These Staffordshire figures are dubbed "the Welsh tailor and his wife." They are pearlware, in the 'Sherratt' style, made circa 1820. The models are after Derby figures, first made by the Derby factory in 1760 and copied from the Meissen figures that Kaendler and Eberlein modeled circa 1740.
The figures are supposedly inspired by a real incident. Count Heinrich von Bruhl (1700-17630) was Prime Minister of Saxony and Director of Meissen from 1735. A profligate dandy, he offered his tailor a reward of his choosing for meeting a deadline. The tailor chose to attend a court banquet. This request was considered ridiculous, so instead porcelain forms of the tailor and his wife were placed as table decorations on the count's banquet table. “Welsh” in the figure’s title results from incorrect translation of Meissen’s title of the figure “Ein Schneider welcher auf einem Ziegenbock reutet” (A Tailor who rides a goat…). So more correctly, these figures are "the Welch tailor and his wife."
The figures are supposedly inspired by a real incident. Count Heinrich von Bruhl (1700-17630) was Prime Minister of Saxony and Director of Meissen from 1735. A profligate dandy, he offered his tailor a reward of his choosing for meeting a deadline. The tailor chose to attend a court banquet. This request was considered ridiculous, so instead porcelain forms of the tailor and his wife were placed as table decorations on the count's banquet table. “Welsh” in the figure’s title results from incorrect translation of Meissen’s title of the figure “Ein Schneider welcher auf einem Ziegenbock reutet” (A Tailor who rides a goat…). So more correctly, these figures are "the Welch tailor and his wife."
