Staffordshire figure of Lady Hester Stanhope on a camel, c. 1855

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Staffordshire Pottery figure of the adventurous Lady Hester Stanhope on a Camel, with the faithful Dr Charles Lewis Meryon at her side offering her a glass of water, the water vessel in his other hand, a well at his feet; both of them dressed in Eastern garments, the whole picked out in naturalistic colours.

Attributed to Thomas Parr, c. 1855

Condition: good, some staining evident underneath, with minor signs of age.

This figure was probably inspired by the sudden popularity of this extraordinary titled English Lady after her companion in her adventures, Dr Meryon, published three volumes of Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope as related by herself in Conversations with her Physician in 1846. He subsequently published three more  volumes as Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope, forming the Completion of her Memoirs narrated by her Physician.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Hester_Stanhope

There are actually two versions known, one the exact mirror-image of the other – looking like 2 ‘Lady Hester’s’ and 2 ‘Dr Meryon’s’ when put together.

ref. Harding vol. 1  p378 fig 1458 for an identical example, where they suggests Thomas Parr as the maker due to the type of decoration, but also state ‘It has been suggested that this figure portrays Lady Hester Stanhope, but no evidence exists to confirm this’.  Pugh in 1971 ‘Staffordshire Figures’ does list it as Lady Hester + Dr Meryon, but puts a ? directly in front of the attribution.

It is a puzzle as to who else it could be: the two suggested identities are perfect, and the date of the piece coincides with her rise in fame due to the publishing of her memoirs: until some unknown and forgotten source proves otherwise, this interesting group must be identified with the most logical subject, Lady Hester Stanhope on her camel with the faithful Dr Charles Lewis Meryon by her side.

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