A limited edition handmade Bairstow Manor (Staffordshire, U.K.) glazed figure modeled as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, after a famous Second World War era photograph. Produced in a limited edition of 350, of which this is Number 20, Churchill is depicted wearing a sun helmet and the uniform of a colonel in the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars, the British cavalry regiment into which he was commissioned in 1895. His left hand is raised to shade his eyes, while his right hand holds binoculars. Churchill stands on a circular base, with a handle modeled and painted as a desert palm tree extending from his back to the base. Behind Churchill emerges a camel’s head, and a miniature Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (1891–1944), the German general whose leadership in the North African Campaign established his reputation as one of the war’s most able tank commanders and a reputation for chivalry. Popularly known as the Desert Fox, a miniature grey Panzer tank and brown desert fox reinforce these Rommel motifs. Curiously, a small black cat shades itself next to the desert palm.
Churchill’s love of felines is documented: during his time as Prime Minister, his best-known cat was a grey called Nelson. Finally, a shield rests next to Churchill bearing the Saint George’s Cross, a red cross on a white background, associated with Saint George, the patron saint of England and a central feature of the flag of the United Kingdom. Raised relied EGYPT 1942 at base. This historic figurine was based on a photograph, “Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill Wearing Sun Helmet, Viewing The Alamein Position,” taken in 1943 by Capt. G Keating. Two months after Churchill’s visit to Egypt, British victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein ended the Axis threat in the Middle East.
Marked BAIRSTOW MANOR COLLECTABLES LIFE AND TIMES OF WINSTON CHURCHILL THE DESERT WAR 1942 LIMITED EDITION OF 350 THIS IS 20. HANDMADE AND HAND PAINTED IN STOKE-ON-TRENT, ENGLAND. MODELED BY RAY NOBLE. AUGUST 1942. CHURCHILL PAID TWO VISITS TO THE 8TH ARMY DESERT RATS AT THE FRONT IN EGYPT AND SURVEYED THE DESERT ACROSS WHICH ONLY A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY LAW ROMMEL’S ARMY.
