American Fireman

The American Fireman figure came in three sizes, from just over 4" to just under 9".  Often this figure was called a Canadian Fireman in the U.K., probably because it wasn't an English uniform so they guessed Canadian.  But recently a Currier and Ives print, dated 1858 and titled AMERICAN FIREMAN, was sold at Skinner (for $1100);  I think it's the source material for the figures.   Don't you agree?

EARLY 19TH CENTURY THEATRE IN ENGLAND - PAUL PRY

     PAUL PRY was a huge hit in London, three acts, opened in 1825 and ran more than 100 performances.  John Liston appeared as Paul Pry and Madame Vestris also acted and sang in the production.
     Liston wore Hessian boots, top hat and striped pants and his performance was so popular that his image appeared on snuff boxes, shops, signs and handkerchiefs !
     The two figures at the left are Lubin Log, another famous role for John Liston.

Left one is marked Salt for Ralph Salt, a very famous potter who did very few people figures.  That one is $800.  The middle one is $ 1100.

The large jug is titled Paul Pry, the little one not, $ 575 and 375, no repairs.

RETIRED SAILORS

This is a retired seaman with a peg leg who is living in the Royal Hospital, Greenwich, 8 inches tall,
c. 1854..

This is another retired seaman, a double amputee,  3 inches wide, and originally a box top.  This little figure shows that the pensioners still had to wear a uniform.   G.S.Charles while at Christie's London wrote that the hospital had strict rules and that all working sailors had sixpence/month deducted from their wages to support the Royal Hospital.
Did you know that the Royal Navy was always paid with gold?

You are looking at a painting by Sir Edwin Landseer showing the famous American lion tamer Isaac Van Amburgh coaxing the fierce and large lion to lie down with the lamb as the highlight of his London circus act. This performance was Queen Victoria's favorite and she often took her family to the London circus.

The potters did many circus figures because the posters served as wonderful source material, so here you see the VanAmburgh performance translated into pottery!  These seated lions are almost a foot tall and you can see the little lambs lying at the lions' feet.  Produced in the late 1840s the pair is $5995.

George Washington Bust

        This bust of George Washington is extremely rare, beautiful, dated, and almost 8 1/2 inches tall,

                      but the rear view may be even more interesting, which makes it such a neat piece:
                                       

                                    
                                  
All the information about the bust is right there, Enoch Wood the famous potter, perhaps the most famous of all, and the date 1818,  and below the American eagle in an adaption of the current seal of the USA (until 1841).