Special thanks to author, Veronica Moriarty, and The World of Antiques and Art in Australia magazine for granting us permission to reprint this very informative article.
Australia and Staffordshire Pottery Figures
By Veronica Moriarty
"No art with potters can compare
We make our pots of what we potters are."
Unknown Staffordshire potter, circa 1840.
Staffordshire figures, of the 19th Century are a remarkable social and historical indicator. They are ceramic time capsules that not only managed to reflect popular taste, but also recreated it with great verisimilitude. The link between the figurative subject matter and the potters of the region of West Staffordshire and 'popular culture': the celebrity, battlefield, music hall, sports field, circus, or rogues set for the executioner's gallows, has long been established and is now essentially a 'taken' in the field of Staffordshire scholarship. What has not been recognized, howevcrr, are the remarkable omissions in subject matter made by the potters. One of the most significant is an entire continent: Australia.
The art of the Stafforehire 'portrait' figure, an earthenware or porcelain facsimile of the famous or notorious, reached its peak during the Victorian era. These figures were intended to be immediately recognizable and where the skills of the modeller failed, the potters' comprehensive store of ceramic symbols was called into play. These devices relied heavily on the shared cultural knowledge of the viewers: anchors, canon and guns for military identities, feathers and crowns for monarchs, crosses or the religious, as well as a store of more esoteric 19th Century ciphers. Although the subject matter of these figures was wide enough in scope to include nimals and buildings as well as humans, it was not wide enough to reach be fond material of immediately British derivation and, consequently, saleability. Scratch hard enough at the surface of even the most exotic seeming group and an intensely British connection soon becomes evident. Figures were not based on whim or random selection of subject matter. The potters, as much as they were remarkable artists, were astute businessmen. If it wouldn't sell, it wasn't made, and to sell it had to have relevance to the English pottery buying public.
There was a large and enthusiastic pottery market in Britain. Industrialisation and urbanisation had seen the emergence of a new class structure in which the middle classes and moneyed working classes gained prominence. These aspirant groups were driven by the twin impulses for self and social betterment that characterised the Victorian era — achieved either through financial success, learning, or through the acquisition of the accoutrements that reflected such. These accoutremer is varied with the social and monetary status of the aspirant, but they all had one thing in common: they were intended to impress the viewer with the good-taste and sophistication of their owner. Staffordshire pottery figures were favourites. They were never intended for a poor working class market, for although they were more affordable alternatives to the likes of Chelsea and Derby porcelains, they were never cheap.
During the 'golden age' of the Staffordshire portrait figure, roughly 1840-1880, the United Kingdom had a population that rose from 27 million to nearly 38 million consumers, leaving little need to look beyond home shores to court export markets for products. There was, however, a strong demand for Staffordshire figures in the "colonies" as the aspirations and tastes of Victoria's era immigrated along with her settlers and set themselves firmly in the Antipodes. Stories of settlers nestling a much cherished Staffordshire figure in their belongings for a long and arduous sea journey may be romantic and charming, but the reality of the Staffordshire presence in Australia was much more mundane and commercial. Staffordshire figures were commercially exported to Australia from Britain as ships' manifests such as that lodged at the Port of Geelong for the "Larpent" reveal. "The Latent" sailed from London in 1849 with its cargo (according to the "Geelong Advertiser" of June 29 1849) of "immigrants", "household goods", "crates" and "cases of merchandise" that included Staffordshire figures.
Such was the popularity of imported ceramics that wharfage rates of 8 shillings were recorded in the 1854 "Port Phillip Commercial Directory" for "Chinaware, cask or case" "on landing". These rates far exceeded other wharfage charges for other imported goods owing to the extra care required in handling such fragile merchandise. Trade directories for Port Phillip, Melbourne and Geelong for the period 1853 to 1875 (clearly mirroring the peak of Staffordshire figure production) include listings for "China and Glass Importers" (ten in Melbourne 1875 alone), "China and Glass Warehouses" (three in Geelong in 1853) as well as 'General" and "Miscellaneous" retailers who prominently recorded "Chimney Ornaments" (the popular 19th Century name for Staffordshire figures) in their advertisements. F. A. Cox "London and Paris Fancy Repository Importers and Dealers in English and Foreign Fancy Goods" of Melbourne's Collins Street proudly offers "Chimney Ornaments" in their 1853 advertisement in the "Melbourne Commercial Directory". Like Cox many retailers listed Staffordshire "Chimney Ornaments" high amongst their stock. Staffordshire figures were in limited supply and immensely popular, their saleability guaranteed regardless of their subject matter.
