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‘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.

Sylvac were known for imaginative glazed wares, particularly animals, but this design with its reminiscences of the Orient in both form and decoration is rather more unusual and particularly pleasing. These jars were produced in a variety of colours but the combination here of green and black, loosely recalling Chinese ‘Famille Noire’, is probably the most successful.

Chippendale glass was designed and patented in the USA in the early years of the 20th Century and imported into Britain. The moulds were purchased by a Charles Pratt and Davidson’s used them to produce this range of glassware purchasing the exclusive rights to manufacture Chippendale glass when they realised its popularity. Various forms were included in the range and manufactured by the pressed glass technique for which the firm had become famous. The mould marks of this pair can be clearly seen at the bases (see image 4). The clean angular lines are typical of art deco designs and Davidson’s produced here a model which was both practical and decorative.

The Empire Porcelain Company was established in 1896 at the Empire Works in Stoke Road, Hanley, Stoke on Trent. A wide range of pottery and porcelain was subsequently produced until the factory’s closure in 1967. The various marks include the initials EPC, EP or the word Empire. The form of the mark seen here occurs on the earliest pieces made between 1896 and 1912. Blue ground pieces with mythological scenes were produced in a variety of forms during this period, some decorative, such as ornamental vases, and some more practical, as here : modest but graceful accessories for the Edwardian drawing room.

The town of Arita in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū island, was a major centre for the production of porcelains in Japan. Best known for blue and white pieces it also produced polychrome wares as well, including the familiar imari colourings. While similar to Imari, the wider palette of colours used here is usually termed ‘Arita’ and the decorative appeal of the style is clear. These bowls probably come from an original set of five and their quality is much above average. Dating is to the Meiji era (1868 - 1912) probably around 1880.

Production of this piece was presumably contemporary with the coronation in 1911 and many similar pieces were made by other factories at the time, more often in a straight sided mug shape. The form here suggests that there might have been an original saucer but none seem to have survived.

The Maruku factory seems to have operated in Japan after the second world war producing modest but good quality wares for export, rather in the style of Noritake pieces. Usually their pieces are marked in addition ‘Made in Japan’ but for some reason not here. The forms, colourings and designs here are quite unusual and while modest, these are good quality decorative items suitable for a contemporary interior.

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In 1954, Alois Scheurich founded the Scheurich Keramik factory, having been in partnership before then in the firm ‘Scheurich and Greulich’ (S&G) since 1927. While founded later than many of its competitors, Scheurich grew to become the principal exporter of West German ceramics through until the 1980s and beyond, making vases in a wide variety of shapes and designs. Made in the 1970s, this vase has a retrospective feel recalling Soviet designs from the 1920s and 1930s. The figures seem to be grouped in a stylised market scene with various pitchers containing perhaps wine or oil. The symbolism is unclear unless it refers to the vase itself which could be regarded as recalling the form of the Greek amphora. But whatever the ‘meaning’ we have an imposing and unusual decorative item here which stands rather apart from many of the other pieces produced by its manufacturer.

Dolls such as these were made for display, sometimes at the special ‘Doll’s Day’ or ‘Girls Day’ festival held annually on the third of March and termed ‘Hinamatsuri’. The elaborate dress is sometimes known as ‘Hagoromo’ (‘feathered’) and the mask with its fixed expression derives from the well known ‘Noh theatre’, a major form of Japanese musical drama created in the fourteenth century which combines dance, music and song and is still performed today. The actors are all male and play the female roles wearing a lady’s mask.

The craftsmanship of this piece is self evident and it was most likely made in the second half of the C20th. It can stand equally well on its own or as part of a wider collection and would be a desirable acquisition either way.

George Davidson founded the Teams Flint Glass Works in 1867, which later became known as George Davidson & Co. In the 1880s the company began producing pressed glass tableware in a variety of shapes and by the 1920s their designs began to reflect the new Art Deco trends. The firm continued production until the 1980s, closing in 1987. Some of their catalogues still exist and one from the early 1930s shows a piece very similar to this one (see image 11). The colour is known as ‘Topaz Briar’ and the swirling effects resemble other pieces in their ‘cloud glass’ range, a pattern for which the firm was famous.

