Uncle Tom and Eva figure, unknown maker from England, United Kingdom

Exhibition Label: "Staffordshire Chimney Ornaments from the Nineteenth Century in the Collection of The University of Kansas Museum of Art," Jun-1973, Lea Rosson Staffordshire produced a number of figure groups with "Uncle Tom." There was much abolitionist sentiment in England during the 1850s , and Harriett Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was a popular book. In 1852 it was produced as a play in London. The group of Little Eva and Uncle Tom is sometimes captioned with a line from the book: "Eva, gaily laughing, was hanging a wreath of roses around Tom's neck.