The frequency and prominence of advertisements listing "Chimney Ornaments" in contemporary directories indicates that Staffordshire figures represented a lucrative import market, but with a population of only 170,000 in 1840 to just over 2 million in 1880 the potential for sales were insignificant when compared to the home market. The emergence of the moneyed 'under classes' that took place early in the 19th Century in England was delayed in Australia. It was not until after the gold rushes of the 1850s that we saw the emergence of significant numbers of what we now consider 'white collar' workers with disposable incomes that enabled them to purchase luxury items such as chimney ornaments.
The pottery sellers and exporters, known as "Charney" dealers, were well aware of the enthusiasm and lack of discrimination of the Australian market and sent what they had: figures that reflected English taste and English subject matter. To make figures that s supported uniquely Australian interests or subject matter would have appeared ludiirous to the potters. Making a figure was an expensive business — the production of a new figure would have required the services of a modeller (often not employed by small potteries or pot banks, but itinerants who sold their services as required), then a specialist mould-maker (again not employed by smaller potteries who bought moulds from larger factories or shared moulds with other small factories) even before a figure was cast. Saleability was a prerequisite and td invest such an amount of time on the production of a figure that would have been of little interest to the English public would have seemed financial suicide. Sales would have been good by 19th Century Australian standards, but miniscule by British.
'Nationalism' was a social phenomenon still not to emerge for some decades leaving Australian taste and cultural identity during the 19th Century essentially a mirror of that of England. Consequently any Staffordshire figures depicting subject matter related to Australia was accidental: depiction by association rather than by intent. Ironically it is the modern Australian collector who has placed value on Staffordshire figures possessing Australian associations, to the collector of the Victorian era these would have been of no more interest than any other figure whose form took their fancy. Despite this Anglo-centric world-vision there are a number of 'canonical' figures long recognized and cherished for their Australian associations, but there is also a body of figures that would have possessed more immediate relevance to the Victorian collector. Both these groups deserve investigation and acknowledgement for the role they inadvertently played in the establishment of a unique Australian national 'identity'.
The 'canonical' figure group is rich in history and all figures represent specific persons. These figures are all very rare and unlikely to be encountered outside institutional collections. Looking chronologically at Australian history the first figure to be of relevance must be that of Captain James Cook. This remarkable figure has been attributed to the mysterious "Alpha Factory', a pottery renowned for a number of distinctive porcelaineous portrait figures all dating from 1845-1851. The figure a Cook, based on a portrait by Nathaniel Dance, is modelled "in the round" (fully detailed both on the front and reverse of the figure, as opposed to the more common "flatback" figure intended for placement against a chimney). This remarkably rare and highly coloured figure required at least eight moulds, making it possibly the most complicated single figure modelled by the potters of Staffordshire and very expensive when made.
The second canonical figure is that of Elizabeth Fry, the English Quaker philanthropist and prison reformer. Fry, after visiting Newgate Prison in 1810 and on discovering the horrific conditions in which women and children, both tried and untried, were held, devoted her life to English prison reform and to founding hospitals and charities for the homeless. Fry also played a significant role in improving the conditins for female convicts bound for penal servitude in New South Wales. Fry equipped women convicts with kits containing, along with a
Bible and a comb, basic sewing requisites and patches of material from which they could make quilts while on their journey. It was Fry's idea that theses needleworks could be sold on arrival in the colony of New South Wales to provide the women with money. Fry provided female convicts with not only a means of spiritual salvation, personal tidiness, and financial support, but also a measure of dignity trough their acquisition of the skill of basic needlecraft — things that they would have been denied in their lives in Britain. There is one Staffordshire figure tentatively identified as Fry. The figure, again from the Alpha Factory, shows Fry seated with a small girl resting against her knees and holding a Bible. Like the fig are of Cook, it very rare, is modelled in the round and highly coloured.
