When you write a book, you stick out your neck. By committing your thoughts to print, you are a target for ridicule. Advances in learning change our body of knowledge ....and no sooner is your book published than you wish more than anything that you could rewrite or edit. Believe me, I know this all too well. For that reason, I feel the pain of the misguided author (not me, for once!) who wrote not so long ago that
the bocage was introduced to earthenware figures about 1810-1820; it is difficult to pin-point the date more accurately as there are no subjects which offer a close date, nor are there any marked pieces from an early short-lived company
We shall leave her nameless, but let's examine the statement.
First, we know bocage figures were made by Ralph Wood. Ralph Wood died in 1795, so bocage figures were being made by that date.
First, we know bocage figures were made by Ralph Wood. Ralph Wood died in 1795, so bocage figures were being made by that date.
Impressed "89" and attributed to Ralph Wood. Courtesy of Roger de Ville.
Admittedly, there is not a single marked Ralph Wood figure with bocage, but unmarked figures that link to Ralph Wood have bocages. The bocage shepherds group above is just such a figure. It has "89" impressed beneath, which strengthens its attribution. This is hardly news, because even a century ago, collectors correctly attributed some bocage figures to Ralph Wood. My research establishing the criteria for Ralph Wood attribution is based on scientific methodology, so, unless you insist on burying your head in the sand and ignoring all logic, you cannot refute the Ralph Wood hypothesis.
Remember, Ralph Wood died in 1795, so is this Ralph Wood bocage figure (and others like it) not proof enough that bocage figures were made in the eighteenth century? Surely so! But what if you absolutely MUST see a datable maker's mark to be convinced? Well, relax, I can still prove the point.
Remember, Ralph Wood died in 1795, so is this Ralph Wood bocage figure (and others like it) not proof enough that bocage figures were made in the eighteenth century? Surely so! But what if you absolutely MUST see a datable maker's mark to be convinced? Well, relax, I can still prove the point.
Courtesy Bonhams
This bocage figure was made by--and bears the mark of-- Lakin & Poole, a manufactory that functioned only from 1791-1795. The figure sold many years ago and Bonhams' catalog description read as below.
I was thrilled but not at all surprised to learn that the figure had a Lakin & Poole mark. I had thought there was a very strong likelihood that the figure group below was also by Lakin & Poole, and the similarity to the marked example helped make the case.
The subject of the figure group , by the way, is Cupid and Psyche, and you can see it in Vol. 4 of Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840.
Life would be boring if we did not learn and grow. And so it is with our knowledge of bocage figures. We now know that they were being made in the 1790s for certain---so roll back your mental clock on bocage to that date.
Life would be boring if we did not learn and grow. And so it is with our knowledge of bocage figures. We now know that they were being made in the 1790s for certain---so roll back your mental clock on bocage to that date.
