Performing bear group
Most performing bear groups have a little lion (in reality, a dog dressed in a costume and wig) in the foreground, but now and again there is a monkey instead, as seen in this group.
Notice the stiff leathery-looking bocage leaves, the long leaves on the base, and the distinctive flowers. These all confirm attribution to the unidentified pot bank dubbed “The Leather Leaf” pot bank.
More Figures of the month
Father Theobald Mathew
This is a very rare figure of Father Theobald Mathew administering the Temperance Pledge of abstinence.
French Soldier and English Sailor
This is a rare Crimean War figure of a French soldier and an English sailor, standing to either side of a gun emplacement.
Queen Victoria
This is a very rare, regal figure, possibly representing Queen Victoria at her coronation. It is unrecorded and no source painting has been located. It stands about 14” tall and, if it is Victoria at her coronation, would date to about 1838. If a pair to this figure ever surfaces, it would probably be Albert, […]
Ralph and Kate Nickleby
This is a very rare and fine pair of Staffordshire figures representing figures from Charles Dickens’ novel “Nicholas Nickleby”, published approximately 1838-39.
Sir William John Codrington
This is a rare figure of Sir William John Codrington. He was a British army officer who eventually became a general and then Commander in Chief of British forces in the Crimean War.
Tam O’Shanter and Souter Johnny
This is a rare pair of early figures of Tam O’Shanter and Souter Johnny, characters in the Robert Burns play “Tam O’Shanter”, written in 1790.
Membership
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