Prison reform again draws an association with Australia though the figures of Lady Jane Franklin and her husband Sir John Franklin. Sir John entered the British Navy when he was fourteen years old, fought in the Battle of Trafalgar and spent his early years exploring the arctic coast of Canada. He was appointed Governor of Van Diemens Land 1834-1845. It was while there that Jane became deeply disturbed by the plight of female convicts in penal settlements and devoted much of he' life and wealth to improving the conditions in which women prisoners were held In 1845 Franklin resumed his explorations and disappeared while sailing in search of the North-West Passage. Lady Franklin financed five search parties to find him, but no word was received until 1854 when a boat containing the remains of his crew and a note stating that Sir John had died on June 11, 1847 were discovered. Lady Jane Franklin was herself a dedicated explorer having lead expeditions in Syria and the Tasmanian wilderness, and this passion, coupled with her backing of numerous expeditions of discovery, earned her the founder's medal from the Geographical Society in 1860. Yet again the Alpha Factory takes credit for a strikingly accurate portrait figure of Franklin and a less accurate figure of Lady Jane. The figure of Franklin is based on an engraving from the 'Illustrated News" of 1851. giving the figures a very precise date. Both figures are modelled in the round, well decorated and exceptionally rare.
Born in County Clara in Ireland William Smith O'Brien, parliamentarian and campaigner for the improvement of poor relief and education in Ireland earned for himself an unfortunate place in the list of canonical Australian figures: as a convict. O'Brien joined O'Connell's Repeal League in 1843 and in 1848 led an abortive uprising against British rule. He was charged with treason and transported to the penal settlement of Tasmania where he was held on Maria Island. Due to gooc behaviour and a promise never to return to Ireland O'Brien was released in 1854 and received a full pardon in 1856 after which time he returned to Britain. O'Brien captured the potters' imagination because of his "criminality" (the act aal insurrection took part in a cabbage patch!) and the romance of both his sentence and his relationship with his loving, loyal and long-suffering wife Lucy, with whom his portrait figure is frequently paired. Well-modelled and well-cecorated figures include titled "O'BRIEN" and "MRS. O'BRIEN" depict the couple seated, O'Brien in chains. Needless to say these figures are incredibly difficult for the collector to obtain.
Prince Alfred, then Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria, born 1844, holds an unfortunate association with Australia. Not only was he the first royal visitor to Australian shores during his world tour on the ship "HMS Galatea", but he was also victim of the first assassination attempt in Australia. In 1868, while picnicking in gardens in the Sydney suburb of Clontaf he was shot by Henry James O'Farrell, recently released from a mental asylum. The fact that O'Farrell was Irish stirred up much racial and religious bigotry that came to a head with a meeting of over 20,000 people in Sydney to voice outrage at the attempt on the Prince's life. Public sentiment was running hot and, despite the best efforts of the Prince to intervene on the part of his would-be assassin to have his life spared, O'Farrell was sentenced and hanged within days of his crime. The "miscreant" was claimed in the media to be involved in a campaign for Irish independence, but in actuality had suffered a long history of mental illness. The Prince's': compassion saw his popularity grow with each visit he made while on tour in the colony and culminated in the collection of public subscriptions to finance the establishment of Sydney's "Royal Prince Alfred Hospital" to celebrate his recovery. No figures of the adult Prince Alfred are known, although there are a number of figures, most significantly those by Thomas Parr, dating from 1858 commemorate the Prince's passing his examination as a naval cadet.
The fifth canonical figure is that of the Australian bushranger Frank Gardiner. This figure was never intended to represent an accurate likeness of the bushranger, as it is actually a flatback figure of the English highwayman Tom King. It an attempt to cash in on public interest generated by numerous mentions of Gardiner's exploits in the British press a savvy potter, likely to have been Sampson Smith, substituted the gilt-scripted title "FRANK GARDINER" for the figure's usual title. Frank Gardiner's real name was Francis Christie and he was born in 1830 in Scotland and arrived in Australia in 1834. In 1861 after many a brush with the law over horse and cattle stealing he took to bushranging and formed the gang that included Ben Hall and soon became feared on the roads around Lambing Flat, Vass and Gundagai. In June 1862 the gang held up a gold escort and escaped with a haul of £12,000. After the heist Gardiner vanished, but several men were a-rested, including Ben Hall. Eventually Gardiner was traced to a small town in Queensland where he was running a store under an assumed name and was captured, tried and sentenced to thirty-two years hard labour. After eight years in prison he was released for his good conduct and on condition that he left the color y. He became the proprietor of a hotel in San Francisco and lived, apparently crime-free, until his death in 1895. It is likely this figure dates to July 1874 when Gardiner's premature release created visions of an empire teeming with freed cut-throats and caused international outcry and frenzied attention from the media. These re-titled figures are found in a number of different sizes and a re very rare.
