I have a good library of books on figures. Many of the books are old, but I have yet to find a book that has not been worth every penny I paid for it. One of the oldies that I page through periodically is Collecting Staffordshire Pottery by Louis T. Stanley. Old books are replete with comments that we now know to be wrong, and Stanley's is no exception. He has dubbed ALL figures that reflect everyday life "Walton school." Ouch! Stanley must have been a cricket fan, for he decides to list a team of his 11 favorite "Walton school" figures. So here is his first eleven! Pictures are from my archive and are not necessarily the very figures Stanley had in mind.
1. "Sherratt group representing a wedding at Gretna Green."
2. "Group known as The Offering of Isaac."
Courtesy Andrew Dando.
3. "Group known as Teetotalism."
4. "Polito's Menagerie"
5. "one of the charming studies under the general heading of Courtship."
Stanley illustrates a pair of dandies to fill this slot, but we can do better.
Stanley illustrates a pair of dandies to fill this slot, but we can do better.
6. A bull-baiting group
Courtesy John Howard
7. Romulus and Remus.
8. "The equestrian figure. I nominate the one showing a lady."
And I would want a pair!
And I would want a pair!
9. "William Corder standing next to Maria Marten, the girl he murdered and buried in the Red Barn, whilst further along the base is the solitary fugure of Corder standing before the judge."
Hmm... a rare sighting. Wonder where Stanley saw this one?
Hmm... a rare sighting. Wonder where Stanley saw this one?
Photo: Bonhams, London.
10. "A primitive group known as Almsgiving."
From current stock of Andrew Dando.
11. The Tithe Pig group
Start thinking about your own list. What if you could only have 11 figure groups? Are there 11 you still badly want to acquire? On the other hand, life is short and we must grab all the pleasure we can....so if your list is more like 111, that too is OK.
