Unusual 19th-century English pottery figural perfume/scent bottle

A charming and highly unusual English, probably Staffordshire, glazed pottery figural perfume/scent bottle, 2nd half of the 19th century, of a seated boy or young man playing with a cat, a mouse held in his left hand while he holds the cat’s tail in his right hand, his hat forming the stopper of the bottle. He is seated on a square base with a gilt band, with the base raised on 4 goat’s head feet. He is decorated in green, black, brown, orange, blue, red, pink, and gilt. The cat is sponge-decorated in orange and black. 12.8cm (5in) high.

Examining the chips on the end of the stopper, the figure appears to be made from tin-glazed stoneware. The figure is also reminiscent of Toby jugs and Staffordshire figures. If he were just on a square base, we would have little doubt that it is Staffordshire. However, we have never seen a Staffordshire figure raised on goat’s head feet like this one.

We submitted a description and images to The Potteries Museum at Stoke-on-Trent and although they agreed that he is most likely English and 2nd half of the 19th century, they couldn’t narrow it down any further. 

We are always trying to improve our knowledge and if anyone can attribute a maker, we’d love to hear from them.

Condition: Plenty of hair/stress lines (see images) caused by the softer pottery flexing under the more brittle glaze but no damage, except the chips to the end of the stopper, which is a fairly loose fit in the bottle, and restoration found under ultraviolet light. 

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