Myrna Schkolne: Early Staffordshire Figures

I am quite disheartened at the number of reproduction Victorian figures for sale at auction and in cyberspace. A veritable flood of them. And when they are described  as early 19th century--which happens very often--they can be termed fakes. My era of expertise is pre-Victorian figures, yet that doesn't stop me from knowing a lot about Victorian wares too. But it does stop me taking on the issue, case by case, because I simply don't have the time. Victorian  Collectors: Where are you? Don't you care that new collectors are being bamboozled by these fakes? Don't you know that the market for genuine wares will be spoiled when collecting becomes just not be worth the risk? One day will anyone know the difference?

The problem is not nearly as bad with pre-Victorian figures. The fakes are so easily recognizable. But auction houses and inexperienced dealers still get tripped up by reproduction figures that were made earlier in the 20th century in imitation of early 19thC wares. In particular, the smaller version of the Sherratt bull baiting, The New Marriage Act, and the Tythe Pig.  So three cheers for Mellors & Kirk for cataloging the late versions of the bull baiting and marriage act correctly for their upcoming auction. Grander auction houses could learn from Mellors!

Coming up at Mellors in the UK on Sept 23, these are both correctly cataloged as early 20th century. There are a million ways of knowing these figures are wrong, but if you want just one quick tip, look at the font used for script. It lacks serifs--those little pointy things at the end of letters. Early figures almost always use serifs when uppercase script is used.

And thank you to eBay seller 'madelena' for correctly describing this Tithe Pig group as Staffordshire, made by Kent in the early to mid 20th century.

Just last night, I emailed an eBay seller with a pair of Kent figures of the same vintage, described as late 18th or early 19th century. I always check my email in the same motion that switches off my alarm (this is one of the joys of an iPhone) and this morning I was thrilled to awaken to the seller's immediate and positive response. Clearly, he had made an honest mistake. He had paid good money when he bought these figures. Not wanting to dupe someone else, he changed his listing immediately.  It happens to all of us--we learn the hard way.

I hate it when bad things happen to good people. Please watch out!