Sand and Beesums
The Victorian potter was good at making models of all kinds… royalty, politicians, criminals and animals, and also models depicting scenes of every day life. The figures entitled “Sand” and “Beesums” are just such models and show travelling salespeople who would probably go from town to town and village to village selling sand and beesums to the peasant or worker’s wife. Nearly all houses in Victorian times would have had hard floors of either earth, stone flags or wood. These floors may have been dressed with sawdust or straw. The floors got very dirty and soiled so the housewife would have scattered sand on the grimy surface to help abrase the dirt and then bush it away with a broom called a beesum.
More Figures of the month
George Washington and Zachary Taylor
This is a very rare pair of figures portraying George Washington and Zachary Taylor. They stand approximately 9” and 9.1″ tall, and date to approximately 1850.
Tam O’Shanter and John Gilpin
This is a very rare pair of figures portraying Tam O’Shanter and John Gilpin. They stand approximately 8.6″ and 9.0″ tall, and date to approximately 1845.
Edward Morgan and Jenny Jones
This is a rare pair of figures portraying Edward Morgan and Jenny Jones, titled with gilt script. The romantic tale of Morgan and Jones was set to music in 1825 by Charles James Mathews.
Field Marshal Fitzroy Raglan
This is a rare figure of Field Marshal Fitzroy Raglan. The figure stands about 12 1/4” tall and dates to about 1854.
Black and white spaniels
This is fine pair of #1 black and white Staffordshire spaniels. They have a raised number one on the underside, designating them as the largest in a series of six sizes, number six being the smallest.
Royal children seated
This is a very rare pair of Staffordshire figures representing the Princess Royal and the Prince of Wales, seated in chairs. Each figure is approximately 5” tall and dates to about 1845.
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