Figure of Woman with Tree and Leaping Hare
MakerMade by
Geoffrey Fuller
(Chesterfield, Derbyshire, 1936 - 2022)
MakerMade by
The Three Stags' Heads Pottery
(Wardlow Mires, Derbyshire)
StudentTaught by
John Reeve
(Barrie, Ontario, Canada, 1929 - 2012)
StudentTaught by
Henry Hammond
(1914 - 1989)
StudentTaught by
Paul Barron
(1917 - 1983)
StudentTaught by
Gemma Bon Tempo
StudentTaught by
Agnete Hoy
(Southall, England, 1914 - 2000)
StudentTaught by
Lisa Enquist
StudentTaught by
Ron Hackney
CollectorCollected by
Sandy Dunbar
(London, England, 1929 - 2012)
Date2002-2003
Object NameFigure
Mediumterracotta clay
ClassificationsCeramics
DimensionsOverall (Height excluding hare x Width including toes of figure x Depth ): 360 × 275 × 153mm
AcquisitionThe Sandy Dunbar Studio Ceramics Collection presented in 2023 by Crinan Dunbar and Rebecca Russell.
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS095708.180
About MeThis figure epitomises Geoffrey Fuller's naive and playful style. A hand-sculpted and moulded figure of a naked woman is sitting on a bench in front of a tree with a leaping hare over the treetop. The entire tableau is presented on a barrel-shaped rectangular slab-built plinth standing on 4 feet at each corner. The central figure is naive in style, with an expressive face and over-sized hands which clasps to her body.
Fuller's range of highly individual figures were influenced by traditional slipware, folk traditions and narratives, especially Staffordshire 'flatback' figures of the late 18th and 19th centuries. These ornamental figures often depicted allegorical subjects, characters from legends or famous public personalities. They were designed to stand on shelves and mantelpieces and from the 1830s onwards were generally modelled on one side as only the front was visible.
Geoffrey Fuller’s workshop was attached to an 18th-century Derbyshire pub, the Three Stags’ Heads which he ran for about 35 years alongside his pottery.
