For too long, I have been fine-tuning my work on Ralph Wood enamel-painted figures for a paper I am reading this fall. It's sort of like untangling a ball of wool. One thing leads to another, and it is never simple. Ralph Wood has been dead for 217 years, so we should have figured this out by now!
As you know, Ralph Wood figures often have impressed mold numbers, and you can encounter identical figures with or without a number. In my mind, I am certain that Ralph Wood figures happened in this sequence.
It makes sense that a manufactory that operated for almost 30 years tweaked its production in this way. Changes were evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and essentially, the figure molds tended to be the same. There was no need to modify the figure molds, just the painted details--and perhaps add a bocage. But there is an exception to every rule, and Ralph Wood's larger figures of gardeners underwent some modifications along the way. Let's look at it step-by-step:
1. The first figures look like the pair below. These are impressed "8" and "9". They are from John Howard's archive. I think these were made very early in the Ralph Wood era because of their low numbers in the 170-number range that Ralph used.
As you know, Ralph Wood figures often have impressed mold numbers, and you can encounter identical figures with or without a number. In my mind, I am certain that Ralph Wood figures happened in this sequence.
- Figures made with impressed numbers, titled in small red script.
- Same as above, but made without numbers
- Same as 2, but with the oh-so-fashionable bocage that customers wanted.
- Same figures but now painted in a different palette and titled in large black script.
It makes sense that a manufactory that operated for almost 30 years tweaked its production in this way. Changes were evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and essentially, the figure molds tended to be the same. There was no need to modify the figure molds, just the painted details--and perhaps add a bocage. But there is an exception to every rule, and Ralph Wood's larger figures of gardeners underwent some modifications along the way. Let's look at it step-by-step:
1. The first figures look like the pair below. These are impressed "8" and "9". They are from John Howard's archive. I think these were made very early in the Ralph Wood era because of their low numbers in the 170-number range that Ralph used.
2. I might have expected that, as time went on, Ralph Wood would have made the same figures but without those numbers. After all, that is what happened in every other case. But clearly something about those heads worried Ralph. Perhaps the hats weren't stylish enough, so he remade the hats/heads. The spiffy pair below is in the stock of Barbara Gair/Castle Antiques.
3. Stage three has Ralph Wood adding bocage. Here are two lady gardeners, one titled and the other not, with typical Ralph Wood bocages. They are in the stock of Elinor Penna and Martyn Edgell.
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4. Stage four sees the same figures painted in muddier tones and titled in large black script. This is typical of figures we associate with the tail-end of the Ralph Wood era.
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We tend to think figures like these are a little later because enamels underwent changes as the decades marched on. Nonetheless, these are still very early figures. The lady is in the Potteries Museum. The gentleman belongs to a very nice collector. I am as certain as I can be from pictures that the lady's hat has not undergone any change in these final figures, but I will be able to verify that at the museum later this year. Meanwhile, if you have a Ralph Wood Mate of this form, please shout.
Last but not least, I pose a question. Have you any idea why there is often a little face on the water source on gardening figures and groups? You can see a face quite clearly on one of my favorite ruins: a partial figure excavated from the Old Town Hall site in Burslem associated with Enoch Wood. This figure is now in the Potteries Museum.
Last but not least, I pose a question. Have you any idea why there is often a little face on the water source on gardening figures and groups? You can see a face quite clearly on one of my favorite ruins: a partial figure excavated from the Old Town Hall site in Burslem associated with Enoch Wood. This figure is now in the Potteries Museum.
If you have any guesses as to the reason for a face, please share your thoughts.
