~ 19th Century Victorian Staffordshire Pottery Figure of a Lady Fruit Seller, c.1850–1870 ~
A hand-painted Victorian Staffordshire pottery flatback figure of a standing lady fruit seller, modelled on a stepped circular base with gilt-line decoration. The figure is dressed in a voluminous white glazed dress with puffed sleeves and a draped bustle-style skirt, decorated with small hand-painted floral sprigs and bow ribbon motifs in pink, red, blue and green, with gilt highlights at the neckline and waist. She wears a white hat surmounted with moulded and painted fruit - cherries, green leaves and an orange/apricot - and has long auburn hair falling to her shoulders. She carries a yellow wicker-style basket of fruit and flowers in her left hand, and raises a small piece of fruit to her chest in her right. Blue shoes are just visible at the hemline. The reverse is largely undecorated, as is characteristic of the flatback tradition. A standard circular kiln vent hole is present mid-back — a normal production feature, not damage. The base is unglazed and unmarked, typical of Victorian Staffordshire cottage-ware figures of this class. Approximate height 22 cm (8.5 inches).
~ Historical Context ~
Female fruit and flower sellers were among the most popular and widely produced subjects in the Victorian Staffordshire figural tradition, reflecting the prominent role of market traders and street sellers in the daily life and visual culture of nineteenth-century Britain. Such figures were mass-produced by numerous small potteries across Stoke-on-Trent from the 1840s through to the end of the century, intended as affordable decorative objects for the mantelpiece of working and middle-class households.
The form of this figure — the elaborate draped skirt, stepped circular base, fruit-laden hat, and hand-painted floral sprigs with ribbon bows — is characteristic of the mid-Victorian Staffordshire production style associated with potteries working in the manner of Thomas Parr and similar Stoke-on-Trent concerns active in the 1850s and 1860s. The absence of any maker's mark is entirely expected: most Victorian Staffordshire figures remain unattributed, as the many factories responsible — including James Dudson, Thomas Parr, William Kent, and Alpha — are only partially identified, and most examples carry no maker's mark. The quality of the moulding and the generous application of hand-painted decoration place this piece in the better tier of mid-Victorian cottage-ware output.
~ Dimensions ~
The figurine has a height of 10.5 inches (26.7 cm), the base has a diameter of 3.5 inches (8.9 cm). It weighs 620 g.
It would date to around 1870.
~ Condition ~
A large crack/fracture runs prominently across the front and around the side of the stepped circular base, clearly visible in images 2, 3 and 5. The crack does not appear to have been repaired or filled. Another visible crack appeared in the front between the knee section.
The unglazed base shows hairline continuation of the crack, along with age-related dirt and grime around the foot rim.
Figure above the base: The figure itself presents well, with good colour retention across the hat fruit, floral sprig decoration, and gilt highlights. No chips, cracks, or repairs are visible to the figure itself .
Rear vent hole (Image 4): A circular kiln firing vent is present mid-back - a standard production feature, not damage.
Buyers are strongly encouraged to examine all images carefully before purchasing.
