Staffordshire dog
The pairs of china dogs on the mantelpiece, made cheaply for working-class homes.
Spaniels with gold chains became fashionable after Queen Victoria’s own dog Dash. The Staffordshire potteries made them by the million. Examples are in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.
Materials: Earthenware with lead glaze, enamels and a little gold
Manufacture: Press-moulded in two halves in a simple mould; only the front was decorated, as the back faced the wall.
The flat, undecorated back – the figure was meant to be seen only from the front.
The dogs were made in mirror-image pairs, one for each side of the fireplace.