About this lot

Description

Robert Wallace Martin for the Martin Brothers, a rare and important pair of stoneware andirons,

modelled as grotesque amphibious creatures crouching on their hindlimbs and bound back to back by a blue band, glazed in shades of ochre and blue, each with incised marks to the decorative stepped plinth bases
each 24.5 x 26 x 14cm

Provenance:
Acquired by the present owner from a private American collection

For a similar pair, see Bonhams, 'Decorative Arts from 1860' 26th November 2013, Lot 3.

Footnote:

The present lot, a pair of unrecorded figural andirons, are amongst the most unusual pieces of Martinware to have been offered on the open market. Likely completed as a private commission during the mid-1870s, these scarce and curious objects foreshadow the inception of the iconic ‘Wally Bird’ design and demonstrate an early foray into the grotesque. Depicting quasi-human, semi-amphibious creatures crouching awkwardly and shackled together across the torso, the objects appear to satirise the human struggles of subjugation and exploitation.

Condition report:

The figures themselves with some firing imperfections as is typical of such things, the bases with some restoration, examined under UV light.

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