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{{Short description|British ceramics brand}} |
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[[File:SylvaC Squirrel and Lop Ear Rabbit in Green.jpg|alt=SylvaC Squirrel and Lop Ear Rabbit in Green|thumb|SylvaC Squirrel and Lop Ear Rabbit in Green]] |
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'''''SylvaC''''' (with a deliberate capital C at the end) is a brand of British [[ornament (architecture)|ornamental]] [[pottery]] characterised primarily by figurines of animals and [[Toby Jugs]]. The SylvaC company briefly ceased production in 1982 although production of SylvaC pieces was resumed in 1998 by the current trademark holder Norman Williams. |
'''''SylvaC''''' (with a deliberate capital C at the end) is a brand of British [[ornament (architecture)|ornamental]] [[pottery]] characterised primarily by figurines of animals and [[Toby Jugs]]. The SylvaC company briefly ceased production in 1982 although production of SylvaC pieces was resumed in 1998 by the current trademark holder Norman Williams. |
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The company was founded in 1894 by [[William Copestake]] and William Shaw. They gave their names to the fledgling company - Shaw and Copestake. Copestake left in 1895, however, and Richard Hull became Shaw's partner. Hull's son joined in 1936 and in 1938 the Thomas Lawrence [[Falcon Pottery]] was bought (which produced pottery with the distinctive 'falcon' mark on it). However, the Shaw and Copestake company maintained its original name right up until the end. |
The company was founded in 1894 by [[William Copestake]] and William Shaw. They gave their names to the fledgling company - Shaw and Copestake. Copestake left in 1895, however, and Richard Hull became Shaw's partner. Hull's son joined in 1936 and in 1938 the Thomas Lawrence [[Falcon Pottery]] was bought (which produced pottery with the distinctive 'falcon' mark on it). However, the Shaw and Copestake company maintained its original name right up until the end. |
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Central to the SylvaC line throughout its history were figurines of animals, and rabbits in particular. Dogs were also popular and virtually every breed ended-up being characterised in pottery. Many variations of Toby Jugs were produced, including 'character' versions which celebrated events or tied into product advertising. |
Central to the SylvaC line throughout its history were figurines of animals, and rabbits in particular. Dogs were also popular and virtually every breed ended-up being characterised in pottery. Many variations of [[Toby Jugs]] were produced, including 'character' versions which celebrated events or tied into product advertising. |
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Although many colours and glazes were used, most people remember the distinctive orange or green glazes most. |
Although many colours and glazes were used, most people remember the distinctive orange or green glazes most. |
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SylvaC pieces are not rare; however, they are becoming collectable, and the best pieces can fetch high prices. There is a common belief that pieces made after 1982 are fakes or somehow "less" SylvaC than pieces made before then. As with any collectable, there is a vested interest in keeping prices high despite the fact that SylvaC was never particularly expensive to produce and not in any sense rare and certainly never meant to be high art. |
SylvaC pieces are not rare; however, they are becoming collectable,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-11-24|title=Collecting china: bagging a bargain|url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/house-and-homes-blog/2011/nov/24/collecting-china-bagging-a-bargain|access-date=2021-10-31|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> and the best pieces can fetch high prices. There is a common belief that pieces made after 1982 are fakes or somehow "less" SylvaC than pieces made before then. As with any collectable, there is a vested interest in keeping prices high despite the fact that SylvaC was never particularly expensive to produce and not in any sense rare and certainly never meant to be high art. |
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The Company was purchased and registered in July 2012 by Rolf Groth of Liverpool in England, with the intent of trading in vintage and special edition pieces. |
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<big>Norman Williams, Modern SylvaC and the collapse of the SylvaC collectors market.</big><big><big>Big text</big></big> |
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'''Rolf Groth, Former Head of Internet Marketing, Modern SylvaC'''<big>Big text</big> |
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Manufacturer Charged with Faking Pottery |
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originally posted on This is the Sentinel |
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A Ceramic manufacturer has been charged with passing off fake Clarice Cliff pottery as authentic items. Norman Williams, who runs Longton-based DNW Ceramics, has been charged with illegally back stamping pottery with the Clarice Cliff mark and possessing Wade and Carlton Ware figurines with false trademarks. |
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The 62-year-old, of Upper Normacot Road, Normacot, did not attend yesterday's hearing at Newcastle Magistrates' Court and the case was adjourned until October 7. |
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Robin Litchfield, defending, said: "He (Williams) is not present as he has got to go to the county court." |
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He indicated that Williams would plead not guilty and would opt for a crown court trial. |
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Trading standards officers from Stoke-on-Trent City Council are prosecuting Williams for six different alleged offences at his company in Wood Street, Longton, on July 30, 2004. |
