Collecting is a very personal thing and, much as I love early Staffordshire figures, there are some I just don't want to own. Of course, these may be the very figures you covet--but the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same objects. I will confess that pearlware musicians of this form are not to my liking.
As you can see, there are four musicians in this ensemble. They display beautifully as a pair, trio, or quartet. The quality is usually very good. So why don't I love them? To my mind, the figures look very continental. Nothing seems English about them. They are formed after Derby figures which were in turn inspired by Meissen figure forms. Below are Derby figures.
Derby porcelain figures ca 1825.
Continental porcelain figures.
From the stock of Castle Antiques.
On the other hand, similarly styled figures--perhaps even from the same figure molds-- were used to create composite groupings of musicians that appear very English. In this context, I find these figure forms charming. The whole grouping is redolent of the English countryside on a beautiful summer's day. Nothing at all prissy about these. Nothing evocative of Derby porcelain.
And below we have the same figure types yet again. This time they have a naive charm that makes them very Staffordshire. Not a hint of possible porcelain prototypes--and indeed I believe these were formed without any thought to the porcelain forms that begat them.
Each to his own. I know of several people who like and own the musician quartet that set off this train of thought. That we all like different things makes collecting fun.
