Lot Essay
Cf. Pat Halfpenny, English Earthenware Figures, 1740-1840 (Suffolk, 1991), p. 236, pl. 69 and p. 274, for examples of Wombwell's menagerie groups.
See also Reginald Haggar, Staffordshire Chimney Ornaments (London, 1955), for a discussion of Polito's menagerie, another travelling circus of the early nineteenth century. There are many similarities in the Polito and Wombwell table-base groups and it is suggested that after Polito's death in 1814, the potters adapted this model slightly to do service for Wombwell.
See also Reginald Haggar, Staffordshire Chimney Ornaments (London, 1955), for a discussion of Polito's menagerie, another travelling circus of the early nineteenth century. There are many similarities in the Polito and Wombwell table-base groups and it is suggested that after Polito's death in 1814, the potters adapted this model slightly to do service for Wombwell.