This is an example of the naturalistic designs produced by Sylvac in the 1950s and 1960s. While they often chose to imitate tree bark, here they take their inspiration from the leaves themselves. The model occurs in various sizes and glazes including green and dark brown but the mustard colourings are, perhaps, the most pleasing. The smaller versions seem to be marked ‘4215’ as opposed to the numbers seen here ‘4206’.

‘SylvaC’ (the name was written with a capital ‘C’ after registration of the trademark in 1938) was a trade name of Shaw and Copestake, a company formed by Mr. William Shaw and a Mr. Copestake around 1900. Mr. Copestake sold his shares to a Mr. Richard Hull after about six months of business and this partnership continued until Mr. Hull’s death in 1935. He was succeeded by his son, Mr. Richard Hull junior. In the following year, the business became a limited company. Various mergers and acquisitions followed and in the 1950s new premises were built and production expanded considerably continuing until the early 1980s when changing markets and increased competition forced the company into liquidation.