A fabulous, quality early Staffordshire figure depicting Souter Johnnie drinking, as told in the Robert Burns poem Tam o’ Shanter.
Decorated in the round, Johnnie wears a deep green jacket with heavy gilt buttons, trim and lapels, a brown apron, a spotted cravat, blue trousers, white gilt-trimmed socks, black shoes with gilt buckles, and a yellow gilt-trimmed hat. He holds an ale jug in his right hand. He sits on a well-painted brown chair with gilt highlights. The base is beautifully decorated in pink faux marble with a thick gilt band.
This really is a fantastic and superbly decorated piece, perfectly representing the quality and simple elegance of figures of the ‘transitional’ period when ‘early’ Staffordshire designs gave way to Victorian styles.
There is a hairline crack - possibly a manufacturing flaw - across the knuckles of Johnnie’s left hand. Some of the gilt - which has been liberally, indeed heavily, applied - has faded in places but, generally speaking, it has survived unusually well. There is a very small firing flaw on the back of the chair near the back of Johnnie’s left shoulder. There is a very small nibble on the bottom of the bae near Johnnie’s right foot.
An Oliver-Sutton Antiques sticker remains on the base for provenance purposes.
Height: 5.25”
Date: c. 1835
Provenance: Stock of Oliver-Sutton Antiques
To request more information or to arrange overseas shipping, please contact us on sales@rowancottageantiques.com
A fabulous, quality early Staffordshire figure depicting Souter Johnnie drinking, as told in the Robert Burns poem Tam o’ Shanter.
Decorated in the round, Johnnie wears a deep green jacket with heavy gilt buttons, trim and lapels, a brown apron, a spotted cravat, blue trousers, white gilt-trimmed socks, black shoes with gilt buckles, and a yellow gilt-trimmed hat. He holds an ale jug in his right hand. He sits on a well-painted brown chair with gilt highlights. The base is beautifully decorated in pink faux marble with a thick gilt band.
This really is a fantastic and superbly decorated piece, perfectly representing the quality and simple elegance of figures of the ‘transitional’ period when ‘early’ Staffordshire designs gave way to Victorian styles.
There is a hairline crack - possibly a manufacturing flaw - across the knuckles of Johnnie’s left hand. Some of the gilt - which has been liberally, indeed heavily, applied - has faded in places but, generally speaking, it has survived unusually well. There is a very small firing flaw on the back of the chair near the back of Johnnie’s left shoulder. There is a very small nibble on the bottom of the bae near Johnnie’s right foot.
An Oliver-Sutton Antiques sticker remains on the base for provenance purposes.
Height: 5.25”
Date: c. 1835
Provenance: Stock of Oliver-Sutton Antiques
To request more information or to arrange overseas shipping, please contact us on sales@rowancottageantiques.com
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