www.Staffordshire.org Search

Welcome to our searchable Gallery of Staffordshire figures. We offer four ways to view over 1000 figures: Quick Links, Simple Search, Keywords Search and Advanced Search. After searching be sure to click on the resulting thumbnail images to see the Detail View which contains a larger image and more information. Below the search forms are search tips and a detailed explanation of how the Gallery works. Note: If you have photos of Staffordshire figures you would like to post in our Gallery please see our Easy Posting Guide. It's free.

Quick Links

Browse the entire Gallery
(in groups of approx. 100):

Note: We endeavor—to the best of our knowledge—to post photos only of pieces circa 1790 - 1900, except where we label them clearly as "late" (post 1900), "questionable", or "reproduction". However, it is often difficult to make a determination of authenticity without seeing and handling a piece firsthand. Furthermore, such attribution is often debatable even then, so we cannot function as an all knowing vetting team. Thus, we allow the submitter of a photo to be the judge of the age and authenticity of a particular piece. If you have questions about a particular piece please start a forum discussion.

Keywords Search
Search by drop down menu Keywords, i.e. cat, dog, "For Sale", Sold, boy, man, cottage, castle, etc. Each Keyword listed has at least one match in the Gallery. The listed Keywords provide an extensive sampling of the types of figures in the Gallery and provide hints for narrowing down Advanced Searches using the Keywords field.

Advanced Search

	Select a field:	Select a comparison type:	Enter your search term:
Select "and/or" below:

The fields are:
Keywords: Keywords are extremely helpful in locating a decorative piece without a recognized title. The Keywords field is the general purpose field that includes hundreds of descriptive catagories matched to figures in the Gallery. All keyword and custom fields associated with an image are displayed when the Detail View is shown by clicking on a thumbnail in the search results. To get a sense of how Keywords are assigned view a sampling of images in Detail View.

Figure Title: The title of a piece if one exists or a short description of the subject of the piece, e.g. "Washington" or "Woman with Flowers and Dog". When the Figure Title is written on the piece itself, it will be displayed in all capitals, e.g. "WASHINGTON".

Figure Height: The height of the piece in inches.

Harding Book #: The A & N Harding "Staffordshire" book number if any.

Harding Photo #: The A & N Harding "Staffordshire" photograph number, if any.

Collection: The owner, collection, dealer or auction house from which the piece/image originates.

Type: The specialized function of the piece, if any, e.g., tobacco jar, spill vase, pipe, watch holder.

More on the Keywords field:
People in Staffordshire pieces are keyworded as follows:

Man
Men: 1
Men: 2 ect
Woman
Women: 1
Women: 2 ect
Boy
Boys: 1
Boys: 2 ect
Girl
Girls: 1
Girls: 2 ect

Often the difference between a girl and a woman or boy and man is hard to define so both keywords are used. Keywords such as infant and child are also used. In order to find a piece with 2 men and 1 woman use the following keywords in an Advanced Search:

Men: 2
Woman with the operator and

This search will return all pieces with 2 men and 1 woman in the piece

The keyword animal is used for any piece containing one or more animals. A keyword is also provided for the type of animal such as bird, dog, cat, tiger, etc. The type of bird and sometimes the breed of dog such as eagle, chicken, poodle, ect is used.

A search on animal will return all images of pieces with any animal. A search on goat will return all pieces with one or more goats. A search on cat will return pieces with one or more cats. A search on poodle will only return pieces with at least one poodle. Dogs are also described with keywords "dog:2" dogs: 3 etc.

The major subjects in a piece are also keyworded: Examples are harp, rifle, sword, pedestal.

Building is the keyword for all structures. When appropriate, additional keywords are used for building type e.g. castle, church, cottage.

In order to differentiate building pieces the number of doors, chimney and towers are entered as keyword in the form "doors: 2"

Thus, to search for a specific piece with 2 doors, the keyword entry "doors: 2" will return all pieces with 2 doors. The search can be refined by using a second keyword such as "towers: 2" and the operator "and". This search will return pieces with 2 doors and 2 towers.

In addition, many other descriptive terms are included in the keyword for an image. See the Catagory Search drop down menu for an extensive listing of valid keywords.

Some of these include:
The name of the person in the piece.
Name of the author or play.
Occupation e.g. fisherman, soldier, sailor
Character of piece e.g. pastoral, classical, royalty, musical.
The title physically on the piece is displayed completely in capital letters and is listed as a keyword.
The keyword Early for pieces prior to the 1840’s.
The maker is also used as a keyword e.g. Sherrat.

Please let us know if you would like further information on making Advanced Searches.

Please see our User Agreement for further details about materials posted on this site.