Pair of Staffordshire Pottery Seated Calico Cats

Details

Description

Pair of Staffordshire Pottery Seated Calico Cats
Circa 1850–1870

Each cat is modeled seated on its haunches with its tail … Read more Pair of Staffordshire Pottery Seated Calico Cats
Circa 1850–1870

Each cat is modeled seated on its haunches with its tail curled forward around the base, the pair in mirror image. The white-glazed bodies are sponged overall in black and ochre in imitation of a calico or tortoiseshell coat, the mottling carried over the head and around a black patch at the muzzle, with painted faces with orange eyes and arched black brows, whiskers in black, and gray paws with black claws. Each wears an ochre collar with a round pendant at the throat. The figures are press-molded and hollow, seated directly without bases, the recessed glazed undersides with a small vent hole, unmarked.

Dimensions

Height: 5¾ inches (14.6 cm)
Width: 3½ inches (8.9 cm)
Depth: 2¾ inches (7 cm)

Provenance

Pennsylvania private collection
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge, Inc.

Condition

Good

Historical Context

Sponged and spattered decoration of this kind was the Staffordshire painters’ shorthand for the calico and tortoiseshell cats of the Victorian household, applied freehand so that no two figures are mottled alike. Cats were produced in far smaller numbers than the ubiquitous comforter spaniels, and a comparable pair of seated cats with black and ochre decoration of the mid-19th century is recorded in the trade.

(Ref: NY11254-iirc) See less