We try to specify with scientific precision the features that help attribute figures to common pot banks of origin, but some times gut instinct kicks in.
A year or so ago, Andrew Dando sold the spill vase with cows at the top of the page. Currently, John Howard is offering the spill vase with sheep below it. Is the resemblance not remarkable? No, I know the sheep don't look like the cows or vice versa, but the spill vases are so similar, as is the color palette and even the glazes. I bet that both these came from the same unknown pot bank. I am surprised that whoever bought the cows hasn't bought the sheep....but perhaps he/she hasn't seen it yet.
To stretch the long arm of coincidence even further, look at the sheep alongside. Now the spill vase has been replaced with a bocage. The base and the big sheep are from the same molds as used for the sheep spill vase group, so I suspect that it too originates from that same unidentified pot bank. I have nothing scientific to hang my hat on here. Just gut feeling. And sometimes that has to be good enough!
I have always thought that little sheep groups, such as the two below are from a common potbank.
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The groups are not identical (what an observation!!) but the bases are from the same molds as are some of the sheep. I have recorded three groups like this, all on this base, and they all share common elements.
This little spill vase (left) with two dogs does, to my mind, come from the same pot bank as the two larger vases immediately above it. I have recorded this little vase with a sheep--and again the resemblance to elements of the larger vases is notable.
As for these two teeny spills, one with a sheep and one with a goat...well, somehow I don't think these are from the same pot bank as any of the bigger vases above. I am looking for other members of their "family"...but they are so sweet I just had to show them to you meanwhile.
The top end of the early pottery market is hot. Serious collectors want the very best, and they will pay for it. Everything else is sort of stagnant, at best. It may not always be this way, so if you see a nice small figure, add it to your stash. In my experience, these figures are relatively inexpensive and particularly charming, and they will add endlessly to your collecting pleasure.
