A few nice china molds make maker images I found:
FOR SALE: Original North Light Cob
Image by appaIoosa
Model # P1162 – red roan
Size: 7"H x 8"L
original mold, produced by North Light.
Identifying marks & logos:
Inside hind leg: "© NL 93", plus " MADE IN UK "
"Cob" is a British term for a "cobby" (translation = stout & compact build) horse of undetermined breeding. The Cob is a type rather than a breed. A short-legged horse exceeding 148cms (58 inches or 14.2 hands) with a maximum height of 155cms (61 inches or 15.1 hands). The Cob has bone and substance with quality and is capable of carrying a substantial weight. Cobs should have sensible heads, (sometimes roman nosed), a full generous eye, shapely neck crested on the top, with a hogged mane and well defined wither. The Cob should also have clean, strong hocks and all the attributes of a good hunter.
|||****************************|||
North Light model horse figurines are made of a porcelain and resin composition, which allow for the extensive mold detailing (some with individual hair detailing, braided manes & tails, etc) that is very evident in the finish. The figurines are finished in a studio where they are airbrushed with the body color and shading required for the particular breed piece. Next comes the hand detailing , which can be extensive, depending on the horses’ color pattern. Pinto and appaloosa patterns require extensive hand work, and vary greatly from horse to horse. Facial features also receive hand detailing, with expressive, lifelike eyes which have a final gloss application to make them look moist and realistic. Touches of pink are added to muzzles. Nostrils are darkened inside to add depth.
With this degree of hand detailing, each model horse will vary slightly.
North Light is a company located in Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The area is famous for its potteries and figurines, including the well known Wedgwood, Beswick and Royal Doulton brands. In 2005, the North Light factory was sold – including all existing North Light molds – to the company: WADE CERAMICS LTD (yes, the same company that made those little whimsy figurines found in red rose tea boxes years ago). Wade repackaged the existing North Light horses under their new trademark and resold them within the Wade division as "North Light @ Wade" horses.
Directly from Wade Co. website, verbatim:
———————————–
Contributed by Carol Atrak
Monday, 18 July 2005
We have pleasure in announcing that Wade has purchased certain assets from Dennis Doyle of the North Light resin figurine range. North Light, which will trade as a division within Wade as "North Light @ Wade", is famous for its range of dogs, farm animals, horses and wildlife figurines. They are manufactured in resin and hand painted. The "Classic Dog and Horse Ranges" are finished in marble, china blue, bronze, Monet and other effects to grace the sideboards and coffee tables of the World’s finest homes.
Managing Director, Paul Farmer said, "North Light @ Wade" will bring a new dimension to Wade’s figurine capability and Wade’s mechanisms for online purchases of its ceramic products will be adapted to cater for North Light products too. We are also looking forward to improving our ceramic hand painting techniques which come with the North Light asset purchase."
Artists, Guy Pocock and Anne Godfrey, have been retained to continue modelling new lines and Clare Beswick, from that famous family of figurine makers which bears her name, has been appointed Sales and Product Manager for North Light @ Wade.
The manufacture has been moved from Biddulph to a separate resin area within Wade’s Royal Victoria Pottery in Burslem.
In 2008, Wade announced they would no longer produce the North Light @Wade horses (and dogs) at the factory (in the UK). Instead they decided to release a new line: "North Light @ Wade Premier Collection" (consisting of 17 horses and 22 dogs) – to be produced in China. Many of the existing NL horses you see being sold on eBay (and elsewhere) today, bear the "made in China" sticker, along with the NL backstamp.
In 2009, Wade ceased production altogether on all existing North Light models . Today, North Light horses are no longer being produced, sold or marketed by Wade Ceramics, making these horses highly sought after, valuable and rare.
I have no idea what the Wade Co. decided to do with all the existing North Light horses. Some say they sold the existing molds to a company in China.
If your North Light horse has the "©North Light Made in the UK" backstamp, you have a very rare & valuable collectible indeed!
The Greek Slave, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Fujifilm.
Image by scotbot
Minton’s version of the Greek Slave was first produced in 1848. It is made of Parian, Minton’s name for statuary porcelain, which alludes to the white marble from the Greek isle, Paros. The figure copied a marble statue first exhibited in London in 1845 and now in Raby Castle, Durham. A marble replica, now in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC, was shown at the Great Exhibition. It stood against a red plush backdrop in the main avenue of the Crystal Palace and was much admired, despite ambivalent Victorian attitudes to displayed nudity.
Materials & Making
At the Exhibition of 1851, Minton’s trade name, Parian was in general use for all vitrified unglazed bone china, even though rival companies had invented their own names for the material. Each part of a figure was made in a separate mould. The smooth appearance of the finished figure was admired as much for its technical skill as for its aesthetic qualities. Minton produced over 500 Parian figures between 1845 and 1910.
People
The American sculptor, Hiram Powers (1805-1873) was the son of a Vermont farmer who was fortunate to receive help from a patron to move to Florence in 1837, where he established his reputation.
Subjects Depicted
Hiram Powers’ Greek Slave depicts a Greek woman exposed for sale at a Turkish bazaar. It alludes to the Greek War of Independence (1821-1832) but was also topical as slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833, while it was still prevalent in many American states. Minton later produced further slave figures, including an American Slave in 1862.
Date
1862 (made)
Artist/maker
Powers, Hiram, born 1805 – died 1873 (after, sculptor)
Minton, Hollins & Co. (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Parian porcelain
Dimensions
Height: 35.4 cm, Width: 11.3 cm, Depth: 9.9 cm
Object history note
Made by Minton & Co., Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Descriptive line
The Greek slave
Labels and date
British Galleries:
The full-scale marble sculpture of ‘The Greek Slave’, carved by the American sculptor Hiram Powers (1805-1873) in 1843, was one of the most popular exhibits at the Crystal Palace in 1851. This is a small scale version made in Parian porcelain. The invention of a machine in 1844 which could reduce sculptural works in scale meant that Parian replicas could be produced with a high degree of accuracy. [27/03/2003]
Production Note
Mould dated 1848; this example made in 1862