Real or fake?

Genuine, copy, or something else

• Genuine SylvaC. Original factory pieces have the weight, mould sharpness and glaze quality of Shaw and Copestake production. Compare height, the mould number and the overall modelling with a known example in the catalogue — not with a listing title.
• Copies made from original pieces. Some reproductions were taken from genuine examples. Relatively few of the thousands of original designs are known to have been copied, but animals are the group collectors should treat with the most care.
• The shrink effect. A copy moulded from an original is slightly smaller than the piece it was taken from. If a “match” is a few millimetres short of the recorded height, that can be a warning — especially together with a soapy glaze or a mushy mould.
• Modern SylvaC. Later or revival pieces, and items made after the Sylvan Works closed, are not the same as period factory output. A modern mark or a too-crisp, too-white body should send you to measurements and to a known original.
• Incorrectly attributed pieces. Plenty of English novelty pottery is sold as SylvaC because it is green, or an animal, or “looks like a rabbit”. Attribution follows mould, mark and modelling — not colour alone.
• False backstamps. A printed SylvaC stamp can be added to a piece that never had one. Treat an unexpected, too-fresh, or badly placed stamp as a question, not as proof.
• Particularly vulnerable animals. Popular animal models — rabbits, dogs, cats and the better-known sitting figures — are copied more often than obscure vases. If the price is far below the usual range for that mould, slow down.
• Other pottery called SylvaC. Continental copies, unmarked novelty ware, and pieces from other Stoke firms are routinely listed under the SylvaC name online. If it is not in the catalogue and the modelling is wrong, it may simply be something else.