There are also quite a few present day Bedlington fanciers who are talented artists themselves, and knowing the breed as they do, are able to hand craft beautiful Bedlington keepsakes.

JANE CALLENDER BEDLINGTON TERRIER DOG The art pottery movement in Southern California began in earnest during the 1930s. At that time Los Angeles was a gathering place for the motion picture industry and many artists in the area began small cottage industry style potteries. According to the reference book "California Potteries, The Complete Book," by Mike Schneider, Jane Callender operated a small pottery in the Los Angeles area during the 1940s and 1950s. Jane is most well known for her canine figurines, many of which were embellished with her distinctive extruded clay designs; extruded clay is a process by which clay is forced through a sieve to form long thin tubes of material for decoration. The figurines would start as a clay base which was embellished with the extruded clay. In my opinion, each of Jane's figurines is unique; the figurines were hand painted and hand decorated so that no two pieces were ever exactly the same in look and style. Oftentimes the figurines carried a small store tag in the shape of a blue ribbon with the wording "Jane Callender Blue Ribbon Winner." Jane's figurines were marked on the base of the feet with either an imprinted backstamp or a hand lettered signature. One problem that has arisen over the years is that the ink used to hand sign the pieces was oftentimes not water proof so if a particular figurine was exposed to moisture or humidity those hand written marks could disappear over time. My particular Jane Callender figure is hand signed on the base of the feet as well as marked with the original store tag. Over the years the extruded clays can become quite brittle; when shopping for a Callender figurine try to chose a figurine with as much of the original extruded clay decoration intact as possible. Be sure to check the tail for chipped or repaired areas as the tails can be quite fragile. Remember that if a piece is not marked with an imprinted backstamp it may well be that the mark was originally made using a water solvent ink and may have disappeared over time.

Jan Allen

This particular figurine was the work of sculptor Elisabeth Anne Philbrick Hall. When she produced sculptures for Contemporary Arts of California during the 1930’s, her pieces were signed with the name "Jan Allen". Anne was a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art, where she majored in sculpture. Her husband had been a professional handler, and Anne was an assistant handler; through the years, they bred Kerry Blue Terriers, Cocker Spaniels, and English Setters.

Mortens Studio Bedlington Terriers

Owned by Oscar Mortens, this Chicago based company produced quality figurines for animal lovers from the 1930's through the 1950's. To my knowledge, they produced two different models of the Bedlington Terrier. Each model carried a different color pattern, and were done in diffferent sizes. Mortens Studio figurines are constructed using a metal framework base. Plaster covers the metal framework base, which was then hand painted and glazed. The pieces can be very fragile, especially the tail sections.

This figurine was created by my dear friend Vanassa Sypher, of Meadowsweet Bedlington Terriers, Jonestown, Pennsylvania. Vanassa is the breeder of my foundation bitch CH. Meadowsweet Lillee Bluestar. Having been around dogs all her life, and being a natural artist, Vanassa has a beautiful talent for producing lovely pieces of art. She has bred Bedlington Terriers for 18 years, and has a wonderful eye for the type and style of our beloved breed. I have provided a link to her website for you to see her other artistic creations

Stained Glass Bedlington Terrier Statue

I am blessed to have many friends who are able to combine their love for our beautiful breed with their immense artistic talents.

This piece was created by my close friend Care Thornton, of The Colony, Texas. Care produces outstanding examples of our breed, from statues to garden stepping stones. She can be reached at her e-mail address of WithCare@sbcglobal.net
for those interested in seeing additional examples of her wonderful work.

I love all of my Bedlington pieces because they represent my dogs. This one captures my heart strings because it is such a familiar position for our breed. Done in a bisque porcelain, the artist is Dolores Wendel, and the figurine was produced in 1971.

Another one of my artistic friends is Carrie Martin, of Covington, Louisiana. Among Carrie's multitude of talents are her rug hooking skills. Carrie designed this rug, and it was auctioned off to raise funds for the Bedlington Terrier Club of America's Education Fund. The lucky winner was Darlene Martens who, by the way, has made a beautiful Bedlington Terrier quilt to be raffled off this year to support the Education Fund. Carrie can be reached at her e-mail address of mart3285@bellsouth.net to answer questions about this beautiful piece.