Antique Staffordshire Poodle, Likely Late 19th to Early 20th century, Gilt Collar & Padlock

A Staffordshire poodle from likely the late 1800s, made in the Potteries when nearly every English mantel held a pair of pottery dogs keeping watch. The coat is "coleslaw", wet clay pushed through a sieve to build up those curls by hand, one of the harder textures to get right and the reason these poodles have always been scarcer than their smooth-coated spaniel cousins. Gilt collar, small padlock at the throat, hand-painted eyes gone soft amber with age. The crazing across the glaze is the century showing itself, not a flaw.

He was made to sit at one end of a mantel and hold the room. He still does. Put him on a stack of old books beside a mirror, or let him stand alone on a shelf where the light can find the gilt.

One dog, sold singly. Some wear to the gilding consistent with age, noted honestly in the photos.