It is a holiday week on this side of the pond. Thanksgiving is here! As immigrants to the US, our family was introduced to Thanksgiving at a later stage in my life, but, once I mastered carving the turkey, the holiday became a firm favorite. Our family, like many others, gathers for a few days of family time each Thanksgiving, and, as my children live in three time zones, it is indeed cause for celebration. Family has always been at the center of mankind's existence, and it was no different in the early 1800s. One of my favorite families of that day is fabulously captured in clay. I call this group the Happy Family.
Is that not absolutely charming? Formerly in the stock of John Howard Antiques. In the days before photographs, groups such as these must have held meaning that we can only guess at today. The pot bank that made this group made it with more than one bocage. The second example has a stunning holly bocage.
I am pretty sure these two groups are from the same source because we routinely find these bocages on other identically composed figures and groups. Note that this scene of domestic bliss is accompanied by a dog and cat. Dogs are common on groups of our period, but cats are really quite rare. Remember, the cat was not yet considered a domestic animal, and much superstition surrounded cats. That all changed as the decades marched on, but around 1820 cats were not-so-popular.....yet this pot bank put a dog and a cat on all these family groups. This is yet another indication that all originate from the same source.
The same pot bank made this version of the Happy Family group, along with dog and cat, before a spill holder.
The same pot bank made this version of the Happy Family group, along with dog and cat, before a spill holder.
Lovely is it not? Courtesy of Elinor Penna Antiques. The molds for these figures must have represented a significant investment, and our unknown pot bank was not going to let them go to waste. Taking matters one stage further, we see the same figures on individual bases. This time, the baby is left at home, and the man and lady are engaged in that most genteel pastime: reading.
Note the cat and the dog, each with the same owner as before. BTW, it may surprise you to learn that the novel was quite a new literary format in the early 1800s and that novels were not considered appropriate reading material for refined ladies. It was feared that ladies would get all sorts of wild ideas if they read novels. Much better to read a religious tract of some sorts. Some forces are unstoppable...particularly when they are female....and so it was with women's literary tastes. The rest is history: the novel is now firmly entrenched in our culture.
Remember the holly bocage we saw on our second Happy Family group? Well here it is again. It comes as no surprise to find it on a figure of a woman reading. This figure has the fullest, most lovely bocage. And of course, that faithful little cat is still by her side. From the past stock of John Howard Antiques.
Remember the holly bocage we saw on our second Happy Family group? Well here it is again. It comes as no surprise to find it on a figure of a woman reading. This figure has the fullest, most lovely bocage. And of course, that faithful little cat is still by her side. From the past stock of John Howard Antiques.
And here we have one more glimpse of our Happy Family couple.
The couple from the Happy Family group are now playing music. The cat and dog are present, and the book that one of them was reading has now been cast on the ground. Their hats are there, but the baby is nowhere to be seen....but how much more can you put on one spill vase? I enjoy finding links between groups. When you start piecing together the details---similar bocages, figure molds, cats and dogs--you make a family of another sort: a family of related figures. And may all the little details come together perfectly for your family this Thanksgiving.
