| because so few examples of this figure appear to have been made. Stories that Thorley made only three of them—one of which was admired by and thus given to Queen Mary—cannot be verified, although he does say that the figure was admired by her. Thorley must have kept the mold, for a green (unfired) example, with head missing, was found in his studio in 1986 (see fig. 30). A letter to him from a customer, dated December 8, 1971, states, “We are eagerly awaiting the Chatelaine figurine. It will be our most prized possession,” which indicates that he promised to produce one for a client at that late date. In the Thorley papers there is an early photograph of the chatelaine—which may or may not be this example—that has the unexplained date “1917” written on the back. |