Charming Ceramic Figurines are a Contemporary Riff on Iconic Collectibles

One of the most icon­ic form of ceram­ics is known as “fan­ci­ful” Stafford­shire fig­urines. Orig­i­nal­ly cre­at­ed in the Vic­to­ri­an era, these pieces were paint­ed by unskilled work­ers and have a folk art-like feel. Because of their hum­ble nature, they were geared towards the mid­dle class. “You nev­er would have found one of these in the home of roy­al­ty,” antique deal­er David Lack­ey said. Nowa­days, they’re high­ly collectible—and not to men­tion an influ­ence for con­tem­po­rary ceram­ic artists.

Vicky Lin­do is the cre­ative part­ner­ship of Vicky Lin­do and Bill Brookes. Togeth­er, they cre­ate work that’s inspired by ceram­ics made dur­ing the 18th, 19th, and ear­ly 20th century—like Stafford­shire cats and dogs. They adorn the fig­ures with bold illus­tra­tions that wrap around their bod­ies. The result pro­duces some amus­ing and unfor­get­table char­ac­ters out of these very rec­og­niz­able forms. To see what Vicky and Bill are up to now, fol­low them on Insta­gram.

Inspired by ceramics of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, Vicky Lindo and Bill Brookes create charming, boldly illustrated Staffordshire cats and dogs.