This Queen’s ware ‘Ferdinand’ figure was originally designed for Wedgwood by Arnold Machin (1911-1999) in the mid-1940s. Machin was born in Stoke-on-Trent and studied at the Stoke and Derby Schools of Art and at the Royal College of Art. During his association with Wedgwood, he modelled various figures for commercial production.

The peaceful bull, decorated with flowers, was allegedly inspired by the children’s story ‘The Story of Ferdinand’ (1936) written by Munro Leaf during the Spanish Civil War. It concerns the tale of the eponymous bull – who rather than wishing to fight in the bullring would rather sit in the field and smell the flowers. This story likely resonated with Machin, a conscientious objector who was imprisoned at Wormwood Scrubs in 1943 for refusing to accept military call-up papers.

Our cataloguing volunteer Helen chose this object for the 'Unpacking the V&A Wedgwood Collection' display, explaining that “I found that it was a very satisfying object to handle, and I enjoyed the simplicity of its shape and decoration. Since learning more it has become apparent that it was a theme that mattered greatly to Arnold Machin. Specifically, I discovered that Arnold Machin designed Ferdinand as a reference to the bull in ‘The Story of Ferdinand’, which relates to a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight”.