Staffordshire figurines were popular in the 19th Century – and they were all the rage in the Victorian era.
They were never the finest quality and were often sold by travelling peddlers or at country fairs or local shops. They were very popular with the working classes who wanted a range of affordable ornaments for their sitting rooms. Many featured popular figures of their day – and the modellers often took images as their source from publications and newspapers such as the London Illustrated News.
One of the most popular figures – were pairs of dogs (in Scotland known as Wally Dugs – as they were often displayed right up against a wall). The dogs most often featured were King Charles Spaniels. They sold as pairs – with one dog being slightly taller than the other (being the male of a pair). They were most usually white or white with russet coloured or black patches. Dogs with little kiss curls on their forehead were made in imitation of Benjamin Disraeli and called Disraeli Dogs.
These black ones from Staffordshire / or Coalport, Shropshire tended to not be so popular and were not made in such great numbers: they are known as Jackfield Dogs – and made from red-coloured clay and decorated with a shiny black enamel glaze. With a Victorian obsession with carefully observed periods of mourning – these might have been put on display in a house where someone had passed away.
Jackfield Pottery was originally made in a ceramic workshop founded by Richard Thursfield in 1713. It was named after Jackfield, a town in Shropshire. The company made a type of red earthenware pottery with lustrous black lead glaze similar to Japanese black lacquer wares.
These dogs form a matching pair. They are in excellent condition and decorated all over with dull gold gilding to pick out details in the modelling. They were not designed with glass eyes – so this pair has the eyes merely outlined with gold paint – as originally made. There is lots of gilding on this pair as you can see in my photographs. Often the gilding is very sparse - after being worn away with years of handling.
Dimensions: Height 9 ½ inches. The width is 7 inches and the depth is 3 ¾ inches.
Unpacked they are 2 kg in weight.
These black Jackfield dogs are harder to source and this is reflected in my asking price.
These are available for posting to UK addresses only. They will be packed and sent with Parcelforce48. The price to post tracked, insured and signed for would be £10.