Book excerpt: Part of a multi-volume work that catalogs the enormous range of enamel-painted figures made predominantly in the Staffordshire Potteries between 1780 and 1840, Volume 2 presents figures portraying equestrians, fairground entertainers, personalities from literature and the stage, biblical characters, and a host of people of national and international significance. Also shown are sporting pastimes and figures reflecting a patriotic theme. It includes over 1000 brilliant color photos of figures. Literary figures range from Cleopatra and Doctor Syntax, while important persons as varied as Benjamin Franklin and Admiral Lord Nelson are captured in clay. The works also include the early pugilists, bull and bear baiting, and sportsmen and women of those days. Many of these figures have long been hidden from the public eye. Fashioned in an era before photography, they give us rare glimpses of a world that has vanished. In many cases, they are hauntingly beautiful. To hold one is to touch the past.