Bloor Derby (Attributed) | Shepherd Boy with a Posy | Bocage Porcelain Figure | c.1820–1840
A boy in his best pink coat stops beside a tree stump to smell the flowers he has picked.
Derby was one of England’s leading porcelain factories from the mid-18th century. Robert Bloor took over the works in 1811, and the factory continued under his name until its closure in 1848. Figures of this period often continued earlier Derby models, painted in strong enamel colours with gilt highlights, and many stand against a “bocage” – a backdrop of tree stump and applied leaves and flowers. This figure’s modelling, enamel palette and construction are consistent with figures made during the Bloor Derby period, although the surviving factory mark is too worn to confirm the attribution.
The boy stands beside a tree stump, holding a small posy to his face in his raised right hand, his left hand at his chest. He wears a yellow cocked hat trimmed with gilt rosettes, a pink coat with gilt buttons, a white waistcoat sprigged with red and blue flowers and finished with a yellow frill, and white breeches striped in red and gilt; white stockings end in black shoes with gilt garters and pink rosettes. Two gilt straps cross his back, carrying a yellow gourd flask on one side and a cobalt-blue pouch on the other. Turquoise leaves are applied to the stump, and small orange, yellow and blue flowers grow at his feet on a grassy mound. The round base has a white plinth with a gilt band.
The underside bears a worn red mark, now illegible, a painted red 9 and faint incised characters. It also carries an old label from C. Haritakis Antiques, 33 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg, reading “Guaranteed Genuine”.
Fair antique condition, with losses and restoration. The applied leaves on the stump have chips, and two branch ends are broken, exposing the white porcelain. The posy in his raised right hand has lost most of its flowers. There are chips along the upper edge of the hat brim, and the left hand has been restored. The face, body and costume remain intact, with strong surviving colour. The principal areas of damage are illustrated in the photographs.
Key Details
- Maker: attributed to Bloor Derby
- Subject: shepherd boy with a posy, before a bocage tree stump
- Material: porcelain, painted in enamel colours and gilt
- Marks: worn red mark (illegible); painted red 9; faint incised characters
- Provenance: label of C. Haritakis Antiques, 33 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg
- Period: c.1820–1840
- Dimensions: height 17 cm
- Weight: 281 g
- Condition: fair; chips to the applied leaves; two branch ends broken; posy largely lost; chips to the hat brim; left hand restored; figure intact with strong colour
- Buyer profile: collectors of early English porcelain figures, and anyone looking for a period figure with presence
Collector Appeal
Bloor-period Derby figures are a well-established field of English porcelain collecting. This one keeps its colour and the detail of its costume, from the sprigged waistcoat to the striped breeches, and it shows well from the front despite the losses to its applied work. The old Johannesburg dealer’s label adds a South African chapter to its history.
The leaves around him have suffered more than the boy; he is still holding his flowers.
