Watch stand
Clocks were expensive and therefore only found in the homes of the better off in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. However, the master of the house generally had pocket watches and the Staffordshire potters were quick to latch onto a way of selling their wares by producing watch holders of all types. This is an early nineteenth century example with typical early decoration in prattware colours. The figures to the side of the clock are in classical dress which epitomises the fashion of the time.
The master of the house would return home in the evening from wherever he had been during the day, detach his watch from its Albert chain and place it in the watch stand so it gave the household a timepiece they could use during the time he was at home. This particular piece is interesting as it has two holes in the base so that the watch stand could be screwed to the overmantel or shelf where it stood, so it was secure and could not be accidentally be knocked over or broken.
More Figures of the month
A pair of pointers
This is a rare pair of Staffordshire foxhounds, pointers, or game dogs. Whatever one decides to call them, they are an unusual and very fine pair.
Reverand Edward Meyrick Goulburn
This is a rare Staffordshire figure of the Reverand Edward Goulburn, standing approximately 11 1/2” tall and dating to about 1860.
Richard Cobden
This is a rare Staffordshire figure of Richard Cobden, the English politician, economist, and leader of the effort to abolish the Corn Laws in 1846.
Rare pair of camel figures
This is a rare, mirror image pair of Staffordshire camel figures. They are generally believed to represent Lady Hester Stanhope and her personal physician and companion Dr. Charles Lewis Meryon, though this attribution is not certain.
Pair of standing lions
This is a fine pair of Staffordshire lions standing on coloured bases. Each lion is approximately 10” tall and dates to about 1860. These figures may be found in Harding’s Book Two, page 259.
Rare figure of Victorian card playing
At first glance, this may appear to be an ordinary arbour figure. But upon closer inspection, one can see these three people are engaged in a game of cards.
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