Staffordshire Animal Sculptures

This handsome mid-Victorian fellow features much detail with bold lines and subtle shading. He prances on a grassy mound in a left facing position and is a rare large size. Most Vic...

Pair of diminutive red Staffordshire Spaniels, circa 1860, Each one exceptionally painted with expressive faces.

Large Pair of Victorian Staffordshire Spaniel Dogs with Amber Glass Eyes, England, Circa 1860 This impressive pair of Victorian Staffordshire spaniel dogs embodies one of the most e...

Large 19th-Century Staffordshire Pottery Spaniels, 14.75" High, Exceptional Scale & Expression A striking and unusually large pair of Victorian Staffordshire pottery spaniels, d...

Pair of Diminutive Antique Staffordshire black & white seated Spaniels, C. 1860s England, Circa 1860s A good pair of antique black and white Staffordshire...

A fine rare vintage English Staffordshire Labrador Retriever hunting dog porcelain stirrup cup produced by Royale Stratford, in England, circa 1980. Acquired from a collector's estat...

An English porcelain Staffordshire dog decorative object sculpture, Victorian design period, circa late-19th century, England. What a chic dog w...

This charming antique Staffordshire porcelain figurine, dating to around 1860, depicts a puff dog—most likely a poodle—crafted with exceptional attention to detail. The figurine feat...

19th Century Staffordshire Unique Black & White Spaniel with Separated Foot England, Circa 1860s This distinctive 19th-century Staffordshire black-and-white spaniel figure, made in...

A classic example of Victorian Staffordshire, this charming lion would have been a prized decoration for a well appointed mantlepiece in the late 19th Century. The Lion is very fin...

Pair of Staffordshire Pottery porcellaneous figures which feature a lion and a lioness with her cub, recumbent on a shaped base. Green ground. Dull gilt embellishment. Decorated 'in ...

An exceptionally fine quality highly detailed and glazed quite rare Pair of standing English Porcelain Staffordshire Poodle Dogs modelled as Pen or Quill Holders, third quarter of th...

Staffordshire Pearlware bocage pack of red spaniel puppies or sheep- A rare whimsical grouping of three seated red and white animals under a tree on an oval naturalistic base.      

"Rural Idyll": Large Victorian Staffordshire Cow & Milkmaid Group, Circa 1860-80 A charming and sizable earthenware figure group, dating from the Victorian period (circa 1860–1880),...

A handsome pair of English Staffordshire pottery decorative animal sculptures, finely modeled and colored as lions with recumbent lambs. Decorated 'in the round' - decoration to fro...

Pair of late 19th century Victorian Staffordshire earthenware elephant sculptures/spill vases, England By: Staffordshire Material: pottery, earthenware, ceramic, enamel, clay, paint...

Pair of Victorian Staffordshire Pottery Seated Whippet Figures, Circa 1860 His charming pair of Victorian Staffordshire pottery models depicts seated whippets with elegant proportio...

This large Staffordshire spill vase features a proud stag with a fawn at its side, modeled in a naturalistic Victorian pastoral style. The deer are hand-painted in warm orange-brown...

Staffordshire, England, circa 1745 – 1760 This charming and unusual figure depicts a seated cat, its body marbled in tones of buff, grey, and warm brown, the patterns flowing like fur beneath a translucent salt glaze. From the crown of its head rises a small candleholder—an enchanting, functional variation that transforms the cat into a decorative light for the Georgian home. The salt-glazed surface has a gentle satin sheen, enlivened by a cobalt wash brushed across the ears and shoulders, a subtle touch of color that draws the eye. The figure is compact and beautifully balanced, exuding both humor and grace: a work of wit and craftsmanship meant to charm and amuse as much as to illuminate. As a pair, this cat with candleholder and its companion cat carrying a mouse form a dialogue of light and life—one playful, one practical—representing the Staffordshire potters’ genius for turning everyday subjects into artful curiosities. Attribution and Significance Within the history of English ceramics, agateware animals represent the marriage of experimentation and domestic charm. They were objects of conversation—proof of a potter’s technical mastery and a household’s refinement. This cat, with its delicate candleholder, captures that artistic playfulness and innovation. The glaze’s clarity, the elegant pose, and the subtle marbling make it not only an artifact of mid-18th-century Staffordshire but also a small masterpiece of whimsy and craft. Scholarly Analysis and Authentication The figure is made from laminated clays of contrasting colors, known as laid agate, a technique perfected in Staffordshire workshops during the 1740s and 1750s. Strata of buff, pale grey, and iron-bearing brown clay were rolled together, pressed into a two-part mold, and luted along the spine before firing. The cat’s body thus shows true through-body marbling: the veining continues through the thickness of the clay, not merely applied on the surface. The candle socket, made from a single buff clay rather than agate, was luted to the head before glazing. This practical choice prevented distortion during firing and was a typical workshop economy seen in other mid-18th-century functional animal forms. The piece was salt-glazed in a wood- or coal-fired kiln into which common salt was introduced near peak temperature. Sodium vapor combined with the silica of the clay to form a thin, glassy coating. Here, the glaze is smooth and even, suggesting the cat was fired within a protective sagger. The underside of the figure is open, revealing the pressed-clay interior. Two or three very small stilt contacts are visible on the bottom ledge, confirming that the figure rested on kiln props during firing rather than being supported from beneath a closed base. The cobalt wash was brushed under the glaze before firing. It fuses permanently into the surface, creating soft haloes of blue wholly consistent with decoration on salt-glazed figures from the Whieldon circle circa 1750-1760. Later 19th-century reproductions employ overpainted enamels that sit atop the glaze. The open underside, authentic stratified body, integrated socket, and original cobalt staining collectively identify this as a genuine product of Staffordshire’s mid-18th-century agateware tradition, most plausibly from the orbit of Thomas Whieldon at Fenton Vivian or a closely related potter. The measured height, modelling, and marbling correspond closely to examples in the Burnap Collection (nos.. 362–363, Nelson-Atkins Museum) and Sotheby’s (2015) — “A Staffordshire agateware cat-form candlestick, circa 1755. Provenance / Condition: Current Condition: Excellent, with one ear repaired at the tip and restoration at the top of the candleholder; the glaze remains bright and continuous across the body and socket. References: Burnap Collection, English Pottery 1675–1825, nos. 362–363. Sotheby’s (2015) — “A Staffordshire agateware cat-form candlestick, circa 1755. Christie’s, London 2010, lot 82. 1stDibs “Staffordshire Agateware Pottery Saltglaze Figure of a Cat,” item ref LU95812370442 Price: $3100 Chipstone Foundation, Marbled Agateware: Techniques and Identification, 2005. Henry Sandon, Staffordshire Pottery, 1970, pp. 52–54. John Howard Antiques, Antique Agateware...

Fine pair of English Staffordshire glazed ceramic spaniels featuring white bodies with remnants of gold decoration. Beautiful craquelure finish and fac...

Staffordshire Pottery porcellaneous figure which features a rabbit, recumbent on an oval base. Dull gilt embellishment. Decorated 'in the round' - decoration to front and reverse. Op...

Mid Century English Porcelain Staffordshire Ware Figure of A Hound, By William Kent C.1950 Earthenware, hand-painted with overglaze enamels A well ...