Bovey Pottery Our Gang figure of a female RAF officer – £2100 at East Bristol Auctions.
There are 16 figures in all, each around 8in (20cm) high, including an RAF pilot, an Anzac, an ARP warden, a nurse and ‘The Boss’, Winston Churchill. Most come in a matt buff glaze although others are left in the white and others enamelled with polychrome details.
Until quite recently most were relatively affordable (under £100 each), although to complete the set has always been tricky, requiring some of the scarcer figures. An example of Uncle Joe Stalin sold for £2600 at Lawrences of Crewkerne in 2017.
Flying high
Our Gang RAF pilot – £2000 at East Bristol Auctions.
However, extraordinary bids came in for other members of the Gang offered for estimates of £80-120 each in a timed online sale held by East Bristol Auctions (19% buyer’s premium) ending on May 17. Two weeks before the sale ended, bids for all three buff-glazed figures had already reached multiples of the top estimate.
When bidding closed the figurine of an RAF pilot with a flying helmet, goggles, flight suit and parachute harness had reached £2000 and the figure of a female officer in the RAF with her hands behind her back, a cap, uniform and shoes at £2100.
The figure Sergeant Soldier with brodie helmet, moustache, army uniform and boots took £600.
