This is a much harder piece of 19th century Staffordshire pottery.
It takes the form of a flatback spill vase which you would have put on your mantlepiece or in the kitchen and you would have popped long tapers or spills to light lamps and fires etc into.
It is a very large example with a height of 12 inches. The width is 8 1/2 inches and the depth is 3 3/4 inches. Unpacked it weighs a stonking 1.6 kg in weight.
It will certainly look quite dramatic in a country cottage or Regency / early Victorian interior. The figurine probably dates to around the 1860s.
Amazingly it is in excellent antique condition with no chips or cracks. It certainly displays well. I have had trouble finding other examples - but I do have another identical one in my store, see details of that below.
These spill vases are genuine antique Staffordshire issues - and most definitely not later reproductions. Like all my Staffordshire all genuine old ones.
This large spill vase is a fine rustic theme. At the bottom are three sheep standing at a well or trough - two standing at either side and a third one lying down in the front. From the center rises a bough which fans open to the top. The aperture for the spills is open and is orange inside; green leaves run around the exterior. There are two fat leafy tendrils to either side - and these meet up with the standing sheep - if you look closely - you can see two teeny weeny parrots perched on each side.
Such an eye-catching piece of Staffordshire - and given that I have another (not a pair, as my other one faces in an identical direction) - it is a rare opportunity to have one on each end of a country cottage mantlepiece or dresser.
My price reflects the rarity, size, and excellent condition of this model.