Errors and Corrections

The Staffordshire pottery figure group below is known as Liberty and Matrimony, the idea being that the bird on her hand represents Freedom, while the cage he holds symbolizes the restraints of marriage. Made by Ralph Wood circa 1785, it may well be the earliest bocage group in my collection Although I have seen similar examples over the years, this is the first that has been right for my collection. Firstly, it is a very attractive example in really nice condition. Secondly and unusually, much of the bocage is intact--and what a lovely bocage too. And thirdly, it is impressed "89" beneath. Yes, I would have preferred it to have been marked "Ra. Wood Burslem," but the impressed number is the next closest thing to the Ralph Wood mark.

"Don't make a mistake" or "look before you leap" cautions the pearlware Liberty and Matrimony group, and, as there was no divorce law until late in the nineteenth century, this was sage advice. We encounter similar reminders of the pitfalls of marriage in other decorative objects of the period, such as this humble little pair of cottage prints. 

Titled COURTSHIP and MATRIMONY, they read, 

​COURTSHIP 
In Courtship Strephon careful hand his dame
Over a stile a child with ease might pass

MATRIMONY
But We added Strephon now neglects his dame,
Tumble or not to him tis all the same

I bought my pearlware Liberty and Matrimony group on eBay, where it was listed initially as Italian porcelain. By the time the seller learned the error of his ways and corrected the mistake it seems to have been too late, because I bought it for a ridiculously small amount of money. Price aside, I am thrilled to have it.

Another recent purchase--this time not at a given-away price--is a splendid pair of figures of Simon and Iphigenia. I first saw a pair just like this when I photographed at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum. My friend Nick Burton was with me, and we were both really taken with the museum's pair. The figures are taller than most. He is 9.5" and she is a hair under 9", and they have a presence that a photo just doesn't capture.​

Simon (spelled Cymon) is the hero in The Decameron, a novella set in Cyprus and written around 1350 by Giovanni Boccaccio. The narrative tells of Cymon, who, deemed a dolt by his aristocratic father, is sent to live and work with his father’s slaves in the countryside. In this environment, Cymon becomes increasingly coarse. One day, he comes upon highborn Iphigenia, slumbering in a field. He is so smitten by her beauty that his noble bearing surfaces and his father reinstates him. Iphigenia was promised to another, but this tale of wars and abduction in the name of love ends happily with Cymon and Iphigenia united for life. In 1700, John Dryden published his Fables, Ancient and Modern, containing the story as a poem. For the record, the figure of Simon is modeled from a figure Paul Louis Cyfflé made for Lunéville, but the origins of Iphigenia are not known.

Although my figures of Simon and Iphigenia are unmarked, I believe Ralph Wedgwood made them circa 1795, and I say this because the titles are impressed in a small serif font found only on figures associated with Wedgwood. Below is my Wedgwood "Charity," and you can see she is marked (on the reverse) and titled in the same font.

The devil is in the details when it comes to attributing figures, and it is easy to slip up, which I have done with this pair of figures of Neptune and Venus.

Venus is titled (twice) in small impressed serif font on the reverse, and for that reason I attributed this pair to Wedgwood. My conclusion has always nagged at  me a little because the enamels on this pair are streets superior to those found on other figures made by Wedgwood or by any other potter for that matter. The silky touch of the glaze and the color palette shouts "Neale," and that made me look at the font more closely. Indeed, the font used for VENUS differs from that used on marked Wedgwood figures in that:

• Wedgwood letters are all the same size, whereas the "V" in Venus is larger than the other letters.
• Wedgood letters are a tad blockier.  

 I have to conclude that Wedgwood did not make my Venus and Neptune!

So who did make Venus and Neptune? I fall back on my Neale hypothesis. Add to this, the combination of  circles and dots  on the garment Venus wears is similar to that frequently seen on other Neale figures...but  also on a few figures I just can't attribute. Possibly Neale made this Neptune and Venus, but I have no argument that would hold up in court. On the other hand, trying to disprove theories is how scientific reasoning evolves, so why should our approach to pottery be any different? I look forward to someone stepping forth with a better hypothesis.

And while I am eating humble pie and pointing out errors, here's one more. In Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, I show the figure of a horse, below. I could not examine the figure because all I had was this one gritty photo of it, but I included it in  the HORSES chapter, because I really thought it was a horse.

Then a year or two ago, the figure below appeared, complete with horn. Clearly my "horse" was intended to be a unicorn!

If I live long enough, I am sure I will find that each and every early Staffordshire figure has a companion, and so I was delighted to receive the photo below just this past week. Sure enough, the unicorn's companion is a lion. As these beasts are the supporters on either side of England's royal coat of arms, the pairing is quite appropriate. Aren't they lovely?

I hate making mistakes--let's face it, nobody enjoys being wrong--but nothing ventured nothing gained. Each mistake teaches me a little more and helps me inch along the learning curve.