This is a cute little miniature Staffordshire figurine.
It is a genuine 19th Century example dating to the 1880s.
It is in excellent damage-free condition.
It is a spill vase - which you would have put on your mantlepiece or in the kitchen and you would have popped long tapers or spills to light lamps and fires etc into. The spill container takes the form of a tree stump to the left-hand side - and which is painted with a bright orange interior. The spread of spills would have resembled the branches of the tree when on display.
It is a beautifully modelled smaller example and has lots of beautiful hand-painting and bright colours. These smaller figurines would have probably been given away as prizes at funfairs - or perhaps bought from an itinerant peddler of models and trinkets who would have visited country cottages with a selection of smaller-scale wares for sale.
The spill vase shows two little figures standing next to a well - there is an orange vase of flowers in between them - and this form the spout section of the spill vase. Below the vase, water flows out of the well - and the overflow runs into a stream below. There are a couple of little bits of bocage in the foreground.
The gentleman in his rich cobalt blue tunic stands to the left-hand side. To the right is a pretty maiden carrying a large yellow straw sun hat and holding a posy.
I love this one - the colours are so painterly - and it looks so lovely on display.
Overall height is 6 3/4 inches - with a width of about 4 inches and a depth of about 2 inches.
In good antique condition - with no chips or restorations.
All this is reflected in my asking price for this sweet wee genuine antique Staffordshire figure.