This is an attractive antique 19th-century Staffordshire figurine, and it dates to around the 1880s.
The figurine depicts a couple sitting in contentment on a grassy knoll. The gentleman presents the lady with a little green nest - it has bird's eggs inside. She looks demurely at his gift.
The figures are said to represent Paul and Virginia (Virginie). They are literary characters taken from a novel by Bernadin de Saint-Pierreirst published back in 1787.
The novel's title characters are friends since birth who fall in love. The story focuses on the fate of a sweet child of nature who is corrupted by the artificial sentimentality of the French upper classes in the late eighteenth century. The characters of Paul et Virginie live off the land without needing technology or man-made interference.
This figure is white in colour and glazed - there are some little touches of applied colours all over the figurine to some highlight areas, as photographed. The gentleman has removed his blue jacket which is seen behind his legs on top of his seat. The colours are quite minimal and are more "blush" shades - there is a lot of thin peppermint green glazes on the knoll and costumes. The man's breeches are a warm lilac shade - and the skin of the couple is painted with slightly thicker flesh tone colours.
This one is in good condition with no damage. I have taken a lot of images for your inspection.
This figurine is not so common and is a rather pretty one - but has a much simpler modelling to the form - this is reflected in a slightly lower price for this pretty literary inspired one.
Dimensions: Height is 8 1/4 inches. The width is 6 1/4 inches and the depth is 2 1/4 inches.
The figurine will be sent to you in the UK with Royal Mail Recorded. This will cost £4.95 and applied to your order at the checkout.