Antique Staffordshire Mossware Inkstand 1880-1900 - Ref. OR/13

Antique Staffordshire Mossware Inkstand 1880-1900 - Ref. Aug24

 

A typical early Staffordshire Mossware Inkstand depicting a gold highlighted bird tending to three speckled eggs. A green, black-banded snake is seen, slithering up the side intent on robbing the nest.
Quirky ornaments like this really appealed to the Victorian sense of humour, in fact, the more unusual the ornament was, the more they wanted it!  Mossware took it name from the colorful 'moss' effect which surrounded these objects, the moss often supporting small flowers and ferns. It looks like the 'moss' was attached to the object in small pieces, bit by bit.

Unfortunately, not in a pristine condition, the inkstand, at some point in its life must have been dropped. There is a restored crack through the inkstand, but it is not noticeable. The crack can be observed in the photo above on the right running across the base. The one pen-holder also shows some restoration work (see photo on left) but, again, is not very obvious. It appears that the restoration must have been done by a qualified restorer. It is interesting to note that the 'moss' effect seems to be undamaged.
Early Mossware will command rather high prices, and, although some later pieces were made in Germany, they do not hold the value of their English cousins. There is no 'makers mark' on this piece, adding to the possibility it was from the early 1880's rather than a later date. All in all, a very interesting piece!