphy lifted the plot of Cimon and Pero and titled his play The Grecian Daughter. Murphy's intent was to provide a stage role for the ailing actor, Mr. Barry, and the play opened at Drury Lane in February 1772, with Mr. and Mrs. Barry in the roles of Evander and Euphrasia, the Grecian and his daughter respectively. It ran intermittently on provincial stages and on the London stage until about 1815, and it was revived in 1830 for Miss Fanny Kemble. I am sure that the 1830 revival inspired The Grecian Daughter groups, all examples of which can be attributed to the "Sherratt" pot bank.

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Tiny Treasures

7/9/2013

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In economics classes, we delve into the various mechanisms by which markets clear....but somehow I don't recall a scenario that fits the early pottery market. Right now, figures are not coming onto the market because sellers perceive prices as low; at the same time, buyers perceive prices as high and aren't buying wildly. To top it, some of the smallest, rarest, most desirable figures are also the cheapest--if you can find them. It makes no sense! Case in point are the small figures below.

These figures, all musicians, are among the 200+ figures of musicians in chapter 26 of volume 1 of my new book. They are classified as Price Group A--the lowest price category in the book. But try to find one! These little gems are rarer than hen's teeth, and they will fly out of a dealer's stock quickly. They are all made by the "Sherratt" pot bank and they all stand on typical "Sherratt" bases.

"Sherratt" used some of these musicians on the platforms of menageries.

As the lady on the top menagerie platform seems to have lost her tamborine, I show her here on yet another menagerie platform.

Never one to let a good mold go to waste, "Sherratt" also used some of the figures on spill vases.

The little dog is a familiar sight on "Sherratt" groups. Driving through our neighborhood this week, I spied a little black and white dog and thought "that looks just like the "Sherratt" dog. Perhaps I have totally flipped, finally!

The vase below is also "Sherratt." The picture is far from ideal, but it is all I have.

The little "Sherratt" figure playing the violin is the only one of the musicians at the top of this posting that I have not seen in another context....yet. The man with the accordion seems to have been used by several pot banks, and you can expect to also see him on performing animal troupes made by several other pot banks.

Here he is with his accordion, but I have also seen him without the accordion, simply holding the lead to an animal instead.

If you see one of the little "Sherratt" musicians, I suggest you grab it. And if a menagerie comes your way, look at the little figures on the platform. Very often one of them has been lost, and the restorer's imagination can know no bounds when it comes to replacing it. It helps to know what the figures should look like--and this applies to any restoration. Increasingly, restoration is unavoidable, but it should be correctly done. And, of course, perfection always carries a premium.

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Scotsmen

7/2/2013

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Tell me if you can fail to smile as you look at this figure.

I must admit that I grin each time I look at my picture of this stout Scotsman, formerly in the stock of Martyn Edgell. A simple model with bright but not garish enamels and a glaze that is just perfect. What is not to love here? As charming as this figure is, why have I recorded only one example? This to me is one of the great mysteries of Staffordshire. The molds required for this figure were costly, and to recoup the cost you had to use them again and again. A good number of these Scotsmen must have been made, but yet there only seems to be one around today. A sole survivor?

Our Scotsman is quite a sturdy fellow. There are not too many bits and bobs that could have broken off and rendered him unusable, so breakage alone surely cannot explain the loss of his bretheren. He is about 9 inches tall. Just gorgeous. I am envious!

The only other figures in this style that I have recorded are figures emblematic of the seasons. As you see, the modeling of the bases is very similar. The two on red bases are courtesy of Elinor Penna.

This set of Seasons is styled in the same manner as the Dixon, Austin& Co. Seasons, so Summer holds grapes. In many other sets, Autumn holds grapes. All very confusing!

But to get back to Scotsmen generally, they are really few and far between. I have others in my archive, but they are rare indeed.

Formerly in the stock of Andrew Dando.

This splendid Scotsman was made by one of the Scottish east coast potbanks. He may be unique, but I have encountered figures of Faith and Charity on this base, as well as a Scottish fisherwoman. The base is most frequently painted blue, which is not something you see often on figures with a Staffordshire origin.

Formerly in the stock of Jonathan Horn.

This stunner is again from one of the Scottish east coast pot banks, and I think it is decorated with both enamel and underglaze painting. I believe it is unique.

This little figure is the most common of the Scotsmen. I have seen him decorated with crude splashes of underglaze oxides, and I think this figure form was used for several decades.

The only other Scotsman that comes to mind is this splendid "Sherratt" deer stalker that we looked at some years ago.

As you scroll back up this page, are you not amazed at how varied the Scotsmen are? There is something for every taste and every pocket book, and that's what makes collecting interesting. Happy hunting!

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