Staffordshire Figures, 1780-1840: Supplementary Archive
  • Home
  • Vol. 1
    • 1-23. Makers >
      • 3. Edge & Grocott
      • 4. Samuel Hall
      • 5. Leeds Pottery
      • 6. Lakin & Poole
      • 7. Neale & Co/Wilson
      • 8. Ralph Salt
      • 9. Theophilus Smith
      • 10. Charles Tittensor
      • 11. John Walton
      • 12. Ralph Wedgwood
      • 13. Enoch Wood/Wood & Caldwell
      • 14. Ralph Wood >
        • 14a. Ralph Wood Notebook
        • 14b. Ralph Wood Numbers
        • 14c. Ralph Wood Research
      • 21. "Sherratt"
    • 24. Gardening
    • 25. Reading
    • 26. Music
    • 27. Shepherds and Shepherdesses
    • 28. Other Farm Workers
    • 29. Trades and Occupations
    • 30. Vendors and People with Baskets
  • Vol. 2
    • 31. Equestrians
    • 32. Turks and Other Fairground Entertainers
    • 33-60. Literature & Theater >
      • 33. Anthony and Cleopatra
      • 34. Ophelia
      • 35. Falstaff
      • 36. Doctor Syntax
      • 37. Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnny
      • 38. Charlotte at the Tomb of Werther
      • 39. Cymon & Iphigenia
      • 40. Grecian Daughter
      • 43. Hudibras
      • 44. Jobson and Nell
      • 48. Little Jockey
      • 49. Maria Malibran
      • 50. Broom Lady
      • 51. Paul Pry
      • 53. Sam Swipes
      • 52. Lubin Log
      • 54. Van Dunder
      • 55. Billy Waters and Douglas
      • 57. Robinson Crusoe
      • 58. Dick Turpin
      • 60. Other Theatrical Figures.
    • 61 - 63. Patriotic Themes >
      • 62. Saint George and the Dragon
      • 63. Royal Coat of Arms
    • 64 - 78. Important People >
      • 64. King William III
      • 70. Benjamin Franklin
      • 71. Isaac Newton
      • 72. John Milton
      • 74. William Shakespeare
      • 77. Horatio Nelson and Napoleon Bonaparte
      • 78. Cornelius van Tromp
    • 79. Sailors & Soldiers
    • 80. Slavery
    • 81 - 84. Sports >
      • 81. Boxing
      • 82. Bear Baiting
      • 83. Bull Baiting
      • 84. Archers, Sportsmen, Falconers, & Other Hunters
    • 85 - 110. Bible and Religion >
      • 85. Abraham Offering Isaac
      • 89. Crucifixion
      • 90. Elijah & the Widow
      • 91. Eve
      • 92. Faith, Hope, and Charity
      • 93. Flight & Return
      • 95. King David
      • 96. Parable of the Lost Coin
      • 97. Parable of the Lost Sheep
      • 98. Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgin
      • 99. Sacrifice at Lystra
      • 100. Peter Restoring the Lame Man
      • 102. Other Saints: Andrew, Philip, Emanuel, Lucy, Sebastian, Barbara, John the Baptist, Anne
      • 103. Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
      • 104. Saint Paul
      • 107. Virgin Mary
      • 108. Tithe Pig
      • 109. Religious Officials and Observers
  • Vol. 3
    • 111-112. Animal Entertainment >
      • 111. Performing Animals
    • 113-132. Animals >
      • 113. Birds
      • 114. Birds with People
      • 115. Camels
      • 116. Cats
      • 117. Cats with People
      • 118. Cows
      • 119. Deer
      • 120. Dogs
      • 121. Dogs with People
      • 122. Elephants
      • 123. Foxes
      • 124. Goats
      • 125. Horses & Donkeys
      • 126. Lions etc.
      • 127. Mice
      • 128. Mythological Animals
      • 129. Other Animals
      • 130. Rabbits &Hares
      • 131. Sheep
      • 132. Squirrels
    • 133. Dandies
    • 134-137. Death and Murder >
      • 134. Assassination of Marat
      • 136. Menagerie Deaths
      • 137. Red Barn Murder
  • Vol. 4
    • 138-147. Family, Friendship, & Play >
      • 138. Courtship
      • 139. Weddings
      • 141. Old Age
      • 142. Christenings
      • 143. Cradles
      • 144. Parents and children
      • 145. Children at Play
      • 146. Friendship, Tenderness, Contest, and Scuffle
      • 147. Bird Nesters and Nut Gatherers
    • 148. Temperance
    • 149. Buildings
    • 150. Mansion House Dwarves
    • 151. Roger Giles
    • 152. The Welsh Tailor and his Wife
    • 153. Elements
    • 154. Quarters of the Globe
    • 155. Seasons
    • 156-195. Classical Subjects >
      • 156. Aesculapius
      • 159. Apollo
      • 160. Atlas
      • 161. Ariadne
      • 162. Bacchus
      • 163. Bacchus and Ariadne
      • 166. Ceres
      • 167. Cupid and Psyche
      • 169. Diana
      • 171. Flora and Pomona
      • 172. Fortitude and Prudence
      • 173. Ganymede
      • 175. Hygeia
      • 176. Jason and Medea
      • 177. Jupiter and Juno
      • 180. Liberty
      • 181. Lucretia
      • 182. Mars
      • 183. Melpomeme & Thalia
      • 184. Mercury
      • 185. Metis
      • 186. Minerva
      • 188. Peace
      • 191. TIme
      • 193. Urania
      • 194. Venus and Neptune
      • 195. Other Classical Figures
    • 196. Chariots
    • 197. Cherubs
    • 198. People Resting on Plinths
    • 199. Miscellaneous
    • 200. Busts
Picture

          25. Reading


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

Enamel-painted Figures

25.3a. Titled THE READING MAID. This version of the "Sherratt" reading maid has a fern bocage.
25.3a. Again...but bigger.
25.3c. Reverse of 25.3a gives the best view of bocage leaves.

