This week, I lectured in Providence, Rhode Island. I had a few extra minutes in the RISD Museum and it was suggested that I peep at the porcelain figure collection, which, I was given to understand, really didn't have anyone to look after it. It just happened to be there. I am always interested in porcelain figures because I am seeking similarities to earthenware ones, so I was quite excited at the prospect of...who knows what? The figure collection was quite exquisite, and I am no lover of porcelain. It had been given to the museum in 1937. Surprise: there were even a few choice pieces of English pottery in it! And then my eye caught this: (as snapped on my iPhone!)
And talking about sharing, I want to share with you a picture that popped into my email box as I returned from Providence.
"My bad" as that awful saying goes. I believe I made a mistake and fell into a trap. Months after writing this entry, I have concluded that the boy with squirrel in the Reserve Collection at the Hanley Museum is probably not English. Frankly, I wish I could examine it again, but the more I look at photographs the more certain I become that the figure just is not Staffordshire. I have since found another example of this figure, described as 19thC Passau (German manufacturer). For now, I conclude that the Hanley example originated somewhere in Europe--but not in the Staffordshire Potteries.