The Stockman collection contains what I have loosely termed Staffordshire and related ceramics – because I had to call it something – but it does also contain other ceramics also made in the Potteries.
Staffordshire pottery: a pearlware bough pot in the form of a lady's head - very Jane Austen don't you think?
Most striking is a pearlware bough pot in the form of a young ladies face that looks straight out of the pages of a Jane Austen novel and indeed was produced at the same time. Despite lacking a base and the pierced top (where the flower stems would have gone) she looks gorgeous with her crisp curly hair, ruby red lips and lacy bonnet.
Staffordshire Pottery: A beautifully decorated pearlware documentary jug for Edward Winser, Goodwin, 1805
There are also several documentary jugs – meaning those with a name, date and place – which are always popular, particularly with today’s fashion for genealogy. Despite my cursory research I still can’t track down a Maltese Cardinal called John Myatt and bizarrely why has he got snails on his coat of arms and what does that say about his family?
Styaffordshire Pottery: detail of a pearlware documentary jug for John Myatt,1804
