A rare, unusual and endearing little figure depicting a nun, simply decorated with gilt highlights.
This figure was probably intended as a candle snuffer and puts me in mind of a similarly themed pair of Staffordshire candle snuffers said to depict the missionaries Mother Hallahan and Père Moulaert. Whether this figure depicts Hallahan is uncertain.
It is nicely decorated and the gilt is in very good order give the figure’s age, with only some very light fading around the hood and negligible patches of fading elsewhere. The glaze is smooth and rich and the textures of the moulding rather crisp.
A Christie’s auction sticker (dated 7th September 1995) remains affixed to the inside of the figure. I have not been able to find a detailed catalogue of this sale to double-check this, so demur from stating with confidence that this provenance is confirmed. However, I can confirm that this figure was part of the Stephen Duckworth Collection (although he did not photograph it in his book, Victorian Staffordshire Pottery Religious Figures).
Reference: No reference found
Height: 3.5”
Date: c. 1850s
Provenance: The Stephen Duckworth Collection; purportedly Christie’s, sale date 7th September 1995
A rare, unusual and endearing little figure depicting a nun, simply decorated with gilt highlights.
This figure was probably intended as a candle snuffer and puts me in mind of a similarly themed pair of Staffordshire candle snuffers said to depict the missionaries Mother Hallahan and Père Moulaert. Whether this figure depicts Hallahan is uncertain.
It is nicely decorated and the gilt is in very good order give the figure’s age, with only some very light fading around the hood and negligible patches of fading elsewhere. The glaze is smooth and rich and the textures of the moulding rather crisp.
A Christie’s auction sticker (dated 7th September 1995) remains affixed to the inside of the figure. I have not been able to find a detailed catalogue of this sale to double-check this, so demur from stating with confidence that this provenance is confirmed. However, I can confirm that this figure was part of the Stephen Duckworth Collection (although he did not photograph it in his book, Victorian Staffordshire Pottery Religious Figures).
Reference: No reference found
Height: 3.5”
Date: c. 1850s
Provenance: The Stephen Duckworth Collection; purportedly Christie’s, sale date 7th September 1995
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