Staffordshire Pottery Figures
Overview
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, British nobility and the well-to-do merchant class indulged their passion for ceramics by purchasing the expensive and refined porcelain made by the German Meissen factory and the English Chelsea, Bow, Wedgwood and Worcester works. Meanwhile, the ceramics workers in Staffordshire offered more humble and naive pottery figures at modest prices to decorate the cottages of the folk on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. Their subjects came not only from everyday experiences, but from current events, some bizarre, which caught their fancy and insured a quick sale. Historical and contemporary military figures were popular, along with royalty ( there are seventeen versions of Queen Victoria), criminals, theatrical stars, ministers, exotic animals and miniature houses where horrific crimes were committed. Among the most popular figures then and now were the seated spaniels, or “comforters”, as they were called. One pottery offered them in six sizes to accommodate the modest spaces available for display. Bull and bear baiting, a popular spectator blood sport, where ferocious dogs were set on the hapless animals, was well documented by the Staffordshire potters. One of the most macabre subjects , entitled “The Death of Monrow” (circa 1830) depicts a certain Lieutenant Monrow, who was attacked by a tiger on a hunting trip in India. The big cat carried him off by his head, inflicting terrible wounds, which ultimately resulted in his demise. Early versions of this figure, which originally cost a few shillings, now sell for thousands.
How They Were Made
Staffordshire lies in the central part of England with access to clay deposits, fuel for the kilns and the nearby River Trent, for transport. Six villages, now part of Stoke-on-Trent, made up the primary pottery region. The 18th century potters, including Thomas and John Wedgwood (Josiah’s father and brother), Thomas Astbury, John Turner, Ralph Wood and Thomas Whieldon are almost legends today. Their early well modeled figures are rare and bring astounding prices at auction. But their lives were far from easy. The hard manual labor was done in small candlelit rooms, twelve hours a day, six days a week. Children most often began to work in the potteries at age seven. A boy, interviewed in 1843 by Queen Victoria’s Commissioner investigating the employment of children in industry, stated that he worked by the piece, molding about forty dozen small figures a day, receiving a penny for ten dozen-about two shillings a week. Based on that output, the child would have created 140,000 figures in a year. Considering the thousands of men, women and children who labored in the potteries, the production was prodigious. The pay for the adults was not much better, often supplemented with old coats and stockings as partial compensation. When you contemplate one of those charming and colorful figures, it is difficult to visualize its creation in such dismal conditions. An army of peddlers and street vendors provided the main distribution channel for the potteries. They hawked their wares in the villages and cities, often swinging a bell in one hand and balancing a tray of figures on their heads.
Changes After 1830
Around 1830, Staffordshire pottery figures, often referred to as the “tribal art of Great Britain,” took on a somewhat standardized style. The figures themselves became the main focus of most designs, and the bases developed an oval form. Since the potters understood that figures would be on display upon mantels, shelves and window sills, they made them with flat undecorated backs. This treatment lowered costs and resulted in reduced prices for the figure-loving public. Most of the Staffordshire figures in American commerce today fit this description. For dating purposes, it will be helpful to know that after 1870, the amount of color decoration declined once more, leaving the figures shiny white with only painted faces and black boots.
Although they began as inexpensive decorative trinkets, the Staffordshire pottery figures of the 19th century actually document the Victorian era. Just as contemporary business operates, the potters were swift to take note of the public’s fancies. The loves, hates, wars, patriotism, humor, heroism, gallantry and achievements of the times are all there, expressed in the pottery. It’s often called peasant art, since the potters were country folk. But if market prices are any gauge, Staffordshire figures have transcended their modest origins and possess even more appeal for the collectors of the 21st century.
Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Bob Goldberg.