Tom King and Dick Turpin
This is a fine pair of Staffordshire figures of Tom King and Dick Turpin, probably originating from a theatrical production. Note the four separately moulded legs on each horse. Each figure stands about 12” tall and dates to approximately 1850.
King and Turpin, the infamous Highwaymen, lived in the early 1700s, but numerous theatrical plays in the mid 1800s dramatised their lives and brought these figures to life. Gordon Pugh shows the pair in the “Crime” section (pages 471 and 472) of his “Staffordshire Portrait Figures” book, and describes them as rare and attractive. In Harding Book One, Victorian Staffordshire Figures, page 264, the pair is described as “The finest pair of Turpin and King figures produced by the potteries”. Many Staffordshire figures of Turpin and King on horseback were made over a period of twenty years or so, thereby exemplifying the popularity of the story.
