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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 1913 



Old cottage figures of Staffordshire ware 



that many varieties of the same subject were put on the 

 market. Sir Walter Gibney, a noted English collector, 

 grew so interested in these cat and dog pieces that he added 

 two hundred of the spotted variety to his collection. 



In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the white 

 and colored figures which were made at Staffordshire be- 

 came very popular. Conspicuous in every country inn was 

 the "Bear Jug." These represented a large brown bear 

 ornamented with collar, muzzle and chain, seated on his 

 haunches. His head, which formed the cup, was removable. 

 So popular did this line of design become 

 that many others took up the art, each 

 one producing new ideas. Wedgewood's 

 designs were very much admired. One 

 of his favorites represented a lion with 

 forepaws* resting on a globe, being de- 

 signed after the model of the lion of the 

 Loggia de Lanzi at Florence. 



A new feature in cottage figures was 

 introduced during the eighteenth and 



early part of the nineteenth century. Busts (many of 

 them caricatures), representing Shakespeare, Milton and 

 many other distinguished men, were put upon the market. 

 John Wesley chanced to visit Staffordshire about this time, 

 and busts of this noted preacher became very popular. 

 Then Wedgewood entered the field with his very finely 

 modeled pieces. 



Staffordshire jugs and vases, while predominating sub- 

 jects were not the only pieces that we find. Many of the 

 smaller cottage ornaments were made for use. Pepper 

 boxes, salt-shakers, inkstands and like 

 objects of utility came into vogue. One, 

 a very interesting pepper box, depicted a 

 country lad dressed in red trousers, blue 

 coat, yellow vest and hat. In the top of 

 the last were punched tiny holes. The 

 very usefulness of these little figures 

 made them much sought after, which ac- 

 ! counts for the number of them, and some 

 collections had as many as four thousand. 



Old Staffordshire cottage figures. The central one, representing Benjamin Franklin, is especially interesting from the fact that it was inscribed 



"Geo. Washington" through the ignorance of the workman, as this illustration shows 



