Regency Staffordshire Pearlware Widow of Zarephath with Child by Patriotic Group for Sale

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Regency Staffordshire Pearlware Widow of Zarephath with Child by Patriotic Group For Sale

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Regency Staffordshire Pearlware Widow of Zarephath with Child by Patriotic Group:
$95.00

Following Boettger’s 1709 discovery of the formula for porcelain, the King of Saxony established his Meissen factory, which almost immediately began to make beautiful figures in porcelain. In the British Isles, however, porcelain production lagged until mid-century when Bow, Worcester and Bristol began a modest output. These firms made a much smaller number of porcelain figures, reflecting metropolitan and international styles, which were carefully modeled and painted, but also cost a great deal.

Staffordshire potters settled for the larger mass-market which could only afford cheaper pearlware figures. Within their total output during 1780-1900, it is estimated that Staffordshire produced over 200 religious images or those with a Biblical theme. A popular Old Testament story, concerned events in the life of the Prophet Elijah.

The complete Elijah story (See 1 Kings 17&18) was a particular favorite of evangelist, John Wesley (1703-1791). To Wesley, the essence of Elijah was that he brought his people back to God. This is what Elijah did, this is what John the Baptist did, turning the people back to God, preparing the way of the Lord. Wesley was trying to accomplish the same thing in his “Great Awakening,” through his emotional and personal type of preaching: to bring people back to God in the Age of Enlightenment.

The Staffordshire potters were mainly Non-Conformist in their religious views and were especially moved by Wesley. In fact they made 18 Staffordshire versions of him and his brother from Victoria\'s reign alone. It is no wonder that the potters chose to make figures drawn from the Elijah story, and they made a matching pair: Elijah in the Wilderness Fed by Ravens and our example of the Widow of Zarephath and her Son.

This c. 1815 10 1/4 inch tall Staffordshire pearlware press molded figure of The Widow and her Son, modeled in the round (not a flatback), is seated on a stump. It would have required multiple molds to make this fairly complex figure. This is an early example of a “bocage” figure (from the French meaning “pasture land”) that mimicked leafy tree forms encrusted with small florets that technically supported the figure from collapse in the kiln. One branch of bocage emerges behind the Widow while the second has been capped and painted over at the potting stage. In this example, the florets are not separately painted. The Bible states at 1 Kings 17:8-16 that “the LORD said to Elijah, ‘Go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay there. There is a widow there that I commanded to take care of you.’ So Elijah went to Zarephath. He went to the town gate and saw a woman there gathering wood for a fire. She was a widow.” Originally, the figure may well have been holding sticks in her right hand while assisting her Son hold sticks in his right hand. The Widow has a jug (probably for water but possibly for cooking oil) between her legs and a cask of flour by her right side. These containers are almost empty and make up the last of her food. She tells Elijah that there is only enough for one more meal, and that then she and her boy will starve to death. Elijah asked her to go home and use her small remaining amount of flour and oil to cook him some bread. He told her “For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty,’”and it was so and the widow and her son ate for many days.

The vibrant blues, browns and greens on this piece differentiate it from the earlier “Pratt” pieces which only had simple underglaze colors. In this 1815 time period, the Staffordshire pot banks began to usea more extensive palette of enamel colors which they applied over the glaze. Ceramic scholars have long tried to identify the anonymous potters who produced these figures. Ms. Pat Halfpenny, a noted scholar and writer, has suggested that the color palette and decorative style can be used as an important identifier of specific makers. On these criteria, she has classified a particular group of figures as having similar color and design characteristics and has suggested that they were all made by the same very talented maker whom she called the “Patriotic Group” pot bank. It is possible that this piece could be classified as belonging to this group especially by the swirling half moon loops on the Widow’s cloak and dress which are also found on some confirmed pieces. More work clearly needs to be done in this regard.

This is a wonderful and beautiful early Staffordshire figure, with defects for sure, but whose study will greatly repay the collector and whose presence on a table or side board will really generate interest and conversation. A reference to this specific image can be found in Myrna Schkolne’s book, “Staffordshire Figures, 1780 to 1840, volume 2, page 173.