A butcher from Waggad Waggad draws to a close the list of canonical 'Australian' Staffordshire figures. Arthur Orton, also known as "Tom Castro", who became infamous as the "Tichborne Claimant", was a curiosity of the time that saw massive coverage in the British press. The English Lady Tichborne, widow of the tenth baronet, was convinced that she recognized Orton as her eldest son (believed to have been lost at sea) and persuaded Orton, who had immigrated to Australia, to return to England. In 1871, she supported him in an attempt to dispossess 'his' younger brother in a bid for the baronetcy. The potters, most likely Sampson Smith, immediately produced figure depicting an immensely rotund Mr. Orton. Orton lost the 103-day legal battle when perjury was established and he was sentenced to fourteen years of hard labour. Released in 1884 he confessed his imposture and was seized upon by a sleazy impresario and ended up as a sideshow 'attraction'. He died penniless in 1895. Figures of "THE CLAIMANT", like all those with obvious Australian associations, are incredibly rare.
POSSIBLE START FOR PART II
There is another body of Staffordshire figures possessing Australian links, albeit more subtle. In truth these figures more accurately represent what was important in the life of Australians of the era. These'non-cannonical' figures are drawn from the theatre, milmilitary conflict and the work of religious and charitable organizations. Theatre was a rich source of inspiration for Staffordshire figures and a strong presencep in early Australian society. As early as 1826 "The Australian" newspaper reported that although Sydney lacked a theatre it did not lack "amatures" (sic) eager to take part in performances should an appropriate venue become available. Despite the lodgement of an "Anti-Theatre" petition in 1827-28 and denial of a theatre license until 1832 the entrepreneurial Barnett Levey staged what her euphoniously described as "At Homes", first in his own private residence and then in the Royal Hotel in Sydney.
Levey picked upon a polite English tradition of salon entertainment, but soon found the impositions placed on him by that form of entertainment too limited and in 1825 opened the "Emu Plains Theatre" six miles from Sydney with a retinue of convict players. Levey persisted with his attempts to operate a theatre in Sydney proper and was rewarded with his theatre license being granted in 1832 by the new governor, Governor Bourke who was more sympathetic to Levey's cause, on the condition he would not include any convicts as players in his productions. Losing no time Levey refurbished an old hotel and opened "Sydney's Theatre Royal". The "Victoria Theatre" opened soon after in competition and hosted the first production of Shakespeare in Australia. "Romeo and Juliet" featuring Conrad Knowles, reviewed n the "Australian" as a rival for MacReady, and Miss Winstanley, then "Othello", "Hamlet", Richard Ill" and "A Winter's Tale" featured prominently in the first few seasons, as did the ballet "Giselle" and the opera "La Cenerentola" (Cinderella). Surprisingly Australian and British theatres of this period offered their public a fairly standard range of productions: what was
staged in the colonies replicated what was being performed in the 'old country' where the potters had captured all these theatrics. Australians, like their British counterparts, immediately recognized Hamlet, Florizel, Lady Mac Beth, Romeo and Juliet, drew gasps of admiration for a pirouetting Giselle and felt their hearts go a-flutter as Cinderella rode on to stage in her magical pumpkin coach and eagerly seized these attractive and relevant theatrical figures to decorate their homes and display their sophistication.
War was, sadly, another experience shared between the Australian and British public and the subject matter of the Staffordshire figure. Australia's first overseas conflict came with the Crimean War in 1854. Although the country did not send troops as a nation a small contingent of volunteers, including one James Moriarty, volunteered for service in support of England and, as described in a public meeting in Sydney on May 22 1854, "in defense (sic) of the great principles of nations I independence and general civilization ... justice and humanity". Very reminiscent of contemporary conflicts one brave priest, Father J. Lang, spoke out against Australian involvement in the conflict, questioning the role of a "puny colony ... isolated from the rest of the world" in a war of questionable morality played out over strategically located territories by superpowers: Russia and Britain.
