A fabulous and beautifully composed figure made by the Alpha Factory depicting a woman sitting in a chair being embraced by a child who is standing on a table.
For many years, this figure was assumed to be Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal, and this is certainly possible. In later years, new theories have emerged. The Hardings, in their Second Addendum, speculate that this figure pairs with an Alpha Figure of a seated male (which is generally accepted to be Robert Burns, though the Hardings refute this), but this theory is highly improbable and the Burns identification is almost certainly correct. More recently, an Alpha Factory specialist has identified an 1852 work by George Baxter, printed by Le Blond & Co., titled Constancy which seems to have been the inspiration for this figure (the figure being a near-perfect mirror image of the print, and 1852 being a viable date for this figure, it being a later work of the Alpha Factory). This theory is highly compelling.
This exceptionally elegant and beautiful figure is offered in lovely repaired condition. A firing flaw on the left side of the woman’s neck has developed into a break which has been professionally repaired and the break filled and stabilised (leaving no texture to the crack or missing material). The result is unusually discreet but the neck has not been repainted. A thoroughly responsible and sympathetic repair with no effort to artificially conceal the imperfection. The rest of the figure is in superb condition.
Reference: A. & N. Harding, Victorian Staffordshire Figures 1835 - 1875: Book One, p. 180, fig. 550
Height: 7”
Date: c. 1852
A fabulous and beautifully composed figure made by the Alpha Factory depicting a woman sitting in a chair being embraced by a child who is standing on a table.
For many years, this figure was assumed to be Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal, and this is certainly possible. In later years, new theories have emerged. The Hardings, in their Second Addendum, speculate that this figure pairs with an Alpha Figure of a seated male (which is generally accepted to be Robert Burns, though the Hardings refute this), but this theory is highly improbable and the Burns identification is almost certainly correct. More recently, an Alpha Factory specialist has identified an 1852 work by George Baxter, printed by Le Blond & Co., titled Constancy which seems to have been the inspiration for this figure (the figure being a near-perfect mirror image of the print, and 1852 being a viable date for this figure, it being a later work of the Alpha Factory). This theory is highly compelling.
This exceptionally elegant and beautiful figure is offered in lovely repaired condition. A firing flaw on the left side of the woman’s neck has developed into a break which has been professionally repaired and the break filled and stabilised (leaving no texture to the crack or missing material). The result is unusually discreet but the neck has not been repainted. A thoroughly responsible and sympathetic repair with no effort to artificially conceal the imperfection. The rest of the figure is in superb condition.
Reference: A. & N. Harding, Victorian Staffordshire Figures 1835 - 1875: Book One, p. 180, fig. 550
Height: 7”
Date: c. 1852
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