Staffordshire Pottery Cats on Cushions, Pair of Lilac Recumbent Figures Circa 1820–1840

Details

Description

Staffordshire Pottery Cats on Cushions, Pair of Lilac Recumbent Figures
Circa 1820–1840

This pair of Staffordshire pottery cats is modeled … Read more Staffordshire Pottery Cats on Cushions, Pair of Lilac Recumbent Figures
Circa 1820–1840

This pair of Staffordshire pottery cats is modeled recumbent with the legs tucked beneath, each resting on a shaped rectangular cushion raised on four ball feet. Both figures are washed overall in an unusual lilac-purple derived from manganese and sponged with soft-edged black patches, the ears black-tipped, the faces painted with blue eyes, a dotted and whiskered muzzle and a fine puce collar at the throat. The white cushions are edged with a double puce line and the ball feet are picked out in puce. The figures are press-molded and hollow, the glazed undersides with a small vent hole, unmarked.

At 4¼ inches they are small enough for a mantel, a bookcase shelf or the top of a secretary, and read as a pair at close range without crowding a tablescape. The lilac-purple ground sets them apart from the white and sponged Staffordshire cats more usually seen, and the puce detailing picks up plum, aubergine and soft blue in a scheme without needing to match it exactly.

Dimensions

Height: 4¼ inches (10.8 cm)
Width: 4¼ inches (10.8 cm)
Depth: 3 inches (7.6 cm)

Provenance

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

Condition

Good.

References

Myrna Schkolne, Staffordshire Figures 1780 to 1840, Volume 3: Animals, Animal Performers, Dandies, and Murder, Schiffer, 2014.
Pat Halfpenny, English Earthenware Figures 1740–1840, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1991.

Historical Context

Small recumbent cats on cushion bases were made in the Staffordshire Potteries from the early 19th century as chimneypiece and cabinet ornaments, the cushion raised on ball feet being a form associated with the pearlware period.

Cats were made in far smaller numbers than dogs, and Myrna Schkolne accounts for the scarcity in terms of standing: distinct dog breeds were recognized by the early 1800s while cats were simply cats, still attached in places to superstition, and so an unpromising subject for potters selling to an aspiring middle-class market. The cat’s position as a household companion was not secure until later in the century, the first English cat show of 1871 marking the change. The manganese lilac-purple ground of this pair is a decidedly uncommon variant on the usual white and sponged grounds, and a true pair that has stayed together adds further to the appeal.

(Ref: NY11253-ircx) See less