The people, the politicians and the potters ignored the good fa' her and the great "Russian Panic" hit Australia. According to the contemporary mmedia hordes of "Russian barbarians" stood poised to invade an Australia recently made rich by the discovery of gold. Visions of Russian ships haunted seaports and armed installations sprang up along the East coast of Australia from Cape York to Tasmania. Even the attempted suicide of a drunk in Melbourne when he heard the explosion of some crackers because he believe the "Russians" had invaded and imprisoned him, caused mass hysteria. Detachments of brave volunteers armed with whatever came to hand headed to the seafront only to find no invading army.
One of the legacies of the Crimean War included a host of street, suburb and town names: Nightingale, Malakoff, Sebastopol, Alma, Inkerman, Raglan, St. Arnaud, Balaclava are a few of the "nominal" legacies of the war. Another legacy was the realisation 'hat Australia was no longer able to maintain its isolationist position and saw it taken into the war in the Sudan. A self-funded group of volunteer infantry and artillery left Melbourne to offer General Gordon relief during the 1885, on y on their arrival to discover that the siege of Khartoum had ended. They returned to Melbourne without participating in battle.
The harsh reality of war was first seen with the South African Boer War when over 16,000 Australian men and more than sixty women join with British forces from 1899 to 1902 against the Dutch-Afrikaner Boer settlers in a battle over disputed colonial possessions. Australians served in this long and bitter guerrilla conflict mainly in mounted units, highly valued for their ability to "shoot and ride". It was the first conflict in which all ix states participated and the first war in which Australian nurses saw service It was an unpopular war witnessing as it did the execution of Boer civilians, the curt-martial and execution of Lieutenants Morant and Handcock and the grievous causalities caused in combat and through disease, but even as such it received the attention of the public and, consequently, the potters.
War was welcome fodder for newspapers and subject matter for popular art and music, the theatre and literature. Since there was not a year of Victoria's reign that a solider or sailor of the Empire was not fighting somewhere on the globe it was likely that every family in the Empire had either a member, or knew someone, involved in military conflict. The potters of Staffordshire capitalized on this enforced patriotism by producing figures depicting military luminaries and common soldiers: they provided the public with sources of both solace and pride through pottery depications of their heroes and loved ones.
Not only was colonial Australia intensely patriotic to the cause of Empire and keenly aware of international conflicts through ever more sophisticated and improved communication with Britain, it also had loved ones tied to these conflicts. It was a bond of blood in as many instances as much as it was one of curiosity. Staffordshire figures inspired by the Crimean conflict were particularly popular and found their way to Australian hearths: Florence Nightingale, Generals Havelock and Napier, the forts of Sebastopol and Malakoff, unnamed but intensely patriotic soldiers and sailors were heroes to the Australians of the 1850s.
Even children grieving for a lost father drew the astute eye of the potter and sentimental purse of the public. These figures represented heroes to whom Australians owed their lives and liberty and to whom they paid tribute through the acquisition of their likenesses represented in Staffordshire figures. Throughout the 19 th Century 'War' continued as a theme for the potters: General Gordon, Baden-Powell, Kitchener and figures depicting the brokerage of peace between a Britain and the Boers'figured' amongst later military representations, continuing to accurately mirror Australia's involvement in military conflict. This group of figures was more than a set of vague players from history, they possessed relevance for their Australian owners: they were life as it was lived, or in some cases, lost.
Religion had always provided a rich field of inspiration for the Staffordshire potters, and one that saw the creation of a group of figures of particular relevance to Australia. Scores of madonnas, saints, Biblical vignettes and evangelists were imported into the country, but it was a smaller group of far less ostentatious figures depicting a humble group of players that made vital contributions to the development of Australian society. The Sisters of Charity and the Dominican Sisters, the Salvation Army, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul all played a vital part in the development of the Australian welfare system and were all represented as Staffordshire pottery figures.