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He is accused of trying to distribute two NatWest Wesley Pig figures bearing false trademarks identical to the Wade originals. |
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He is also charged with possessing a jug, pot and vase with fake Clarice Cliff back stamps without the permission of Wedgwood, as well as possessing bogus Carlton Ware Toucan, Flying Toucan and Ostrich figures. |
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He was also charged with unlawfully having Draught Guinness transfers at his business address without the consent of Diageo Great Britain Limited, which owns the registered trademark. |
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The manufacturer is also charged with three further offences including the possession of Clarice Cliff back stamps with intent to label or package fake Clarice Cliff pottery. |
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So ended the sorry tale of Norman Williams, the man who single handily wiped out the value of countless collections by flooding the collectors market with fakes. I knew Norman Williams and I liked him, he was basically a good man, not afraid of hard work who got swept away in a storm of corruption and greed. While eventually brought before the courts for producing fake Wade and Clarice Cliff pottery, it was ironically the collectors market for SylvaC that suffered the most damage and has not recovered to this day. |
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I have read so many accounts on the internet and in collector’s guides relating to Modern SylvaC and SylvaC fakes that I have decided to come forward and reveal the truth behind the phenomena that was Modern SylvaC. |
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By the late 90’s Norman Williams had legitimate ownership of the SylvaC brand and name; he had also purchased rights to produce Crown Devon, Crown Ducal and many other defunct brands and stamps with the honorable intention of reviving these great British brands. Spending considerable amounts of his own money, he purchased many of the original molds and began to produce his own molds, also known as “shrinks” from existing pieces. All of this was completely legitimate; he owned the brands, the molds and could do with them as he pleased. |
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Around this same time the antiques and collectibles market place was beginning to feel the full impact of the internet revolution or more specifically the On-line auction revolution. Suddenly the whole world had a cheap and effective trading platform that resembled the Alaskan Gold Rush of the 1860’s and everybody wanted a piece of the action. It did not take long for unscrupulous traders to realize that SylvaC ware commanded high prices on-line and that it was being manufactured in Longton. |
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Things really took off one day when Norman noticed a SylvaC raspberry face-pot being auctioned on E-bay with a closing bid of nearly £200.00. He immediately purchased the next one that became available and used it to create his own mold and began producing raspberry face-pots which he sold wholesale at £35.00 each. Soon the market was being flooded with face-pots, rabbits, terriers and even the audacious “cork screw” cat. Although Norman never sold retail and never falsely represented any of his wares as anything other than modern reproductions it soon became bitterly obvious that others were. |
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I came to be aware of Modern SylvaC (although we were not yet using that name) in the summer of 2003 while browsing through the “Trader” magazine, where Norman, trading as D&N ceramics ran a regular ad for their wholesale pottery trade. Like most people I was vaguely aware of the SylvaC name, mostly from the odd shaped rabbits that occasionally popped up on the BBC’s Antiques Road Show. I called the pottery and spoke to Norman’s wife Dot, who was also one of the artist at the pottery and she invited me down to Longton to have a look at their wares. |
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What I saw astounded me, hundreds of boxes containing all of the most popular SylvaC pieces, there were crates containing tarter sauce, coleslaw, raspberry, and blackberry face-pots all pristine and ready for sale. Another room contained nothing but snub-nosed and split-ear rabbits, far too many to count. I bought a couple dozen pieces that Norman recommended, (at that time I had no idea which pieces were collectable) and listed them for sale. They all did amazingly well and I looked forward to my next buying trip to longton. |
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My success had stirred an interest in the SylvaC history and I began to read and research anything I could find about the brand. Unfortunately it did not take long before I crossed paths with a few unhappy collectors. They knew their history and had a considerable vested interest in keeping prices high. By this time I had come to believe in the SylvaC brand and was keenly interested in reviving the brand. I had a vision of SylvaC being sold legitimately in gift shops and as both limited edition collectables and novelty retro pieces. I met with Norman on many occasions and pitched my ideas but he was not impressed. He did eventually relent and gave me his blessing on launching the “Modern SylvaC” brand and website. I knew however he was not convinced that SylvaC could be openly marketed as Modern SylvaC and still sell. I argued that Modern SylvaC could be sold alongside “Classic SylvaC” on its own merits. That way pre-82 SylvaC could still command a premium price and the brand could be saved for the next generation. |
