Second World War Bovey Pottery Fireman, 1943
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Height: 19cm (7.5in)
Unglazed utility ware porcelain. Standing figure with stereotypical moustache and hands on hips in Tin Hat and battledress barking orders. Marked ‘Our Gang / Copyright / ARP’ to the bottom of the right foot and ‘The / Bovey Pottery / Devon / England’ to the underside of the left. It is an anomaly that this figures bears the ‘ARP’ backstamp.
‘Our Gang’, in which Churchill headed a cast of characters, was a series of ceramic figures by the Bovey Pottery, Devon. The figures were the result of a collaboration between sculptor Gwynneth Cobden Holt (1909-1995) and architect and historian Fenton Wyness (1903-1974) who became a consultant for the Bovey Pottery in 1940.
The cast of characters eventually extended to seventeen figures, representing the Allied war effort and comprised the big three, Churchill - ‘The Boss’, Roosevelt and Stalin, together with other characters representing various aspects of the allied war effort in the characters of Aussie, Nurse, Warden, Land Girl, WAAF, New Zealander, Tommy, Highlander, Sergeant, Airman, Captain, Sailor and Home Guard. The master figures were made by sculptor Gwynneth Cobden Holt (1909-1995) (best known for her work in Essex churches and as the wife of the artist Thomas Huxley-Jones) from designs by the architect and historian Fenton Wyness (1903-1974) who became a consultant for Bovey Pottery, Devon in 1940.