Derby Pair of Candle Stick Figures, Bagpiper and Lady with Lute, Rococo, Ca 1765

This is a beautiful pair of Derby figures called the "Garland Shepherds", made in about 1765. The pair is one of Derby's most famous figure pairs and it bears the catalogue number E2...

This is a wonderful pair of figures of Arlecchino and Columbina, made by the Bow Porcelain factory in about 1758. These figures formed part of a series of the Commedia dell'Arte, a very popular series of theatrical figures that served as decoration at the dinner table in the 18th Century. The Bow Porcelain Factory was one of the first potteries in Britain to make soft paste porcelain, and most probably the very first to use bone ash, which later got perfected by Josiah Spode to what is now the universally used "bone china". Bow was the main competitor of the Chelsea Porcelain Factory, but where Chelsea made very fine slipcast porcelain, Bow made a different soft paste porcelain that tended to be softer and could be pressed into moulds. Bow served a larger public generally at lower prices. The factory was only in operation between 1743 and 1774, after which the tradition got incorporated into some of the later famous potteries such as Worcester and Derby. These figures were used to adorn the dinner table when dessert was served; groups of figures served to express something about the host, the guests, or to direct the conversation. The Italian Commedia Dell'Arte, a comical form of masked theatre, was very popular in those days and Bow copied many figures of the German Meissen series that were brought out in the decades before. This pair dates from about 1758, which was at the height of Bow's ability to make beautiful figurines often copied from Chelsea or Meissen. The pair is modelled after a Meissen pair by Kaendler. The porcelain is translucent with a beautiful milky glaze - Bow was probably the first pottery using bone in its porcelain recipe. Arlecchino (Harlequin) is playing the bagpipes, dressed in an odd costume of mismatched chintz and playing cards and wearing a funny black trumpet...

These are a pair of Derby Porcelain "Mansion House" Dwarfs or "Grotesque Punches" both with incised model numbers and dating to the 19th century. Both figures, male and female are m...

Exceptional Meissen porcelain genre group: Young mother seated on a magnificent Louis XVI-style armchair, her left foot set down on a low stool, a boy lying on his stomach on her left thigh, his white shirt slipped up to reveal his bare buttocks, which the mother has probably just struck with the cane in her left hand, to her right a girl in a dress and hat decorated with feathers, clasping her mother's arm so that she can no longer strike the boy. The group is based on an oval pedestal with gold heightened frieze decoration on the sides. Particularly elaborate, detailed design and staffage. This model was based on drawings by Johann Eleazar Zeissig, known as 'Schenau' (1737-1806). Designed by JOHANN CARL SCHÖNHEIT (1730 - 1805) in 1788 started working as an apprentice in the Meissen factory in 1741 and has been in a responsible position since 1768. For more than 20 years, Schönheit was an employee of both J.J. Kändler as well as from M.V. Acier, who entered the Meissen factory in 1762. After Kändler's death in 1775, Schönheit was head of the model department until 1794. Design of the model in 1788 Manufactory: Meissen Germany Dating: made around 1840 Material: white porcelain, glossy finish Technique: handmade porcelain, finest hand painting Dimensions: height: 25,5 cm / 10.03 in width: 18,0 cm / 7.08 in depth: 16,0 cm / 6.29 in Marks: Blue Meissen crossed sword mark Model number: I 66 / former's number 35 / painter Da.. Bibliography: Thomas & Sabine Bergmann, Meissen Artist's - Figures / Erlangen Germany 2014, Model numbers A1 - Z99, page 31...