Staffordshire earthenware figureparrot

A fashion for modelling pottery birds and animals began around 1730. The Meissen factory, the first European porcelain manufacturer, produced exquisite porcelain sculptures for its royal patron, Augustus the Strong, ruler of Saxony. Augustus loved porcelain, and wanted life-size portrait sculptures of all the birds and animals in his private zoo. These were so difficult to make that only a few were ever produced, but other manufacturers soon copied the idea.

Meissen employed the best animal sculptors in Europe, and their work was very expensive. This Staffordshire earthenware parrot shows how the trend was adapted for a different market. It is made in a mould rather than hand-modelled, and simply decorated with splashed glazes. The result is a much cheaper object, which retains a lively character. It would have allowed a middle-class consumer to follow high fashion in a more modest way.