The Sisters of Charity first arrived in Australia in Sydney from Ireland in 1838 and established St Mary's, Parramatta, the first convent in Australia from where the small community attempted to improve conditions among the poor and the women convicts of he "Female Factory". Since two of the sisters were trained nurses not only did they bring spiritual sustenance, but also practical help to the sick and destitute. 11 1867 a group of seven Dominican Sisters from Ireland, established under the leadership of Mother Agnes M. Bourke, joined the congregation of Maitland and set to ministering to the needs of the poor and sick and to the rather radical work of educating girls! The sisters continued the work of pioneers like Sister Margaret Hallahan of Longton in North Staffordshire who in the 1840s had open ad schools for the poor, including a night school for those girls who had to work long hours in the potteries. As with the Sisters of Charity Sister Hallahan and her band were potted in tribute by the very poor, ill and illiterate whose suffering they sought to alleviate and these rare small figures depicting unidentified sisters in poses of prayerful repose were eagerly collected in Britain and Australia by those who had prospered from their work.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in France in 1833 with objectives that included "the relief of the destitute", the poor and sick, prisoners, homeless and children. From France the charitable work of the Society had extended to Britain and particularly the Potteries. By 1854 it had reached Australia where Father Gerald Ward established the first branch of the Society in Melbourne. Documents from 1854 not only list donors to the Society, but also record the 179 cases "relieved" that year through charitable work. Since Father Ward was based in Williamstown the welfare of convicts held in deplorable conditions in prison hulks moored off Gellibrand Point Lighthouse also came under the Society's care. The establishment of the Emerald Hill Orphanage (now South Melbourne) in 1855 for homeless children was an early achievement of the Society under Father Ward. Sadly in 1856, worn out from exhaustion and penniless, Father Ward died.
Like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul the Salvation Army provided physical and spiritual sustenance and succour for early Australians. From 1880 the Salvation Army, founded in 1865 in Whitechapel by William Booth a former Methodist minister, worked for the poor. John Gore, one of the founders of tf e Salvation Army in Australia, delivered the first meeting from the back of a greengrocer's cart in Adelaide: "If there's a man here who hasn't had a square meal oday, let him come home to tea with me" prompted Gore during the meeting nd set a tradition of care that has remained for over a century. Both the Salvation Army and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul made religion more accessible to the whole community in times when the 'Church' marginalized the poor and working classes. The societies' concerns were not only spiritual: to them "religion" was only part of a much broader social obligation. To feed, shelter, heal, educate and provide hospice made these pioneers of the modern welfare system heroes to the recipients of their good works and to the communities in which they functioned. The potters paid tribute to both: a large and handsome figure of St Vincent de Paul and a number of portrait busts of William Booth were created and collected both in Australia and Britain in recognition of the o-ganisations and their work.
Allied to the religions organisations of the 19thCentury were Temperance and Abstinence Unions and "Friendly Societies". These societies played vital roles in the provision of welfare services both in Britain and Australia in a time before government services were available. One such organization was the "Band of Hope". The name o' this abstinence movement aimed at children and founded in Leeds in 1847, was according to popular folklore, derived from a speech delivered by the founder of the movement a devout Christian Irishwoman Mrs. Ann Jane Carlile: "What a happy Band these children make, they are the Hope for the future" — hence "Band of Hope". Within fifty years of its foundation the organization had reached more than 10% of the population of Britain and delivered over 10,000 weekly meetings worldwide focusing on providing activities that encouraged the population to avoid alcohol. By 1849 the group had established a presence in Australia and held regular meetings and Sunday Schools classes that included magic lantern shows (the state of the art entertainment technology of the time), the distribution of uplifting Christian literature and the "Signing of the Pledge".
The "Pledge" was a promise not to drink alcohol and during the 19th Century millions, including thousands of young Australians, signed up. From 1859 "The Australian Home Companion and Band of Hope Journal" was a propaganda tool ingeniously used by the organisation that featured the works by popular local writers and poets and helpful domestic hints as well as war sings as to the dangers of alcohol. Such was the strength of temperance movements in Australia that in 1875 the Dean of Melbourne decried that the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden must have been the grape!" and the South Australian branch of the "Band of Hope" and "Total Abstinence League" offered a prize of the sobering sum of 100 pounds for the best essay proving the worthlessness of wine - the prize was won by a clergyman.
