Rams Head Antiques

Description

This is a delightful 19th century Staffordshire figure of the tithe pig group. These colourful early pottery figure groups are quite a rare find today and this is a particularly charming example with nice detail.

In the early 19th century, the centuries-old practice of tithing, or giving 1/10 of your produce, to the church prevailed and it was very unpopular.

Tithing was contentious to say the least. The proceeds were used to support the Church of England, yet people of every religious bent had to pay it. Because tithes were primarily an agricultural tax, the economic output of merchants, manufacturers, and bankers escaped taxation. Gallows humor surfaced to deride this hated form of taxation. In 1751, Boitard engraved a humorous scene showing the farmer and his wife giving 1/10th of their produce to the parson and included was their tenth child. By 1765, Derby had mimicked this in a porcelain vignette, and by the early 1800s the Staffordshire potters were doing the same. This example dates from the early 19th century circa 1820. There has been some restoration to the bocage trees and the hands of the vicar apparently. The colours are bold and strong and the detail is particularly nice to the painted pigs, the sheaves of corn and the bowl of eggs at their feet.
The figure measures 17 cms wide 16 cms high by 7 cms deep.


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