The colourings and small size of this piece make it an unusual find amongst the Davidson wares which can be seen today and the presence of all three elements (perfect and complete) make it a desirable addition to a collection of twentieth century pressed glass.

The Harrach glassworks is named after Alois Raimund von Harrach (Count Harrach), on whose estate it was founded in Bohemia, in the early eighteenth century. Managed at first by one Elias Muller, the firm traded under a variety of names becoming known as Harrach in the nineteenth century and Harrachov, the name eventually given to the town where the factory was situated, in the twentieth. These opulent vases were a popular part of its range in the nineteenth century, the pattern being produced in a variety of similar shapes and always as shelf ornament pieces. The decoration here is particularly lavish with an attractive use of colour and has survived in excellent condition making these a desirable addition for collectors of Bohemian glass or admirers of nineteenth century glass style generally.

Burslem in Staffordshire was one of the famous six ‘pottery towns’ and immortalised in the novels of Arnold Bennett as ‘Bursley’. The firm Thomas Ford and Sons began its production there in the late nineteenth century, continuing until 1938 when the business was purchased by Oswald Shufflebottom who renamed it Ford & Sons (Crownford) Ltd. The trade name ‘Crownford’ had been adopted quite early on by the Ford family and was kept by the Shufflebottom family until the late 1980s. The ‘Crownford Burslem’ wares were mostly produced in the fashionable Art Deco style during the late 1920s and 1930s and this coffee pot is a fine and representative example of their work.

Bay Ceramics was founded by Eduard Bay in the 1930s and based in Ransbach Baumbach, the heart of the main West German pottery producing region. Their productions included vases in a wide variety of shapes and designs which continued in production until the 1980s. Bodo Mans was amongst their most famous designers working in the 1950s and 1960s. He seems to have concentrated on organic semi abstract designs and ewers in this form, with the same pattern number but in a variety of different glazes, are attributed to him. This monochrome mustard glaze seems particularly attractive and complements the design very successfully producing a striking and decorative item which might enhance a wide variety of interior settings.

Shagreen is a natural hide, typically from shark, stingray or dogfish, worked through special processes to produce a granular surface effect. Known in China and Japan from the earliest times and popular in Europe in the eighteenth century Shagreen enjoyed its greatest popularity in the Art Deco period where it was used as a covering for writing desks and well-dressed cabinetry and smaller items such as the picture frame we have here. The clean lines of this piece and the palette of colours employed fit exactly with the ethos of the Art Deco period and a dating to the 1930s is extremely likely. A luxury item at the time it could be used now to provide enhanced presentation of a favourite image adding to it a hint of true elegance.

Wade Ceramics Ltd was a manufacturer of porcelain and earthenware, headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Founded in 1867, it was run by various members of the Wade family until the death of George Anthony Wade in 1987 after which there was a succession of management buyouts. Despite substantial investment in 2009, the firm eventually went into administration in 2022. Wade produced a wide variety of ceramics, including the well known Wade Whimsies animal figurines. A pair of Art Deco green glazed ‘salts’ are also included in this sale. The ‘Bramble’ design was created in the 1950s and a wide variety of tea service shapes were produced in the pattern. Collectors today can attempt to assemble examples from the whole of the range, towards which these three pieces might provide some assistance.

This is a typical example of the ‘Mandarin’ pattern produced by the Chinese in the late eighteenth century for export to the West where it enjoyed great popularity. The name derives from the male court figures, mandarins, who form such an important component of the designs. The scenes are carefully composed with much charm and rendered in a wide variety of coloured enamels with much emphasis on deep pink (‘Famille Rose’) and iron red. A wide variety of wares were produced in the pattern including vases, bowls, dinner services and tea sets, as here, where there would have been a set of bowls and saucers along with matching serving items. The charm and quality of this piece speaks for itself and presents an excellent and collectible example of this opulent pattern from the eighteenth century.

