Special thanks to Nick Young of Graylings Antiques for granting us permission to reprint this very informative article.
Reproduction Staffordshire Figures: an 'Aide Memoire'
Unfortunately over the past 10 years there have been large numbers of reproduction 'Staffordshire' type figures produced in various parts of the world. In the majority of cases these figures have been produced with absolutely no intention of deceiving anyone into believing they are the genuine articles. They are ideal for the decorator to use where the impact of a Staffordshire Figure is required without the cost. It is when they get into the hands of the unknowledgeable or the dishonest person that they cause problems.
There are certain pointers associated with real Staffordshire Figures that a collector can check before worrying about the authenticity of a figure, these are:-
- Gold on a figure.
- Lead glaze.
- Colours.
- Handling.
- Know from whom you are buying and ask the right questions.
- Specific factories producing Reproductions.
1. Gold on a figure.
The early figures used high quality gold that was put onto a honey or similar holding agent before being fired. Most people possess jewellery of some type that is made of 9 to 22 carat gold. If you are wearing a ring etc, compare it to the lovely soft gold on a real figure. There may be colour variations but still there is a soft appearance to the gold. It does not shine. Where the gold has rubbed off over the years, often a pink colour is left on the figure, from the agent used to stick the gold to the figure before it was fired. After 1865, or thereabouts, mercuric gold was used. This is a much brighter gold. It does not have the softness of the earlier gold. Figures with this gold on are not 'wrong' just produced later in the Victorian period. Historical knowledge helps when finding if this later gold on figures is right, as a number of figures of people from the 1880's would be wrong if they supported the soft gold. As we go into the 20th century gold becomes coppery in colour, and even sometimes has a sort of halo around the gold, often becoming almost silvery (this shows in the recent figures produced in the far east). Some real figures show this halo, but it shows around the early soft gold, and is not silvery. I have, to date, never seen a reproduction figure displaying the soft early gold, but care is needed when bright mercuric gold is used. A useful pointer on some of the later reproductions is that the gold actually has crazing, seen obviously, to be running through the gold line. On real Staffordshire this does not normally occur as the crazing is very fine, and the method of applying the gold precludes this. Remember, on miniature figures and 'seconds' from the original Victorian factories, often the gold line has been missed out and yellow or black used in its place. This meant the figure did not have to be refired (a costly process) to set the gold into the glaze. Some figures from the Scottish factories also used black lines on their figures, so, as with all Staffordshire, one cannot be totally definitive in description.
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2. Lead glaze
Again lead glaze was only used on figures up to the very early part of the 20th century. It has a bluish or greenish hue where it pools on parts of the figure where the glaze has not totally run off after being dipped in the glaze. Beware of recent figures which have had blue added to the modern glaze to make it look like lead glaze. Turn the figure upside down and look at the base, and ask yourself is the glaze 'mean' on the base being thin and not fully covering the base. Is the rim around the base chalky and showing no signs of wear. Is the base ring the same grey colour all the way round. If any of these things are obvious beware, but take these pointers into account with colour, gold and general feel of the figure before finally deciding it is probably reproduction. Lead glaze is often subject to shrinkage resulting in crazing. This is irregular and fine, and the dirt which has found its way into this crazing is irregular in density, unlike the crazing on reproductions where the crazing is both more regular, deeper, and where coloured by teas etc, regular in colour density. Remember my previous tip regarding crazing running through the gold lines on the reproduction. Remember glaze is basically a very thin layer of glass on the figure.
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3. Colours
The colours used in the production of the real Staffordshire figures are of a fairly standard palette. The more figures you handle the more you will realise there are certain colours on the real thing which cannot be reproduced (because of the toxic nature of the pigments used). Orange is a good example. Often it is painted on with a yellow base colour with the orange put over the top showing brush strokes on the yellow in the orange. Yellow itself is normally a clear yellow without muddiness. Reds are not used in large expanses of colour, and are not the garish red often associated with reproductions. The only colours under the glaze are blue and black. Black often shows a blue hue to it, as cobalt blue is used with the black to produce its clarity under the glaze. On rare occasions it is misfired but normally the underglazed colours show no flaking or wear on real Staffordshire figures. The overglazed colours are different and tend to flake. A good guideline is the darker the colour the more likely it is to be prone to flaking. Green and black are especially vulnerable to this flaking.
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4. Handling
Pick up a piece of Staffordshire that you know is real and close your eyes and handle the figure. The body is smooth and there is no feel of thinness in the glaze and it does not feel rough to the hands as do a lot of the very recent reproduction figures. Check the holes made in the figure to let out the gasses, as they expand in the firing. They should be small and often irregular in shape. A small pointed object would have been stuck into each part of the figure to let out the gasses. Look for the join around a figure showing it was press moulded. Only much later figures used slip moulding, which required less skill to produce, and they are usually lighter than their earlier Victorian counterparts. If there are chips etc on the figure they can often be a good indication of age. It is very difficult to disguise good 'old' dirt in a chip. Even after a good scrub dirt often remains in the body of the chip. Dirt is very difficult to clean out completely from the bocage (scrunch) found on the bases of most figures, so often there are traces of it on real Staffordshire figures.