The "Independent Order of Good Templars" was another temperance union that had a strong presence in colonial Australia. The IOGT, as it became known, was founded in Utica New York in 1851 and mentions of its presence in Australia may be found as early as 1874. The object of the group was worldwide abolition through publicising he advantages of temperance and to help divert the funds that would otherwise have been spent on alcohol to other and more socially beneficial ends. By the 1880s the IOGT had joined forces with the multitudinous "Women's Temperance" unions within Australia making it a powerful and influential group that exerted a great influence not only Australian social and political policy, but became one of the major forces driving Australian Federation.
The temperance and abstinence movement had seen its beginnings in England in the 1830s as an outgrowth of the Evangelical Revival of the 18th Century and had profound effects on the social and moral lives of millions. particularly members of the wo-king classes. Staffordshire potters acknowledged the influence of these groups through a number of figures, the most striking being a very large group of the "BAND OF HOPE" that depicts a beautiful young woman shielding a small cY ild from a serpent — the physical embodiment of the demon drink. A number of smaller, but equally attractive figures of jubilant children bearing the banners of the organization also graced Australian homes. Figures of "Good Templars' variously depict three dignified officials of the Order seated around a table covered with a cloth bearing the initials "IOGT" and a trio of young women and children bedecked with floral garlands standing above the legend "GOOD TEMPLARS". Sobriety had a beautiful face. These very attractive figures found their ways into homes in Australia where they held pride-of-place as physical embodiments of their owner's abstinence and virtue.
All these 'non-canncnical' figures represent the reality of colonial life in Australia with a remarkable veracity, but it was accidental. Should the potters of North Staffordshire have wanted to deliberately capture Australian subject matter there was plenty of note and far more sensational in the British press. Eager to support the AbolitionDist cause the potters created a series of anti-slavery figures, but the Anti-Transporstation league was completely ignored despite regular and passionate features in newspapers such as the "Times" decrying for over two decades the evils of the convict system and calling for its end. Humanitarianism knew strict boundaries: those of commercial success. Slaves were of interest to a high-minded British pottery buying public, Australian convicts were not, for who wanted to be reminded of miscreants who were not only a product of their own society's failure, but possibly even their own past or kin?
Australia's own attempt at revolution, the Eureka Rebellion, made the British press: the "Times" running numerous reports in 1855 over several months of the "rioters", their apprehension and trial. Italian insurrections of the like of Garibaldi were cast as heroes (and Staffordshire figures), while Australia's own 'revolutionary'. Peter Lalor, was ignored. Similarly the details Burke and Wills and their disastrous expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria received media attention in Britain throughout 1861 and 1862, but they were ignored in favour of British adventurers the likes of Lord Franklin. Even Ned Kelly, who almost made it to page one of the "Times" with storties of his exploits, capture, trial and execution, was ignored by the potters throughout 1880. Perhaps the potters' most astonishing omission was the Australian cold rush. Their ability to avert their eyes from the decades of wealth that followed the first official discovery of gold in Australia in 1851 and the subsequent migration of a very substantial percentage of the British population to join the rush is the ultimate revelation of the potters' economic and figural xenophobia.
Colonial Australians were very much British at heart and collected Staffordshire figures with accordingly, when a figure that related to their antipodean lives came within reach they responded with enthusiasm, but with no more than would have been awarded to any attractive figure. It is therefore ironic that these figures with their association by accident helped provide colonial Australians with a sense of identity. Albeit man / figures supported an anglophile self-image, but there were those that reinforced, almost subversively, an increasingly accurate representation of Australian society. Today these 'clandestine' colonials should be held in the same esteem and, if there be justice in collecting, sought with the same dedication as their 'canonical' compatriots. Both these groups of figures deserve recognition not only for their artistry and their age, but also for the contributions they have made to the development of Australian identity: small ceramic mirrors that reflected back the 19th Century colonial identity — antecedently and actually. Staffordshire figures, too paraphrase that unknown 19th Century potter, were indeed the stuff of which we Australians were made.
"Staffordshire Pottery: A Figural History 1740-1900" by Adele Kenny and Veronica Moriarty and published by Schiffer Publications is due for release in September 2003.
