I may have showed you the figure below many moons ago, but I have some updates. The figure is Pomona, and she was made by James Neale in the 1780s. This really is one of our rarest figures, and it is exquisite, exquisite, exquisite! Alongside you see that it is marked with the typical Neale mark.
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Interestingly, the figure is exceptionally small. At just 4.8 inches it is significantly smaller than other Neale figures--smaller in fact than most early Staffordshire figures. It really is a little gem. On my travels, I was able to take a picture of Pomona on a shelf with other Neale figures, and you can see just how dainty she is.
Figures of Pomona were usually made to pair with figures of Flora, but not so in this case. The Neale companion figure to Pomona is a male, none other than Actaeon, the hunter.
Alongside, you see Actaeon, with a quiver on his back, a horn, and a bow. The photo is from Diana Edwards's Neale Pottery and Porcelain, page 178.I know of only this example of this figure, and I have never seen it in the flesh. It would be rewarding to reunite the two tiny Neale figures, apparently the lone survivors of others of their form.
Neale also made both figures in jasper. The examples below are marked.
 Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. |  Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
Frustratingly, the Victoria and Albert Museum, which owns these figures, describes the male figure as Apollo. Hello, museum: have you LOOKED at this figure? Where is the lute? I find museum ownership so frustrating sometimes!
As I was preparing Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, I obtained this photo of a pair of pearlware figures of Pomona AND Actaeon! Admittedly they are a long, long way from the Neale originals in their execution, but what rare figures.
As I was preparing Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, I obtained this photo of a pair of pearlware figures of Pomona AND Actaeon! Admittedly they are a long, long way from the Neale originals in their execution, but what rare figures.
I would bet that the figures derive from the Neale molds--from much-used Neale molds---because the crispness has been lost. Molds were expensive, so when the Neale factory no longer had use for them (or when the factory closed), they would have gone into the hands of another potter.
Writing a post like this reminds me of how many figures have been lost over time. Treat your figures with TLC, and remember to restore sympathetically. If you haven't read the article on the RESTORATION tab at the top of this site, please do. And please let me know if you see an Actaeon. I know a collector who would love to own him.
Writing a post like this reminds me of how many figures have been lost over time. Treat your figures with TLC, and remember to restore sympathetically. If you haven't read the article on the RESTORATION tab at the top of this site, please do. And please let me know if you see an Actaeon. I know a collector who would love to own him.
