A couple of months ago, my friend Malcolm Hodkinson drew my attention to a large pair of lions coming up at auction in London. From a small catalog picture, they appeared to be traditional early 19th century Staffordshire lions. But looked at in the flesh or in a large picture, the differences were apparent.
The modeling was not quite early 19th century. But notably the colors and glazes were all wrong for a c1825 date. These lions had colored glaze decoration typical of the late 19th century. The felines were made by George Skey, who operated in Tamworth, Staffordshire, from 1864. His firm was bought by Doulton around 1930. And the auction house had cataloged the lions correctly.
Since then, another pair has come up at auction in the UK, again cataloged correctly. Sometimes these lions are marked and that aids auctioneers, who are required to know an awful lot about an enormous range of goods. It is possible that mistakes will be made--in fact I have just encountered a pair described as circa 1840 coming up for auction July 12. So watch out for these lions. If you want them, that's fine. But please don't mistake them for The Real Thing.
Since then, another pair has come up at auction in the UK, again cataloged correctly. Sometimes these lions are marked and that aids auctioneers, who are required to know an awful lot about an enormous range of goods. It is possible that mistakes will be made--in fact I have just encountered a pair described as circa 1840 coming up for auction July 12. So watch out for these lions. If you want them, that's fine. But please don't mistake them for The Real Thing.
Magnificent pair of early 19th century Staffordshire lions. Photo courtesy of John Howard Antiques.