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In late winter 2003 I convinced Norman to produce 20 large split eared, snub nosed rabbits from mold 1027 to be marketed as Modern SylvaC Limited Edition 2004 Easter Bunnies. These would be the first original piece of SylvaC in nearly 25 years and symbolize that fact that SylvaC was not only back and highly collectable but was also making our most creative pieces ever. |
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To say Norman was tight with money would be a huge understatement. He was by nature suspicious and convinced that people were out to take advantage of him; this prevented him from ever seeing the big picture. It was like pulling teeth throughout February to get Norman to commit to and finish the new designs in time for Easter 2004. I guess for him this made sense, the cash was rolling in, he had a luxury villa in Cyprus and so far my ideas had not made him a penny. He did not want to work together on this project, he agreed to produce the rabbits and wholesale them to me at £25.00 each. That’s what Norman was like; he just wanted the cash up front. I warned him that I intended to charge considerably more than that and he just laughed and said “good luck”. |
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I received the finished rabbits in late February 2004 and listed them both on the popular auction sites and the Modern SylvaC website as 20 numbered and signed limited edition pieces priced at £108.00 each. They sold out within a week and it did not take long for word to get back to the pottery about my success. Norman called me and was livid, as far as he was concerned he had been robbed, the fact that I had made almost £2000.00 clear profit on the deal was just not the way he did business. He severed his relationship with me and insisted I close the Modern SylvaC site and cease all dealings in SylvaC/Modern SylvaC. 3 months later he was arrested. It could have been so good. |
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Now you know the true story of the SylvaC fakes. |
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The Falconware/SylvaC brands have passed through many hands since the days of Shaw&Copestake and the notion of a "Golden Era" of SylvaC is a very modern construct that has had a detrimental effect on all of the great pottery houses, especially those based in [[Stoke-on-Trent]]. |
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<gallery> |
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File:SylvaC sitting dog.jpg|SylvaC Terrier Sitting Dog Model 1378 |
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File:SylvaC dog-01.jpg|SylvaC Standard Poodle Model 3110 |
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File:SylvaC rabbit.jpg|SylvaC Rabbit Model 990 |
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</gallery> |
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== References == |
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<references /> |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [ |
* [https://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/?s=SylvaC World Collectors' Net: SylvaC] |
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* [http://www.stoke.gov.uk/ccm/museums/museum/2006/collections/ceramics/information-sheets/shaw-and-copestake-ltd-sylvac.en Sylvac dates, company history and reading list] |
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[[Category:Ceramics manufacturers of England]] |
[[Category:Ceramics manufacturers of England]] |
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[[Category:Staffordshire pottery]] |
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Latest revision as of 16:13, 1 December 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2022) |
SylvaC (with a deliberate capital C at the end) is a brand of British ornamental pottery characterised primarily by figurines of animals and Toby Jugs. The SylvaC company briefly ceased production in 1982 although production of SylvaC pieces was resumed in 1998 by the current trademark holder Norman Williams.
The company was founded in 1894 by William Copestake and William Shaw. They gave their names to the fledgling company - Shaw and Copestake. Copestake left in 1895, however, and Richard Hull became Shaw's partner. Hull's son joined in 1936 and in 1938 the Thomas Lawrence Falcon Pottery was bought (which produced pottery with the distinctive 'falcon' mark on it). However, the Shaw and Copestake company maintained its original name right up until the end.
Central to the SylvaC line throughout its history were figurines of animals, and rabbits in particular. Dogs were also popular and virtually every breed ended-up being characterised in pottery. Many variations of Toby Jugs were produced, including 'character' versions which celebrated events or tied into product advertising.
Although many colours and glazes were used, most people remember the distinctive orange or green glazes most.
SylvaC pieces are not rare; however, they are becoming collectable,[1] and the best pieces can fetch high prices. There is a common belief that pieces made after 1982 are fakes or somehow "less" SylvaC than pieces made before then. As with any collectable, there is a vested interest in keeping prices high despite the fact that SylvaC was never particularly expensive to produce and not in any sense rare and certainly never meant to be high art.
The Falconware/SylvaC brands have passed through many hands since the days of Shaw&Copestake and the notion of a "Golden Era" of SylvaC is a very modern construct that has had a detrimental effect on all of the great pottery houses, especially those based in Stoke-on-Trent.
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SylvaC Terrier Sitting Dog Model 1378 -
SylvaC onion 'face pot' -
SylvaC Standard Poodle Model 3110 -
SylvaC Rabbit Model 990
References
[edit]- ^ "Collecting china: bagging a bargain". the Guardian. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
External links
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