Staffordshire Pottery Gelert 'The Faithful Hound' Group

Victorian, circa 1860. 9.1ins high, 6.3ins wide, 3.1ins depth. Staffordshire Pottery group which features a young girl sat on a cushion with Llwelyn's faithful dog

beside her and a slain wolf, recumbent on an oblong base.

Dull gilt base line and embellishment. Flatback, decorated mainly to the front.

Vent hole to the underside.

This piece represents the story is of 'Gelert'. Perhaps apocryphal, perhaps based on truth, a Welsh Prince (Prince Llewellyn, 1173-1240) killed his faithful hound whose name was 'Gelert'. There is a grave (or at least a gravestone) of Gelert in Beddgelert, Wales, South of Snowdon. The inscription on the gravestone tells the story: "In the 13th century Llywelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, 'The Faithful Hound', who was unaccountably absent. On Llywelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his master. The prince alarmed hastened to find his son, and saw his infant's cot empty, the bedclothes and floor covered with blood. The frantic father plunged his sword into the hounds side, thinking it had killed his heir. The dog's dying yell was answered by a child's cry. Llywelyn searched and discovered his boy unharmed, but nearby lay the body of a mighty wolf which Gelert had slain. The prince filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He buried Gelert here.