Author Topic: Does anyone recognise this wee lad? (Read 10208 times)

a40ty · « **on:** November 02, 2007, 07:38:09 AM »

Good morning / evening all!
Hope you can help me.
My Mum is curious about this figure which she inherited from her MIL years ago. It may come from the US as MIL lived there round about 1920 but it could also come from Europe.
Apologies for the photos, had no experience with a digital camera when I took these!

a40ty · « **Reply #1 on:** November 02, 2007, 07:41:01 AM »

Can see I haven't had sufficient

Here's the marking

Lustrousstone · « **Reply #2 on:** November 02, 2007, 07:50:59 AM »

Morning Aine. From the mark it looks like it might be a Bow or Chelsea knock off, but an old one. I might go with Japan. Real marks are generally on the base under the glaze. TC might have more clue that me

And your pix are bluidy gud

a40ty · « **Reply #3 on:** November 02, 2007, 07:54:33 AM »

Ta! I thought they were awful

Lustrousstone · « **Reply #4 on:** November 02, 2007, 01:15:47 PM »

Don't take it as gospel though... just my thoughts

josordoni · « **Reply #5 on:** November 02, 2007, 01:46:04 PM »

That's what is often advertised as a Samson mark from mid 19th century - Samson reproduced figurines from many of the famous porcelain companies of the earlier 18th century, particularly Meissen, Chelsea and Bow, and is highly collected in his own right. He often used the Chelsea gold anchor as his mark, and it would usually be found on the back of the base as your figurine.

HOWEVER, he was then imitated by other German makers at the end of the 19th century, and it is extremely difficult to tell the fake from the faker....

Original Chelsea would be soft paste porcelain - the glaze sits on the surface of the clay, and doesn't completely fuse to the body, hard paste, in use on the continent, is glassier and the glaze fuses totally to the body. Soft paste is also much warmer to the touch than hard paste. If the base porcelain is hard paste then it is not original Chelsea. If it is hard paste, then it COULD be Samson or could be one of a multitude of ~~North~~ German factories.

josordoni · « **Reply #6 on:** November 02, 2007, 01:47:49 PM »

Aine, looking at your pics again, is that a mark in the middle of the underside? I can't magnify it large enough - can you crop it and post it again for me please? At this distance, it looks like a Worcester mark, but that doesn't make any sense at all....

a40ty · « **Reply #7 on:** November 02, 2007, 01:51:54 PM »

Hi Lynne,
Thanks so much for the info so far! Will go, crop and magnify as much as poss. It is a mark, yes but very, very faint. See you in a bit!

josordoni · « **Reply #8 on:** November 02, 2007, 02:03:30 PM »

Thanks Kev.... my useless German geography...

I have always mentally placed all the famous ceramic places as being Northern German.... DOH!

Which considering

a) I know Dresden was close to East Germany
b) I think the Black Forest (which I think is near to Bavaria, yes? ) is in the South West

tells you something about my brain...

(off to look properly at a map of Germany....)

a40ty · « **Reply #9 on:** November 02, 2007, 02:33:13 PM »

Here are 2 pics of the base.
As I say, the marking is very faint; it's a little clearer when you "negativise" it but as I wouldn't know how to read it, it doesn't help

Good afternoon Kev!

May I pick your brains about a couple of other wains? Will start a new topic if that is best...............

josordoni · « **Reply #10 on:** November 02, 2007, 02:44:02 PM »

I can't make it out either.... can you have a look with a glass, and see if it says Made in Germany in a circle round the inside of the outer ring? It has the look of a lot of Gemma and other German souvenir ware from around 1910-20

edit: I mean the round circle mark has the look of Gemma, not necessarily the figure.

Lustrousstone · « **Reply #11 on:** November 02, 2007, 03:52:09 PM »

How good is your macro? It might be worth getting as close as your macro will focus and trying again. Don't zoom though.

Looks like I might have been on the right lines if wrong country

a40ty · « **Reply #12 on:** November 02, 2007, 04:08:45 PM »

I can't make it out either.... can you have a look with a glass, and see if it says Made in Germany in a circle round the inside of the outer ring?

How good is your macro? It might be worth getting as close as your macro will focus and trying again. Don't zoom though.

I'm afraid it is at Mum's in Scotland so I can't have a look today. May be going over at the weekend, will take camera with me.

I'm a bit thick

.. how do you macro without using the zoom?

josordoni · « **Reply #13 on:** November 02, 2007, 04:12:53 PM »

You press the little button with the flower on it. That will put you in macro mode, so you can get a lot closer than usual. If you use the zoom button though, you may lose definition and you don't want that.

a40ty · « **Reply #14 on:** November 02, 2007, 04:17:33 PM »

Thanks Lynne, another of life's mysteries cleared up!

dantheman · « **Reply #15 on:** November 02, 2007, 04:42:20 PM »

Quote from: Lustrousstone on November 02, 2007, 03:52:09 PM

How good is your macro? It might be worth getting as close as your macro will focus and trying again. Don't zoom though.

Looks like I might have been on the right lines if wrong country

Quote from: Lustrousstone on November 02, 2007, 03:52:09 PM

How good is your macro? It might be worth getting as close as your macro will focus and trying again. Don't zoom though.

Looks like I might have been on the right lines if wrong country

I didn't know that the little flower did that ! I will give it a go.

Lustrousstone · « **Reply #16 on:** November 02, 2007, 07:01:05 PM »

Dan and Aine read your manuals (Dan that's the funny little book with lots of words in that came with your camera - the one men never read

) and they should tell you how close the macro will focus and the range it will focus over. Can be more useful than a magnifying glass cos then you can blow your nice sharp pic up some.

a40ty · « **Reply #17 on:** November 02, 2007, 09:14:51 PM »

Ahem. ( Where is the smiley for a polite cough??)
I read the manuals if I can find them once my BH has looked, given up and then thrown them away...
In my defence I have to say that nowhere in the manual to my super shiny ( got-it-for-my-birthday-last-weekend

) CyberShot from S**y does it mention not zooming once you have macro'ed

But now I know, thank you!
Will macro Mum's bits at the weekend

josordoni · « **Reply #18 on:** November 02, 2007, 11:10:11 PM »

I can zoom in a bit on macro, but you have to be careful to check the focus - I have got into the habit of holding the button half down to centre the focus, and on my camera that also tells you if it is in focus or not, if it is you can then press the button right down, if not you let go and move about a bit...

a40ty · « **Reply #19 on:** November 05, 2007, 07:09:45 AM »

Tried the macro yesterday, worked a treat