(5) Vintage English Staffordshire Hand-Painted Porcelain Statues. Includes a woman pouring milk from a jug, a man wearing an apron, two musicians in a tree, a woman and pup resting near a drum, and a small church. 

Condition: Signs of repair on one piece. 

Largest Size: 4 3/4 x 2 x 8 1/4 in. 

The Staffordshire Potteries is an industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall, and Stoke (which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent) in Staffordshire, England. Fueled by the local availability of clay, salt, lead, and coal, North Staffordshire emerged as Britain’s largest ceramic production center by the late 18th Century. The region served as a major global innovator, pioneering decorating techniques like transfer printing and developing iconic ceramic bodies such as bone china and jasperware. A massive production boom was triggered in 1720 when potter John Astbury discovered that adding heated, ground flint powder to local reddish clay created a highly desirable creamware. While the industry relied heavily on child labor to sustain its massive 19th Century export market, business was further accelerated in the 1840s by the introduction of railway distribution, but economic and political upheaval throughout the next hundred years led to most of the potteries (including Aynsley, Burleigh, Doulton, Dudson, Heron Cross, Mintons, Moorcroft, Spode, Twyford, and more) to be consolidated into giants like Wedgwood by the 1960s, with manufacturing still operating to this day, but at a small fraction of its historical peak. 

Signs of repair on one piece. 

All items are sold AS IS. Lot and condition details are for descriptive purposes only. Sarasota Estate Auction is not responsible for errors and/or omissions of condition. The absence of a condition report does not imply that the lot is perfect or free from wear, flaws, or characteristics of age. Please bid according to your own expertise, or request any additional information and/or photographs you deem necessary.