This Staffordshire figure group portrays the tale of the Raising of Lazarus, as recorded in the Gospel of John. Lazarus, a follower of Jesus, lives in Bethany. Jesus arrives in Bethany to find Lazarus had been buried in a tomb four days earlier. Lazarus’s sisters, Martha and Mary, are heartbroken. Jesus goes to the tomb and calls for Lazarus to come out. Lazarus emerges, wrapped in grave-cloths. And our figure group shows a very shocked Mary and Martha standing with Jesus, looking at Lazarus, still in his shroud.
Pearlware bocage figure group of The Raising of Lazarus. The tombstone is impressed 11 CHAP OF JOHN 43 VERSE JESUS CRIED WITH A LOUD VOICE LAZARUS COME FORTH
Believing this tale is for those of faith rather than for those demanding rational explanations. But whatever your take on events, you have to admit the Staffordshire figure group depicting Lazarus’s emergence from his tomb is a hoot. I don’t usually like religious groups so I was amazed that this one appealed strongly. “Of course you like it" said a friend. “It’s totally daft with Lazarus shivering in his nighty.” Daft. That was the second time in a week I had heard that word applied to Staffordshire. Not a word we use too much in the US, so both times I heard it from the UK. Note the blog comment from Kevin Low on our Dec 7 posting showing large deer and a teeny musician. “That's what I love in a figure, more than anything, it's the daftness” he wrote.
I think Kevin hit the nail on the head. I love the daftness of this figure and I love the coloring. Yellows and reds are always so pretty. This is a particularly rare figure. I have four examples on file. Two are totally dismissible because the tombstones and bocages are modern replacements. The third is in the Potteries Museum, Hanley, and, although complete, the colors are very nasty (a brown base is not a pretty site.) The only other example I know of had sold at Sotheby’s NY in 1987, and the catalog notes it has a Mannheim provenance. This month, 23 years later, that very same figure came my way, still with a Mannheim label beneath.
Three observations:
I think Kevin hit the nail on the head. I love the daftness of this figure and I love the coloring. Yellows and reds are always so pretty. This is a particularly rare figure. I have four examples on file. Two are totally dismissible because the tombstones and bocages are modern replacements. The third is in the Potteries Museum, Hanley, and, although complete, the colors are very nasty (a brown base is not a pretty site.) The only other example I know of had sold at Sotheby’s NY in 1987, and the catalog notes it has a Mannheim provenance. This month, 23 years later, that very same figure came my way, still with a Mannheim label beneath.
Three observations:
- The figures on this group are arranged differently to those on the other three examples—but not one of the figures has been off the base.
- The clay used to make this figure had an impurity that fired blue, so there are little blue specks visible on the surface. Not unattractive. Just daft!
- Beneath, this figure is painted green. I have never before seen a figure group painted beneath. This looked totally correct to my eye, but to be sure I tested with paint stripper. The green doesn’t move, confirming my belief that it is as made.
The figure from beneath. The hole on the midline serves as an airhole for the bocage trunk. The hole on the right was caused by an impurity in the clay imploding outward. It was packed with two centuries of dirt! Sticking a pin through from the bottom led to a small opening on the top of the base. When the cavity was cleaned out, it had green enamel on the interior. Clearly, it happened in manufacture.Note also the blue speckling in the clay apparent throughout--and probably the reason the potter decided to enamel beneath.
