STAFFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, 19TH CENTURY | Polito's Menagerie

inscribed around the edge 'POLITOS ROYAL MENAGERIE OF THE WONDERFULL BURDS AND BEASTS FROM MOST PARTS OF THE WORLD: LION &C.'

Sotheby's, New York, 20-21 October 2003, lot 17

The upper edge of the model has been restored and with associate spray to the shoulder on the back edge. The figure on the right edge of the object has been re-stuck, and there is restoration to the horn player to the left, and the monkey on the left side. The underside of the model has been sprayed, there is also spray on the exterior of the left foot and steps. The spray makes it difficult to determine true extent of repair when viewed under a UV.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"Polito's grand and pleasing assemblage of most rare and beautiful living birds and beasts, from the remotest parts of the known world…’ Nottingham Journal, 28th September 1805, quoted from E. H. Bostock in Menageries, Circuses and Theatres, New York, 1928, pp. 7-9.

Polito’s is one of the earliest travelling menageries of wild and exotic animals. Stephen, also known by Stephano, Stephani and Stephanus Polito, born in Italy around 1763-64, was a menagerie owner which he toured throughout England in the late 18th century. By 1810 Polito was managing the Exeter Change menagerie, located on the second floor of an arcade in the Strand, and renamed it the Royal Menagerie.

In the Spring of 1814, Elizabeth Chivers of Bath, who kept a diary, went on a family trip to London and on the twelfth day visited the Menagerie:

“We next bent our course to Mr Alderman Birches where we ate a little of his delightful pastry then proceeded to Exeter Change in the Strand to see the finest collection of wild Beasts in the Kingdom, which is kept and managed by Polito [Polito's Royal Menagerie]. The great variety of animals we here saw quite astonished us, there is an Elephant, Rhinoceros and camel, a Lyon and a number of most beautiful Leopards, several Tygers, Baboon, and Monkeys and a vast many more too numerous for me to notice. In another apartment we saw a collection of most beautiful birds natives of many different countries.”¹

Polito died in April 1814 but his original travelling menagerie continued operating under his name until 1835 or 1836, when, according to Bostock, it was lost at sea on its way to Ireland, which perhaps may have prompted production of the Staffordshire model. It has been suggested Mrs. Polito is the female figure at the doorway in the model. Slightly varying models of the Polito’s menagerie were produced, examples of which were in the collections of Dorothy Hirshon, sold, Sotheby’s New York, 26 September 1998, lot 233; the Estate of S. Carter Burden, sold, Sotheby’s New York, 26 October 2002, lot 1531; and Josephine and Walter Buhl Ford II, sold, Sotheby’s New York, 6 October 2006, lot 227.

_{[1] Museum of London collection.}