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5. Know from whom you are buying and ask the right questions
This may seem obvious, but sometimes, by asking the right questions, one can set the alarm bells ringing. Replies to such questions as 'what date is this figure?' and 'is there any repair?' which have a vague response such as 'I am sure it is old', or 'I have not had it repaired' are warnings to have a closer look, or ask more questions. A favourite is 'it belonged to my grandfather', but remember that each generation is approximately 35 years so late Victorian figures would now be great great great grandparent's figures!! Old can mean anything (to a 15 year old, a 30year old person is old), so ask for an approximate date of manufacture. Ask for a receipt with a date, 'Victorian' can span 65 years! Buy from someone you can trust as being genuine. Because no one is infallible, we all make mistakes, but a genuine dealer will rectify his mistakes without a quibble. Go by first instinct, most of my mistakes have been made because I have talked myself into thinking a piece was genuine, whereas the alarm bells were ringing at the very beginning.
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Use as many of the indicators listed above to make your mind up that a figure is real. Knowledge over a period of time is always the best safeguard. If you are unsure of a figure's age ask direct questions of the seller.
6. Specific factories producing Reproductions.
It must be realised that certain factories in the Victorian era produced the same figures over a span of over 50 years, and in fact some moulds were even kept right up to the 1950's. This is true of the 'Parr' factory that in fact produced figures from the 1850's. John Parr, and later Thomas Parr, made these and production over the period did deteriorate towards the 1890/1900 period when William Kent took over. Figures, and the manner in which they were painted, became more rushed and not so exact. The bases, although still showing the brush strokes associated with the 1850 figures, do not have the lovely clear yellow colour, it being a muddy yellow by comparison. Iron red colour in the coats took over from the lovely clear oranges and brown as well. There are figures in this group which, although displaying the poorer painting on the bases (no brush strokes, and more blocking of colour), show the lovely gold of the 1850/60 period. One should take into account all these points before placing a figure into a late category. Normally the 'Kent' figures of the 1890's do not have gold, but where it does appear it is bright gold as opposed to the soft 22-carrot type displayed on the earlier figures. Next we have the William Kent (Porcelains) Ltd figures, produced right up to the 1950's. These normally even lack the brush strokes on the base, all the colours are splodged onto the figure, and the actual figure is normally of very poor moulding. Any gold on the figure is always bright and artificial looking. They often have that dry look to the rim of the base, described earlier. Generally underglazed colours were not used in 'Parr' figures, but a few genuine figures are known. Good examples of these colour variations are shown in John Hall's book 'Staffordshire Portrait Figures'.
There are a group of figures that were produced in the 20th century that have quite a high quality finish, were made out of porcelain and have a gold anchor somewhere, usually on the back of the figure. A number of these figures copy exactly the moulds of the original figures made in Staffordshire, they are not Staffordshire but Continental European in origin. Check the back of a figure that is porcelain and ensure there are no signs of this anchor having been ground out, or merely having worn away. Porcelain is produced by high temperature firing and is much harder than its pottery equivalent. Staffordshire factories that produced figures in porcelain always display the palette of colours associated with Staffordshire and mainly exhibit the soft gold described above. Most were produced in the early years of figure production.
Some of the latest reproductions available are made in the Far East. They are very well made and are still being sold. For anyone who wants a pair of Staffordshire Style dogs they look nice, and are cheap, but for the collector they can be a trap. They are first of all made of a very gritty porcelain, so upend the figure and check the base. The base ring will be a regular grey brown colour and the body colour of the base is often smokey grey. The glaze is thin to the feel. They often have large holes in the base of a regular shape. There are several which are particularly well made and need careful checking; viz, the soldier asleep on the drum; the game bird; and the dogs on the barrel. These items were not originally produced to deceive, but unfortunately they are regularly seen for sale purporting to be the real thing.
Faces on reproduction figures never normally look right when viewed against a genuine Victorian figure. For some reason faces on figures will fit into a certain period of manufacture, and 1960 faces never look the same as Victorian faces. A face with chinese features will invariably be wrong.
Remember that any figure with 'England' underneath must have been manufactured after 1892 and the 'Made in England' mark was introduced, by Act of Parliament in 1912 so it is impossible for a Staffordshire figure of the Victorian era to have such marks underneath it. Figures marked "Old Staffordshire Ware" in red are not contemporary Victorian figures but produced in the mid 1900's.
Buying Online at auctions
I have added this little section, as buying online has become very popular with many collectors. It is a wonderful way of obtaining figures without scouring the country for them, but dare I say it is a real minefield, purely because if the picture of the item is bad, or the description not as full as it could be, errors in buying can be easily made. Fortunately in the majority of cases if a buyer is unhappy with a purchase because of bad description, or failure to declare damage ( which the seller is often unaware of themselves, quite genuinely) then there is the availability of a refund. It may sound strange but often the photo of the base of a figure tells far more about the figure than any other view. Gold can often look like early gold in a photograph, but is in fact later mercuric gold. It is very difficult to glean from a seller who does not know Staffordshire what sort of gold is on the figure. Always ask for further pictures if you are unsure about an item. I have had problems with many figures on Ebay trying to ascertain if they are "right" but a few questions of the seller often answer those doubts one way or another. One final point. I have noticed many times that when the description states " I am not an expert in Staffordshire so cannot guarantee the age" or similar words it is often a wrong piece of Staffordshire.
Have a look at www.staffordshire.org which is a collectors/enthusiasts club for the Staffordshire collectors. There you will find many invaluable items and pictures to increase your knowledge. None of us knows it all, beware of those who think they do.
