Duke of Wellington

I was thrilled to find this handsome figure of the Duke of Wellington recently. Don't you love his arrogant nonchalance?

I have yet to see this figure with an original sword, and, sure enough, here the sword is restored, although part of the handle is original. Importantly, his hands and all else are original. Two shallow base chips, one shallow hat chip,  and the top of his hat rosette are restored, but that's it. The pot is super quality. I should have photographed from beneath to show you that yummy blue glaze.

This is the handsomest of figures. At 12", it has Presence without being overpowering. I believe it was modeled by Pierre Stephan, the freelance modeler best known for his Derby models. Please read my blog of 5/11/2011 for more info. Note how beautifully modeled even that cannon is, and the scabbard is silver luster. 

Did you notice the scratching in the paint on the base? It was done at the time of manufacture. Oddly, the scratching on the right side of the base is in the form of script that is frustratingly indecipherable. The Boinne?? If you have suggestions, please shout!

 This figure is by no means common, but I have a few more in my photo archive. Now here is where the plot thickens. 

This figure at the Victoria and Albert Museum is from the very same molds, but he has a plume atop his hat. Did my figure once have a plume?  I have looked and guessed and tried to figure out if there was one....but I am not convinced, and in any case no plume beats a restored plume. I would hate to see a bit of restoration stuck atop the hat. Note that in all other details, the V&A figure is formed just like mine.
(Photo (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London.)

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I have looked at this figure till I am blue in the face. It appears to be from the very same molds as my figure. Note that there are no cannon balls at his feet, but that's no big deal. The details that bother me are that:

• he has no garter star on his chest
  
• he has no scabbard for his sword.
  

In this case, the mold must have been reworked to eliminate the garter star and scabbard. 

Again, the sword is restored, and again there is no plume atop the hat--but I am not sure if there ever was one. A lovely figure, and the pink luster is really pretty.
(Photo courtesy Nick Burton.)

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Here is another version without the garter star and scabbard....but this time the cannon balls are back! I suspect a restorer has been busy with the items in the hands. Surely that sword belongs on the other side?

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This figure was made without a scabbard and garter star.  So what's different here? This time note the additional plumes to the left and right of the hat. I suspect these are original, and I have seen one other similar figure with these. (Photo courtesy John Howard.)

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Lastly, we look at the figure in the Potteries Museum. This figure is titled "Duke Wellington" and there are two teensy lions on the base. At the risk of being repetitive, there is no scabbard and no garter star. But does something else strike you as different??  It's the cannon. Notice how much smaller it is this time.  The overall modelling and detailing is not nearly as fine as on some of the previous examples.

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Despite the plethora of examples shown here, figures of the Duke of Wellington are not at all common. Laying out these photos enabled me to explore the differences--and it was a fascinating exercise.  I believe the first figures shown are probably the earliest. They are more detailed and probably are straight from a Pierre Stephan mold. Then the design/molds fell into other hands, and things got progressively simpler.  The evolution of a design over time, surely?  I long for the day when science enables us to date figures with precision. Only then will we truly know it all.