11. John Walton

This information supplements the detailed information in Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, Vol. 1.

The Mark

antique Staffordshire figure, Staffordshire pottery figure, Dale staffordshire figure, Walton, pearlware figure, bocage figure, Myrna Schkolne, John Walton

Marked Figures

Hover your mouse over small images to read their captions. Click images to enlarge.

The following models are sometimes found with other forms of the bocages that Walton favored, as illustrated in Volume 1. Also, sometimes the bocage fronds are white with green around the edges only.

The six figure models below this image can be assembled into a garniture, as shown here.

Courtesy Frost Antiques

Additional Notes

Diana

I think Diana is one of the earliest marked Walton figures. It is the only marked Walton figure on a brown base (below), this typically being an earlier base decoration.

Diana is also the only figure (aside from the royal coat of arms) with neither a bocage nor a spill--again suggesting it is an early figure. The vermicular base on the right is also one I associate with earlier figures, c.1810.

When Walton finally added a bocage to Diana, it is positioned low on the base and is unlike his other bocages--perhaps an early attempt/experiment?

Another bocage...definitely!

The Widow below, marked WALTON, has a bocage not hitherto recorded on marked WALTON figures.

Courtesy Golding, Mawer, & Young.

AND

The bocage leaves are distinctive, and I have noted them on a couple of unmarked figures that appear very Walton-like, but, until now, I have had no basis for associating those figures with Walton.

Other figures with this bocage can be seen in the books in figures 145.2, 121.1, 105.15, 63.12. Some of these are also shown with typical Walton bocages.

This lion with the same bocage has the WALTON mark on the reverse. Notice the same lion paired with a unicorn in Vol. 2, fig 63.12,

antique Staffordshire pottery, antique Staffordshire figure, pearlware figure, Sherratt. Gretna Green Marriage, Walton, lion, pearlware, Myrna Schkolne

Courtesy Woolley & Wallis, Dec. 2020.

I am now comfortable attributing the handful of figures with this unusual bocage to WALTON.

And yet another bocage...maybe?

The Walton male harvester usually has a restored bocage, but there is often enough of the original bocage to indicate it is of the form shown on the figure on the left. This is a standard Walton form. Note the figure on the right, which has a bocage of a form I have not seen. I might suspect restoration, but I am hesitant to reach any conclusion without examining the figure.

Variegated leaves

Walton bocages are sometimes painted as below.

Courtesy Madelena Antiques

Right or wrong?

I have not added the figure below to the listing of figures shown above because I am suspicious of its correctness and need to examine it to validate it. I note that pink breeches of the boy on the left are mottled. This is seen on figures from other pot banks, but not on any Walton figures. For this reason, I suspect the group may be a composite that a restorer created from other figure groups.

The only underglaze figure

Courtesy the William Herbert and Nancy Hunt Collection

This is the only underglaze-decorated figure marked WALTON. The form occurs in enamels, with a bocage. Here the bocage broke off in manufacture. I have considered that the figure may have been decorated with enamels that fired poorly, but I believe the colors are under the glaze.