Staffordshire dog figurine

The spaniels were seated in pairs, decorated with a gold chain and locket, and with a creamy white base coat. The Staffordshire spaniel was the quintessential Victorian bourgeois status-symbol ornament: no mantelpiece was complete without a pair of spaniels standing guard. Staffordshire dogs were also placed on the window sill. Staffordshire dogs are nowadays collector's items. Since the 1720s, spaniels had been produced by pottery factories in Staffordshire. The quality of the modeling and painting of the Staffordshire dogs may differ. As the popularity of the figurines increased towards the end of the 19th century, the quality began to decline. Thousands were manufactured but originals in good condition and in their correct pairs are now uncommon. The figures continued to be made until the 1920s and early models are of the better quality. However, reproductions were still being manufactured in 2009. The spaniels come in sizes from a little over a foot to a few inches high. They were all decorated by hand, which is why all figurines are different and unique. Spaniel figures continue to be made. In the United States, the 1952 Supreme Court case F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Contemporary Arts, Inc. concerned copyright infringement regarding the design for a cocker spaniel figure. Similar dog figures were made elsewhere - the early Staffordshire examples often imitated types they knew from Chinese export porcelain, and the Staffordshire types were exported to and eventually imitated by other English-speaking markets. But the mantelpiece pair as an iconic feature remained a British phenomenon. File:Dog MET DP-1174-027.jpg|Very early dog, c. 1745, salt-glazed stoneware, c. 8.5 inches tall File:Pair of Chinese dogs of Foo MET DP-12529-005.jpg|Early pair, c. 1750, copying Chinese figures. salt-glazed stoneware, c. 8.5 inches tall File:Staffordshire pottery creamware spaniel on cushion, circa 1780.jpg|Creamware, c. 1780 File:Dog figurine pen holders, Staffordshire, England, c. 1825-1840, glazed earthenware - Montreal Museum of Fine Arts - Montreal, Canada - DSC09321.jpg|Greyhound pen-holders, c. 1825-1840 File:Nantclwyd y Dre, Rhuthun, Sir Ddinbych 04.JPG|On a mantelpiece File:Staffordshire hond.tif File:Unusual recumbent Staffordshire spaniel figure, circa 1860.jpg|Less common recumbent figure, c. 1860 File:Figure (AM 1923.20-1).jpg|Before 1923, with gold chain. File:Dog Figure, 1741 (CH 18381739) (cropped).jpg|German Meissen porcelain dog, 1741 File:Spaniel, Rockingham Pottery, Bennington VT, 1850-1900, mold-cast stoneware with manganese mottled brown glaze - Krannert Art Museum, UIUC - DSC06649.jpg|American spaniel, Rockingham Pottery, Bennington, Vermont, 1850-1900 ==King Charles Spaniel==

, 1838 The Staffordshire spaniel is tied to the history of the King Charles Spaniel. These spaniels became great favourites of the British monarchs. King Charles I (1600–1649) had a spaniel as a young boy. Owing to Queen Victoria’s spaniel Dash (1830-40), however, the spaniel model enjoyed a surge in popularity in the 1840s which lasted through her reign. ==Common names==

, 1833, painting by George Hayter "Wally dugs" () have been mentioned in Scottish poetry, including "The Queen of Sheba" by Kathleen Jamie and in a poem describing life in a Glasgow tenement. There is a popular Scottish poem by an unknown author dedicated to "The Wally Dug". It reads: I aye mind o' that wee hoose that stood on the brae, Its lum was aye reekin', its roof made o' stray. The outside was bonny, the inside was snug, But whit I mind best o' was the wee wally dug. It stood in a corner, high up on the shelf, And keepit an ee on the best o' the delf. It was washed twice a year, frae its tail tae its lug, And pit back on the shelf, was the wee wally dug. When oor John got mairrit tae sweet Jeannie Blue, The auld folks they gied him a horse an' a coo, But when I left the hoose, ma hert gied a tug, For a' mither gied me was the wee wally dug. There's an auld saying, 'Ne'er look a gift horse in the moo', But I looked that wee dug frae its tail tae its broo' An' a fun' a wee slit at the back o' its lug, It was stuffed fu' o' notes, was the wee wally dug. I tain it hame tae oor Lizzle tae pit on a shelf, An' I telt her the worth o' that wee bit o' delf. An' we aye feed it yet through that hole in its lug, It's a guid bit o' stuff, is the wee wally dug. The figures are also referred to as “comforters”; this is reputed to be because they could be bought outside of premises selling alcohol by husbands hoping to gain “comfort rather than conflict” from their wives. Staffordshire dogs were described by writer Teleri Lloyd-Jones as "ornamental clichés" and depictions of the dogs have been incorporated in designs on bags and cushions. Enid Marx’s still life painting "Still life with Staffordshire Dog and tulips" was motivated by her white Staffordshire Wally Dug. Various examples of Staffordshire dog figurines were included in the Marx-Lambert collection, which was put on display at Compton Verney House in 2004. ==Victorian fairy tale==

There are various tales said to portray the usefulness of placing the Staffordshire spaniel figurines on window sills. One story is that a woman could place the ornaments in her front window; if the spaniels were turned back to back, it meant her husband was at home. If he was away or at sea, the dogs would be placed facing each other. When her lover passed the house, he would then know by the way the dogs were facing, whether it was safe for him to visit her without her husband knowing. This story is also re-capped in the Baltic. ==Notes==