May 7, 2013

CHURCHILLIANA: FINEST HOUR 146, SPRING 2010

BY DOUGLAS HALL

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All collectors are asked about their favourite piece of Churchilliana—a difficult question. From a vast assemblage, how can we single out a single winner? I usually reply in the words of Thomas Gray—”A fav’rite has no friend!”—and invite my questioner to follow Kipling’s counsel: “Each to his choice.” A wide assortment is selected, and in most cases I am happy to concur. Here are the six most frequently cited items.

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1. Kirklands 1939 “Back to the Admiralty” character jug. Finely sculpted if rather enigmatic, it was represented as a ship’s figurehead wreathed in bow waves. A coloured vesion was also produced, but the almost classic beauty of the plain white version is always preferred.

2. Wilkinsons 1941 Churchill Toby. Perhaps the voting is influenced by Clarice Cliff’s signature underneath, or by fascination with the theory that the jug was in fact a World War I holdover. But there is always agreement that this is a superb toby jug, arguably the best of the genre.

3. Spode 1965 Churchill Vase. Commissioned by Thomas Goode & Co. Ltd. in an edition of only 125, it is finished in rich crimson embellished with gold and inscribed on the reverse, “He expressed the unconquerable spirit of the nation,” with a long quotation from his most famous wartime speech. A superb memorial, it cost £125 when issued but cannot now be touched for ten times that or more.

4. Paragon China 1974 Centenary Cigar Casket. Lavishly decorated in cobalt blue and gold with the Churchill Coat of Arms, speech quotations and cameos of Blenheim Palace and Chartwell, it has a silhouette of Churchill surrounded by his honours inside the lid, and is lined with cedar wood.

5. Keith Lee 1981 Bronze Figure. A foot-tall representation of Churchill in the “Wilderness Years,” issued to tie-in with the Thames TV series starring Robert Hardy as WSC, this was the audience choice at my Churchilliana lecture on the 1996 Churchill Tour. Only 250 were produced. Another example is in the White House art collection. See, they haven’t disposed of all their Churchill bronze!

6. Kevin Francis 1989 “Spirit of Britain” Toby. Designed by Peggy Davies after her retirement from Royal Doulton, where she had been senior modeller for forty years, it is inscribed on the base, Tantum Mirabile Est (So Much is Owed”), It incorporates a copy of A History of the English-Speaking Peoples and the British lion marked Ego fremitum praevui (I provided the roar). Beautifully sculpted and decorated, this toby jug commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.