This guide
provides a method to determine whether a particular
piece of pottery that purports to be made by
the Nelson McCoy Pottery is authentic, or whether
it is a fake or a reproduction. There is a
detailed discussion, and many pictures, of
fakes and reproductions on the Society web
site at: mccoypotterycollectorssociety.org.
There are
very many fakes and reproductions on the market
today. Ebay, for example, has many pieces of
pottery on auction every day that are not authentic.
When you are looking at a particular piece
of pottery that appeals to you, and the seller
says it is a McCoy, or says that it is marked “McCoy”,
the first question you should ask yourself
is, what is the seller trying to do. Obviously,
it is to sell the piece, but remember that
words are cheap. It is up to you to convince
yourself, using more than the seller’s
words, that the piece is really an authentic
McCoy.
In making
your determination you should be aware that
there is a big different between the two types
of fraudulent pieces. The first is a fake.
Fakes are simply pieces that are marked with
a certain pottery trademark, but that
pottery never made that piece. For example,
there exists a Little Red Riding Hood cookie
jar, that has the McCoy mark on it, but the
Nelson McCoy Pottery never made a Little Red
Riding Hood cookie jar. What unscrupulous people
do in their attempt to defraud buyers is, select
a jar of their choice and make a mold of it,
with the original mark removed, if any, and
replace it with the McCoy mark. The modified
mold results in a cookie jar that has a McCoy
mark on it. Some unsuspecting buyers assume
that the jar is authentic because it marked
McCoy. If you did not know that the Nelson
McCoy Pottery never made the jar, you could
be tempted to buy it.
The second
type of fraudulent piece is a reproduction. A reproduction
is a piece that a pottery did originally make. The
reproduction looks like the original piece, in both
the overall shape and mark. When reproduced pieces
have an original looking mark, the intent of the
maker is simply to defraud unsuspecting buyers. Although
reproductions have the overall shape and mark of
an authentic piece, they are always smaller
than the authentic piece they appear to be. The reason
for this is that reproductions are produced using
an authentic piece to make the mold from which the
reproductions come. Because clay shrinks when it
dries, and shrinks even more when it is “fired” in
the kiln, that causes reproductions to be smaller
than the original. Reproductions are always smaller
and somewhat lighter than the original.
We know that
fakes and reproductions are numerous and more are
being produced everyday. The problem collectors have
is, how to avoid buying these fraudulent pieces.
The only way to avoid fakes is to know what pieces
of pottery that were actually made by the Nelson
McCoy Pottery (or any other pottery of interest).
If you find a piece of pottery that is marked “McCoy”,
and it is not pictured in any of the McCoy reference
books, the chances are that it is a fake. Remember,
fakes may have an authentic looking mark on them,
but regardless of that, they are fakes.
The way to avoid
a reproduction is to measure the longest dimension
of a suspect piece, and compare it to the same dimension
of an authentic piece. A reproduction is indicated,
if the measurement of the suspect piece is six percent,
or more, smaller than the same measurement of an
authentic piece. For pieces that are on ebay, acquiring
the exact height of a vase or the exact length of
a planter that is for sale may be difficult. Sellers
of fraudulent pieces typically know why you are asking
for a measurement, and they usually respond with
answers like “almost” or “nearly”.
If a seller does not respond to your questions in
a satisfactory manner, it would be better to avoid
doing business with them. This is especially true
if you see other pieces in their listings that you
know are reproductions or fakes. There are quite
a few ebay sellers that routinely list fakes and
reproductions.
The Society web
sitegives a list of measurements of authentic pieces
that have known to have been reproduced. In addition,
the measurements of some authentic pieces are also
found in the McCoy reference books. |
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