Maasai and Makonde are ethnic terms used to describe African peoples who live in Tanzania, Mozamique and Kenya, with their own distinctive languages, culture and art. This pair of figures is typical of the wood carvings produced by their craftsmen in the second half of the twentieth century but their quality and size is well above average, the ebony wood finely rendered with much attention to detail and finished with a highly attractive glossy patina. The two figures complement one another well, their heads slightly turned to face one another with their legs turned slightly outwards and their robes flowing almost in mirror image. The abstract style makes them well suited to a contemporary interior where they could prove a striking accessory.

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The firm Steiff was begun by Margarete Steiff in 1880. A seamstress by training Margarete recognised a strong demand for some fabric elephants which she had made and intended for use as pincushions but soon became adopted as toys. Many other animals followed and a felt factory was founded in Giengen, Germany, in 1893 soon to be followed two years later by the first consignment of her wares to Harrods, London. In 1897, Margarete’s nephew Richard joined the firm and went on to design the first plush bear with movable arms and legs for which a substantial order was received of 3000 examples in 1903 from an American buyer who sensed a growing demand for these animals as a result of the US President Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt being shown in a photograph with a young cub in The Washington Post of the previous year. By 1907 a little under one million of these bears were being produced and turnover went on to increase substantially. Steiff bears can be purchased today and the earlier examples are actively sought after by collectors.

In the 1930s, Steiff began to collaborate with the Walt Disney company and characters from their films were reproduced starting, unsurprisingly, with Mickey Mouse and going on to include some of the most famous creations even up to the present day with ‘Nemo’ and ‘Woody’ from Toy Story being recent and popular additions.

The Hedgehog family, comprising Mecki and Micki with their children Macki and Mucki first appeared in 1951 and continued in production until the 1990s. These four characters are often found, sometimes with the characteristic round Steiff tag bearing their name and with the wording ‘Steiff–Original–Marke’ with an arrow pointing to a teddy bear’s head, but other hedgehog models which can be regarded as ‘cousins’ were made for a brief period in the 1960s. The nuclear family, though, comprised these four and they are sometimes illustrated together on postcards. Some of the round tags have additional wording ‘nach Diehl Film’ (‘from/after the film [maker] Diehl’) which refers to a German film company set up by three brothers Ferdinand, Hermann and Paul Diehl in 1937. They specialised in the ‘stop motion’ technique which involves the minute movement of model figures which, when photographed and with the images displayed in quick succession, allows the illusion of movement, now familiar today in the films featuring Wallace and Gromit.

Mecki and his family were popular characters in some of the films the Diehl brothers made and first made their appearance in 1949 designed as mascots for a German periodical called ‘Hor Zu’ which began publication in 1946 and covered radio and television news. Some of the tags attached to members of the family allude to this and Macki’s here reads at the back ‘Redaktionsigel von Hor Zu’ (‘the hedgehog editor of Hor Zu’). This explains the blue stain on Mucki’s skirt which is clearly meant to represent ink. Other members of the family also display marks on their clothes as a sign of being hard at work. Sensing the popularity of these characters, Stieff negotiated an exclusive right to produce dolls of them in 1951 and the hedgehogs became a staple of their output. The Diehls’ last film was made in 1970 and the hedgehogs featured in more than one over the years, becoming much loved characters in Germany during the 1950s and 1960s.

The techniques of production of the figures varied over time as did the attached labels. The earliest were made from 60% wool and 40% cotton with the faces formed from rubber like latex over a straw filling. Such example of these as survive are in rather poor condition. The very latest versions, made from 1968 to 1990 have a different form of chest name tag and a different ‘button’ label. (From the earliest times, Steiff toys had a yellow rectangular label listing the materials used and the country of origin and sometimes the price, attached by a small button marked ‘Steiff’. Unfortunately, these are missing here but the chest tags are intact and in good condition which does not always occur.) Dating of these two examples is therefore midway and probably to the late 1950s or early 1960s and they survive in near pristine condition making them an excellent addition to a collection of Steiff soft toys and a fine memento of almost iconic companions to so many children in post war Germany.