October 5, 2013

CHURCHILLIANA: FINEST HOUR 102, SPRING 1999

BY DOUGLAS J. HALL

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“VERY WELL, ALONE.”

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In his speech in the House of Commons on 4 June 1940, referring to the “colossal military disaster” of Dunkirk, Winston Churchill said, “…we shall defend our island… if necessary alone…we shall fight on the beaches…we shall never surrender.” David Low drew, in the London Evening Standard, what was to become perhaps the best remembered Allied cartoon of World War II: a solitary steel-helmeted soldier standing on the seashore, waves breaking at his feet, looking skywards and shaking his fist at a swarm of approaching aircraft. The caption read, “Very well, alone.”

In 1990 the History in Porcelain Company, following the success of its earlier figure of Churchill on the doorstep of Number 10 Downing Street (see page opposite), commissioned Andrew Turner to model a special Churchill figure to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Mr. Turner, drawing inspiration from Churchill’s words and Low’s cartoon, portrayed his subject in siren suit and steel helmet standing arms akimbo on the foreshore at Dover, binoculars hanging around his neck and at his feet a tangle of barbed wire from the makeshift defences which by then festooned the beach to hinder a possibly imminent invasion. Churchill’s defiant posture and resolute expression, superbly represented by Turner’s 11 1/2-inch high, finely detailed figure, surely evokes David Low’s caption, “Very well, alone.”

The figure was originally offered in the UK at £575 ($930) in a limited edition of five hundred but unfortunately the Ashmor Fine China Company, which had been producing the History in Porcelain figures, went into liquidation after only twenty-one examples had been completed. The good news is that recently another high-class Worcester porcelain business, Albany Fine China, has acquired the fixed assets of Ashmor Fine China, including the moulds for many of the figures in the History Porcelain series. Albany Fine China is well established as a specialty producer of high quality bird and animal models but does not wish to become directly involved in the distinctly different venture of marketing historical figures. However, it is able to procure the part-time services of a highly skilled painter, formerly employed by Worcester Royal Porcelain and Ashmor Fine China, and can provide pottery facilities to enable a strictly limited number of this fine Churchill figure to be produced on a made-to-order basis. Delivery is normally three months after your order. However, since the manufacturer keeps a small stock against orders, you may receive one of these much more quickly if you order early.

Churchill Stores (contact information on page 2) offers this figure for $750, $180 less than its original list price. Please order through the Churchill Stores catalogue. As usual, all items sold by Churchill Stores are in support of The Churchill Center and Societies.

“SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, 10 DOWNING STREET, JUNE 4th 1940”

Such was the somewhat extended title of this largescale china figure, pictured in colour on the cover of Finest Hour 55. On 4 June 1940 the Dunkirk evacuation had just been completed. In the House of Commons the Prime Minister of three weeks standing declared, “We shall go on to the end,” in a peroration that will live as long as English is spoken.

In 1985, to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of VE-Day, David Porter, one-time Chairman of ICS (UK), commissioned the History in Porcelain Company to produce an 11 1/2-inch-tall figure of Churchill acknowledging the crowd gathered outside 10 Downing Street to see him leave for the House of Commons to make his historic speech. The figure was modelled by Andrew Turner and potted by Ashmor Fine China,
Worcester.

The detail is finely crafted and the hand-finished paintwork reputedly took 200 hours to apply, much of it requiring the artists to work with single-haired brushes. Churchill holds his right arm aloft to give his familiar Vsign. (I fear that is either something of an anachronism or, at best, a piece of artistic license—the Prime Minister did not “invent” his V-sign until August 1941.)

The facial detail is fastidiously painted but opinion was divided over whether Mr. Turner quite captured the Churchillian expression. Certainly he gave the figure rather less hair than his subject actually had in 1940 which, for some, resulted in an overly egg-headed appearance. Nevertheless, whilst the critics carped the enthusiasts flocked to reserve their copy of the figure.

The promotional literature announced a limited edition of 350 and there was later some controversy when production was extended to 375 examples “due to unprecedented demand.” Limited editions are normally regarded as sacrosanct. The controversy flared again when unnumbered examples started to be sold although the original edition had not sold out. That somewhat unethical practice was defended because the figures were being sold in aid of the Guinea Pig Club, a six hundred-strong association of severely burned airmen and air-raid victims who had been operated upon during World War II by the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald Mclndoe. Purists would argue, and did, that deserving charity or not, thou shalt not exceed thy declared limited edition. Later Albany Fine China acquired the assets of Ashmor Fine China and found that the records of the latter showed that only 200 figures had been produced.

The first figures were sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity” signed by Lady Soames, Lord Home (PPS to Neville Chamberlain 1937-40 and Prime Minister 1963-64), Sir John Colville and Lily Friend, a member of Churchill’s household staff. Price in the UK was £535. The figure, shipped and insured to the USA was priced at $1000, the sales benefitting ICS.

Few of the figures have been seen on the British secondary market. An example was auctioned by Phillips, London in 1991 making only £400. Another was included in a single lot, consisting of more than thirty items of Churchilliana, which was sold by Sotheby’s, London in 1996 for a total of £2070. That purchase, which included many sought-after pieces, represented a wonderful windfall for the lucky buyer but was hardly bountiful to the unfortunate seller. I have just one report of a sale in the United States: a 1993 catalogue included the figure at $1500.

In addition to the “Alone” figure shown opposite, Ronald Smith has also organised the production of “second editions” of “10 Downing Street” with both Ashmor and Albany backstamps as a Churchill Stores offer, at the same $875 as the “Alone” figure, inclusive of professional packing and insured airmail. Order from Churchill Stores (contact information on page 2). As with the “Alone” figure, a small stock is kept on hand against upcoming orders, so members may receive their copy sooner than the normal three-month lead time if they order promptly. 

 

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