This beautiful bull appeared briefly on Barbara Gair's web site recently, before wandering off to greener pastures. Note that this is most definitely a bull rather than a cow, although bovines of this scale are much more commonly of the female sex. At under 6 inches, this comfortably compact little figure is far from common. Made by the "Sherratt" pot bank, it has all the charm that typically oozes from "Sherratt" figures. The bocage fronds (each frond has three oak leaves) and flower combination are typical of "Sherratt." Also, "Sherratt" routinely used bases of this form for animals, and he liked to place three flowers on the base, as you see here. The colors of pink, orange, and blue occur most commonly on "Sherratt" flowers. I appreciate the thought that went into painting the flower colors on the base in the same sequence as the flower colors on the bocage. Details like this connect us to a thought process of two centuries ago.
The cow alongside is the companion model to the little bull. The base is of the same form but it has not been adorned with flowers in the same way. The bocage fronds are again of the triple oak leaf variety, but the flowers are the mayflowers that "Sherratt" more commonly used with these
bocage fronds.
Note that the bocage trunk is painted in splotchy browns. You see this quite often on only "Sherratt" figures.
Alongside, we have a "Sherratt" sheep. It has the same base and bocage as the little bull. "Sherratt made assorted animals on this base, but the decoration rather than the form is what identifies the base as "Sherratt."
The pair of sheep alongside has bases of the same form....but they have the SALT mark on the reverse. So again, it is definitely the decoration rather than the form that identifies the base as "Sherratt".
(Full disclosure: there are tiny differences in the form of the "Sherratt" and Salt bases, even though at first and even second glance they seem the same.)
(Full disclosure: there are tiny differences in the form of the "Sherratt" and Salt bases, even though at first and even second glance they seem the same.)
"Sherratt" used the same base for recumbent sheep
And he used the same base for deer, of course.
The "Sherratt" pot bank also used other bases. The little ram below stands on quite a different base, but it too can be attributed to "Sherratt".
 | In this case, the secret to the attribution lies in the distinctive floral sprigs on the base. Sprigs of this form are exclusive to "Sherratt." They are akin to signatures. Of course, the bocage fronds and flower are consistent with a "Sherratt" attribution. |
Note that this little ram is painted in a pale turquoise rather than green. "Sherratt" used a turquoise palette on occasion. The dandies figure group on the dust jacket of my book is in the turquoise palette too--yes, admittedly a far more vibrant turquoise.
The "Sherratt" pot bank produced some of my favorite figures, and it operated over an extended period of time. I think it probably produced more figures than any other pot bank of its time, but, despite this, we know next to nothing about it. I have stood in Hot Lane, Burslem, the boring little road that was once the location of Obadiah Sherratt's great manufactory, and I received not a vibe. All that once happened there lies buried beneath the modern paved roads of Stoke. Yet the figures themselves help piece together their past, and we can learn an enormous amount from looking at them. My photo archive has been the source of lots of my knowledge, and with the publication of my next books, we will all have access to much of it. I am looking forward to learning what you deduce as you look at the pictures and at the figures in your collection.
The "Sherratt" pot bank produced some of my favorite figures, and it operated over an extended period of time. I think it probably produced more figures than any other pot bank of its time, but, despite this, we know next to nothing about it. I have stood in Hot Lane, Burslem, the boring little road that was once the location of Obadiah Sherratt's great manufactory, and I received not a vibe. All that once happened there lies buried beneath the modern paved roads of Stoke. Yet the figures themselves help piece together their past, and we can learn an enormous amount from looking at them. My photo archive has been the source of lots of my knowledge, and with the publication of my next books, we will all have access to much of it. I am looking forward to learning what you deduce as you look at the pictures and at the figures in your collection.
