Allegorical Figure of America

Artisan: Tricia Street
Date: 1998
Inscriptions: signed with initials ‘TS’ and dated ’98’ (on the base)
Dimensions: 22 x 12 x 10 mm. / ⅞ x ⅜ x ⅜ inches (height x width x depth)
Inventory number: 2022.110
Intended Room: Breakfast Room

Provenance: Barbara Kinghorn-Dickinson and Stan Dickinson, founders of BKD Miniatures; by descent to Barbara’s son Chris Kinghorn; from whom purchased by us via eBay in 2022.

I’m not entirely convinced that this does represent America, but the type is similar to that I’ve seen represented in series of the Four Continents (although this doesn’t explain the companion piece with the wolf). This tiny figurine shows a woman wearing a feathered headdress and a spotted animal skin, set against a fan of greenery and with a large blue fish at her feet. She reaches over her shoulder, presumably to take an arrow from a quiver on her back, although I’m not sure what the white object with black spots is in her left hand.

This elegant little piece is by Tricia Street and, like the other works by that artisan currently in our collection, it came from the estate of BKD Miniatures founders Barbara Kinghorn-Dickinson and Stan Dickinson.