Antique Staffordshire Pottery Figurine; The Prince Of Wales (Future Edward VII).

Antique Staffordshire Portrait Of The Prince Of Wales (circa 1880) made in a low fire ceramic during the later part of Queen Victoria's reign. Here, the Prince of Wales is dressed in a military uniform wearing the garter sash and leaning on an ermine robed draped pillar with the Prince of Wales feathers at his feet.

The statuette has been hand painted in overglaze enamels and gilt (now worn) to highlight his face and aspects of his clothing.

This large and rare figure is in generally good condition with no observed chips or restoration. However, there has been extensive rubbing to the gilt highlights, script, and chipping of ceramic enamel paint throughout. Please inspect the photographs closely to assess the condition and quality of this figure. It measures approximately 16.5 inches tall by 6 inches wide by 5 inches deep.

Staffordshire figures like these were consistently made of a low fire soft pottery. In other words, they were prone to chipping, cracking, and crazing. There is crazing evident throughout the piece. However, I have looked the piece over for any chips, breaks, repairs, or restorations, and I have found nothing. Again, I don’t grade anything I sell due to the subjective nature of grading. Please make your own decisions about condition from the photos provided. From my perspective, these are typical honest condition issues consistent with factory production in 1860-80 and the effects of time, but you decide on your own.

A final note on condition: There have been many collectors of Staffordshire figures over the years, but how those collectors chose to display these statuettes differs. In the case at hand, this statuette was drilled at the bottom and made into a lamp at one time. The figure has been removed from its lamp, but a hole remains and some of the pottery that was drilled out still rattles around inside.