A look at the design, market and legacy of Victorian pottery

Friday, February 17, 2012

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!


Animals have long been among the most popular subjects in majolica. When you get to wild animals the popularity --and price-- increase several fold. With the "Wizard of Oz" a staple of our culture, I thought it might be fun to illustrate the majolica denizens from this popular refrain.

So let's get started with lions.

Sarreguemines lion head pitcher

Mintons majolica lion

George Jones Africa compote

George Jones compote


Royal Worcester majolica lion

Schiller and Sons lion figure


Minton lion jardiniere 


French lion and salamander pitcher


Skey Medici lions


Next is tigers!

Eichwalt lion and tiger vases


Choisy le Roi tiger


Onnaing majolica jardiniere


Finally, let's look at bears.


Skey honey bear pitcher

Holdcroft majolica bear jug

Wardle majolica bear

Brown-Westhead Moore honey beat


Austrian majolica bear humidor

Continental majolica bear candlestick
Poet Laval bear pitcher

French bear pitcher


Lions and tigers, as you can see, aren't so rare in majolica. Prices for any of these pieces will be very high. Bears are somewhat more common but with so many collectors interested in bears as a cross collectable, the prices for them can be high as well.

So follow the yellow brick road down to you local antique shop and see what wild beasts you can hunt down!

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