25.3c. This time the "Sherratt" reading maid is titled THE VILLEG MADE (the Village Maid). Courtesy Barbara Gair at Castle Antiques.
25.3e. Attributed to "Sherratt". Like 25.3 but with the anthemion bocage fronds "Sherratt" used quite often.
25.6a. Attributed to "Sherratt."
25.9a
25.16a. A fine example of the same type as 25.16 and poorly impressed with the WALTON mark.
25.16a. The previous figure shown alongside 25.14. Both are marked similarly but the bocages differ.
25.16b. Reverse of the previous figures. Both are marked similarly, but the bocages differ.
25.19a. Another bocage version on this reading maid from the same figure molds as others in the book. The bocage, best I can tell from the tiny pic, appears to be a "Sherratt" form, but I would hesitate to attribute. Courtesy David Lay Auctions.
25.20a. Companion to 25.20, having the same bocage structure.
25.25a. Attributed to Leather Leaf Group. Companion model to 25.25 and 25.24.
25.28a. Attributed to Box Title Group.
25.36a. Like the male in 25.36 and with the same three-leafed sprig on the base. The terminal base section has been omitted from this figure. It has NOT lost it. Courtesy eBay seller is-it-me-ur-looking-for.
25.32a. Courtesy John Howard.
25.40a. Book lost from raised hand. Courtesy eBay seller phixiusantiques.
25.42a. Companion to 25.42, with the spill to the other side.
25.43a. Like 25.43 but a pair. Each girl holds a cup in one hand (absent in 25.43.) Courtesy Classic Tradition.
25.46b. Attributed to Dale and a companion to the boy in 25.46a.
25.46a. Attributed to Dale. Note: I had suspected 25.46 to be Dale, and the discovery of this figure confirms that attribution.
25.52a. The only non-Sherratt version of this figure I have recorded, and made without bocage. See 25.51 for the Sherratt version. Courtesy Nigel Ward.
25.64a. Like figures in 25.61-64 but titled and a pair. Courtesy Christie's.
25.64a. The boy in fig. 25.64 is shown here again--but this time with the companion girl.
25.68. Boy with book and girl with flower.
25.69. An unusual model, and the companion male figure is assumed to have been made, albeit not yet recorded. Courtesy Sotheby's.
25.70. Attributed to "Sherratt". An exciting new find, filled with "Sherratt" features. Also as 203.4 in the Addendum chapter in Volume 4.
25.71. Courtesy Bishop and Miller Auctioneers.
25.72. This plump little girl seated in a chair usually holds a dog, sometimes a cat. Very unusual to see her with a book. Courtesy Shulz Auctions.
25.73.

Figures Decorated with Underglaze Color or with Colored Glazes

Tittensor Figures

The reading figures below are impressed TITTENSOR on the reverse.  As you see, the bocage leaves are one-sided (i.e. each leaf has not been paired back-to-back with another in the conventional way.)  Interestingly, these eight-petalled bocage flowers are not found on any enamel-painted figures.

Tittensor also made this figure model (or, as best I know to date, only the model of the boy) decorated in enamel colors (see fig. 25.17). However, the enamel-painted figure has quite different bocage leaves and flowers. In the case of the enamel figure, the bocage flowers are twelve-petalled (six long petals and six short petals). I have recorded only two other enamel-painted Tittensor figures with bocages, and the bocages also have twelve-petalled flowers. This is a typical Dale flower! The marked Tittensor enamel figures exhibit other features suggestive of Dale---leading me to think that Dale may have acquired the Tittensor molds (complete with the Titensor name integral to them) and used the molds to make figures in the Dale style. Read more about Tittensor in volume 1.
Impressed TITTENSOR behind. Courtesy John Howard.
Previous male figure from the back.
Close-up of previous femal figure.
Another example of the reading maid, again impressed TITTENSOR. (c) Bonhams.

Other Figures 

antique Staffordshire pottery, Staffordshire figure, prattware, pratt ware, myrna schkolne
Courtesy Andrew Dando

Bronzed figures

Wood & Caldwell, Staffordshire figure, antique Staffordhsire, reading girl, Enoch Wood, Myrna Schkolne
Wood & Caldwell, Staffordshire figure, antique Staffordhsire, reading girl, Enoch Wood, Myrna Schkolne
Both of these figures are impressed with the Wood & Caldwell mark. Courtesy Ebay seller jayomms.
Comment
I think the paucity of reading figures decorated in anything other than enamel colors is very telling. By the time the great mass-reading/literacy movement had gained steam  in the first decades of the nineteenth century, enamels had become the standard decorating technique.


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