Saint George and the dragon

The pot bank of Enoch Wood and James Caldwell made this splendidly painted figure of Saint George and the dragon some time between 1805 (when silver lustre was introduced commercially) and 1818 (when the Wood & Caldwell partnership dissolved). Wood & Caldwell made this figure in two sizes, this being the larger.
Jacobus de Voragine’s popular medieval book of hagiographies tells the story of Saint George and the dragon. A beautiful princess was to be sacrificed to an evil dragon, but Saint George, after making the sign of the cross, slayed the dragon with his lance — and it is in this pose that Saint George is traditionally shown.

More Figures of the month

Tam O’Shanter and Souter Johnny
This is a rare pair of early figures of Tam O’Shanter and Souter Johnny, characters in the Robert Burns play “Tam O’Shanter”, written in 1790.

A pair of giraffes
This is a fine pair of Staffordshire giraffes, seated below palm trees, each approximately 5 ½” tall. These figures are very rare, dating to approximately 1850.

Old Age
This is a fine pair of early Staffordshire figures portraying “Old Age”. They stand about 8 ¾” tall and date to about 1820.

A pair of pointers
This is a rare pair of Staffordshire foxhounds, pointers, or game dogs. Whatever one decides to call them, they are an unusual and very fine pair.

Reverand Edward Meyrick Goulburn
This is a rare Staffordshire figure of the Reverand Edward Goulburn, standing approximately 11 1/2” tall and dating to about 1860.

Richard Cobden
This is a rare Staffordshire figure of Richard Cobden, the English politician, economist, and leader of the effort to abolish the Corn Laws in 1846.
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