Auctions are traps for the unwary or inexperienced, and so it was a few days ago. I was dismayed when silly money chased a pair of equestrians that I wouldn't have wanted---and yet a fabulous unrecorded figure group slipped by without any fanfare.
This dazzling mother and child group is known from only this example. It is attributable to "Sherratt", but, it takes a little knowledge to pinpoint that. The decoration is certainly not particularly "Sherratty", and the bocage leaves are common enough. However these very bocage flowers and leaves occur in combination on other "Sherratt" figures. More importantly, the mother and child are from the same molds as were used in two other uniquely "Sherratt" groups: Tee Total groups, and Happy Family groups. You can see both below.
I am always thrilled to learn of an unrecorded figure, but, of course, that doesn't happen very often. The mother-and-child group has a companion father-and-child group that I have yet to see in the flesh. It belongs to the National Trust and is tucked away in one of England's National Trust properties. Again, the father-and-child group is from the same molds as used in the "Sherratt" Happy Family group above.
For me, collecting is as much about the hunt as the kill. I have known of the National Trust's father-and-child for a while, but learning about the companion mother-and-child model was simply the cherry on the top!
