Very Rare pair of Minton ‘Royal Children’ riding on large dogs, c. 1840

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Rare pair of Minton figures depicting the ‘Royal Children’ – the Prince of Wales, and the Princess Royal – each seated on a large black + white dog, she in blue dress and seated side-saddle, the prince astride his dog in yellow dress, a toy sword at his side, each with fluted pillar support at the back, on oval plinths with moulded scrollwork & gilt line borders.

Unmarked,

circa 1840

ref. Atterbury + Batkin ‘The Dictionary of Minton’ p. for the exact left-facing dog, with the boy holding a sword and described as ‘War on Dog’. The text refers to this being an example of ‘French inspired decoration…’ – rather unclearly.
We suggest this is in fact the ‘Royal Children’, who had a real-life connection with ‘large dogs’ and are shown in well-known Staffordshire products riding on dogs like this. The figure identified as ‘War’ in ‘The Dictionary’ is a boy, despite wearing a dress (the young boys wore a dress until they progressed to breeches) – clearly shown to the 19th century audience as he is riding astride the dog. The matching figure is a girl, and rides the appropriate side-saddle. The boy illustrated in ‘The Dictionary’ seems to have multiple feathers in his hat; our example has been restored and appears as one over-size feather. The original should have been three distinct plumes, to represent the Prince of Wales.