How do you clean dirt off unglazed biscuit porcelain?

Dust it with a soft brush first. Glazed porcelain can take a damp cloth, but biscuit absorbs moisture and holds onto grime. Some restorers use dry conservation sponges to lift surface dirt. You shouldn't soak an unglazed piece.

Why are some bronze bases hollow underneath?

Hollow casting saves expensive metal and reduces weight. Foundries poured molten bronze around a sand core, removing it after cooling.

I inherited a pair of painted ceramic figures holding baskets of fruit but they have some sort of hole in the top of the tree behind them, what was that for?

Those holes held spills or tapers. People kept tightly rolled paper or wood shavings in them to transfer a flame from the hearth to a candle. Mantelpieces were the obvious place to keep them dry. The figures disguised a practical household object as decoration.

When I pick up my metal statue it feels quite light for its size, but it is painted black to look like an expensive bronze piece from France.

You likely have a spelter figure. Spelter is a zinc alloy often used in the late nineteenth century. It casts well and takes a surface stain to imitate patinated bronze. Bronze feels cold and dense. Spelter feels lighter and warmer to the touch.

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Antique figures encompass sculpted forms in porcelain, bronze or wood, originally intended for mantlepieces and cabinets to signal a household's cultural awareness.

Large and Unusual Minton Majolica Figure of a Lady with a Jar by Albert Carrier 1873

19th century

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Large and Unusual Minton Majolica Figure of a Lady with a Jar by Albert Carrier 1873

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Large and Unusual Minton Majolica Figure of a Lady with a Jar by Albert Carrier 1873

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