Hi,
I've got the Collecting Carlton Ware book, 1999, by David Serpell. There's 3 pages on Reissues, Reproductions and Counterfeits.
p.24.
"Some moulds and patterns used to make lustre designs in the 1920s and 1930s (notably some of the popular Chinoiserie patterns like Mikado and New Mikado also Paradise Bird and Tree) were reused in the 50s by Wiltshaw and Robinson/Carlton Ware Ltd., and again in the early 1990s by Grosvenor Ceramcs, though with a reduced pattern. Similarly cruet designs first produced in the 1930s were made again during the Arthur Wood era of the 1070s, and again in 1990/1 by Grosvenor."
none of these are fakes or reproductions.
p25.
"Counterfeits"...... " unscrupulous individuals using old moulds of Carlton Ware and then reproducing these items for sale with a fraudulent backstamp. These include a large number of the celebrated Guinness advertising pieces of the 1950s, with the "Zoo", and both wall-mounted and table-top toucans being targetted;, some cruets, among them the Crinoline Lady set; a number of the more collectable novelty items, including the JCB teapot and the Mephistopholes or Red Devil tankard.
All of these are counterfeit.."
"in general...all..suffer from loss of definition in their moulding and paintwork is of a poorer standard....in the case of the red devil mug, the counterfeits show the devil in black trousers.....he was originally dressed in red.2
"intent to decieve is clear from the carefully reproduced W&R Crown backstamp on the base - .... this mark had been superseded by the time the devil came out - and it should not be on top of the glaze!"
"Early in 1997, after an undercover operation....Bob Snow was arrested, charged and convicted of deceptively producing Carlton Ware and other valuable, collectable pottery. There is strong suspicion that this counterfeiting is still going on..."
Don't know if that helps - if you've got any specific questions, please ask!
