What period is most antique terracotta from?

The nineteenth century dominates, with "19th" or a variant of it running through a good share of titles. Of the listings carrying a clean year, the largest single group is dated no more closely than the century itself. Early twentieth-century work is well represented, particularly the 1900s, 1920s and 1930s. The dated field as a whole runs 1700 to 1950, with a small group of ancient and tomb material catalogued only as before 1700.

Why are so many pieces sold as pairs?

Garden and architectural terracotta was made for symmetry: flanking a doorway, a gateway or a flight of steps. "Pair" is one of the commonest words in the titles on Sellingantiques. Lions, urns, busts and figures are the forms that recur in twos, and they account for much of the upper half of the range.

Are Staffordshire dogs really terracotta?

No, and the heading is a broad one. Staffordshire pottery dogs, Japanese Kutani and Sumida Gawa, ironstone, slipware, majolica and porcelain all appear under it. True terracotta, unglazed or part-glazed fired red and buff clay, still carries the category. The other ceramics are a visible minority, and their share is higher in current stock than in what has sold.

Which forms turn up most often?

Two groups split the field about evenly. Garden and vessel work covers urns, planters, pots, jars and jardinieres; modelled work covers figures, busts and sculpture. Animals form a branch of their own, with lions, dogs and pugs the commonest. Country and dairy vessels are a smaller group again: oil and confit jars, salters, tians, pancheons, forcers and crocks.

Is terracotta always unglazed?

Not always. Kitchen and dairy wares are often part-glazed inside, where the vessel had to hold oil, fat or milk, while the outside stays bare clay. Glazed and painted surfaces turn up across the category. Cold painting, applied over the fired surface rather than fired on as glaze, appears on busts and animal models.

How wide is the range of origins?

Wider than most ceramic categories on a British market. France leads the named origins by some distance, followed by Italy and Austria. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Nigeria, Peru, India, Cambodia and Persia each appear, with Nishapur and Khmer material among the least frequent.

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Antique Terracotta

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Fired red or buff clay, usually left unglazed, worked into garden urns and planters, dairy and kitchen vessels, and modelled busts, figures and animals.