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Deco to Modern News, Info & Links
Please check back from time to time for the latest news, new arrivals etc.
Be sure of what you are buying when bidding/buying on ebay (9th February 2010)
I had a very worried Troika collecter phone me today, who explained that she had bought a Troika Coffin from that infamous auction site Ebay from a Business Power Seller and felt there was something wrong with the vase. I had a look at the auction listing and the vase appeared genuine enough, but she explained that the area around the base was slightly 'sticky' and the colour wasn't exactly the same as the rest of the vase. Looking at the photos on the auction listing I could just make out a slight colour variation but nothing that jumped out as being wrong.
To cut a long story short, I talked her through carrying out a couple of simple tests, and it soon became obvious that the vase had been damaged at some point in its recent history, and it had been repaired/restored. She is now in the process of trying to get a refund from the seller and has had to start the PayPal dispute process. Whilst she is very likely to get her original outlay back, she is extremely unlikely to be refunded the costs of sending the vase back by Special Delivery.
So, if you buy a piece of Troika from ebay and you are a little worried about it, what do you need to look out for?
Closely inspect the vase inside and out. Are there any areas of the glaze or paintwork that look patchy or flat compared with the rest of the vase? Does any part of the vase feel slightly tacky or have a paint odour?
Allow the vase to reach room temperature and use the top of your lip to compare the temperature of the suspect area with the rest of the vase. Is there a slight temperature variation? Many restoration fillers feel warmer to the touch of the upper lip than the original area of ceramic.
Use your fingernail and attempt to scratch off a small area of the suspect overpainting. You will often find that the paints used to cover up a restoration can be easily scratched off. If anything other than dirt comes off, it's been restored. Properly fired ceramic glazes will not come off without agressive scratching with a metal implement.
Use a cotton bud soaked in meths or surgical spirit. Rub on a small area where you suspect overpainting. If the cotton bud picks up the same colour as the pot, then it's been overpainted.
Unlike high glazed ceramics, restoration on Troika can be very hard to spot because of the rough and uneven nature of the body and glaze. Because of the shape and materials used, many pieces won't 'ring' so you can't easily determine whether a piece is repaired just by tapping it.
Bargains can be found on ebay and the other auction sites, but many sellers buy the odd piece from auction and list them on ebay without checking them first. Some have no idea that they are selling a restored or damaged piece because they just don't look, don't know what to look for of plain just don't care. Other sellers are out to deliberately mislead. As a buyer, you have to be comfortable dealing with an anonymous person who may not care about his reputation or his customers. Unlike a 'real' shop or reputable on-line trader who has its reputation to keep and is closely regulated by Trading Standards and the OFT, ebay sellers don't have to worry about this as they can operate under many different anonymous ID's or open a new account if they recieve too much bad feedback or get suspended.
If you want to ensure a problem-free purchase, buy from a reputable specialist dealer. We don't sell anything we wouldn't be happy to own ourselves, and whilst we do ocasionally sell pieces that aren't perfect, we always fully describe any flaws we find, and before we put anything up on the website we ensure it is cleaned and has been thoroughly checked over. I have several pieces which we bought at auction that I just won't sell on because we are not happy with their condition. Someone will get a bargain at a summer car boot sale!!
Last stock update before 2010! (19th December 2009)
We've been desperately trying to buy in new to market pieces over the past couple of months and have managed to secure a further 9 good Troika pieces which were listed in the shop today. A good variety from a very rare Celtic Cross and Wall Pocket Vase to a couple of really nice Marmalade Pots have been added to our stock inventory, and we probably have the largest and widest range of vintage Troika to buy anywhere in the UK!
Prices at auction have continued to rise and the last batch we bought in were 'top dollar'. Is this a good thing? Well, I suppose it shows that Troika is as popular as ever, and is still a good investment but it makes life very difficult for us sometimes! As an example of how dedicated we are to buy these pieces in, we had to travel to Manchester to fetch the Celtic Cross.
We will be posting items out right up to 23rd December for delivery before Christmas. So if you are still looking for that unique and elusive prezzie, we will get that item to you before Christmas as long as you order by 12pm on Tuesday 22nd.
New Troika pieces due in! (1st December 2009)
We have a few new Troika pieces which will be available to buy over the coming week. A really nice blue Coffin vase and a stunning Wheel Lamp base, both by Alison Brigden, and a really nice large Wheel Vase, again in a good blue colour. Due to our commitments visiting the shop and attending auctions trying to buy in new stock, we're not sure exactly when these pieces will be uploaded. So keep checking back and keep your eye on the 'Updates & New Arrivals' scroller in the left hand margin.
Gift Vouchers (1st December 2009)
After many requests, we are now able to offer gift vouchers. These are available in £25, £50, £75 and £100 denominations, and can be used against any purchase from our on-line shop. We cannot currently accept these at the Tetbury shop, but are looking at how we might do so in the future. You can find the link to buy vouchers on our homepage below the welcome area, next to the Valuations product link.
To use the vouchers, you don't need to send them in. Each voucher will have a unique single-use code which relates to its value which you enter in the 'Discount Voucher' box in the Shopping Cart page. Once entered, this will deduct the value of the Gift Voucher from the total order. You just then pay any remainder shown through the normal checkout process.
New Whitefriars just in! (28th November 2009)
We have just bought in a number of new Whitefriars pieces in some good shapes and colours which we will be listing in the shop over the next couple of days. Whitefriars glass of the Geoffrey Baxter period has surged in popularity, and good, honest and undamaged pieces are getting harder to buy.
If there is a piece in a particuar shape or colour you are looking for and we don't currently have it listed for sale, please do get in touch as we have a good network of dealers and collectors who may have exactly what you are looking for.
Last ordering date for on-line orders before Christmas (25th November 2009)
The last ordering day for orders before Christmas is as follows:
- For FREE UK Standard delivery - 5pm THURSDAY 17th DECEMBER
- For Expedited UK delivery - 12pm (lunchtime) TUESDAY 22nd DECEMBER
Due to International delivery times and local customs clearance times, we would recommend international buyers order before FRIDAY 4th DECEMBER, however we cannot guarantee international deliveries due to possible delays outside of the UK.
For orders placed after the above dates we will do our very best to get your order out to you for delivery before Christmas, but we are constrained by the final delivery date of 24th December for the Special Delivery service.
Tetbury shop Christmas and New Year holiday opening times (25th November 2009)
For customers that wish to visit the Tetbury shop (Long Street Antiques) over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, the shop will be opening on a limited basis as follows:
- Christmas Eve - 10am to 2pm
- Christmas Day - CLOSED
- Boxing Day - CLOSED
- Sunday 27th December - CLOSED
- Monday 28th December - CLOSED
- Tuesday 29th December - 10am to 5pm
- Wednesday 30th December - 10am to 5pm
- New Years Eve - 10am to 2pm
- New Years Day - CLOSED
- Saturday 2nd January - 10am to 5pm and normal hours thereafter
The shop can get very busy on Christmas Eve, and we'd always recommend customers try to visit the shop before the 'mad rush' starts.
It's only November. Not sure I want to think about Christmas just yet! (19th November 2009)
Oh dear! We have had a couple of unhappy (potential) customers over the past week or so. Nothing to do with incorrect or late orders or anything like that. The problem is that an item had sold when they came to order it!
We only have one of each item you see in the shop and when it's sold we can't guarantee we will be able to get another, particularly as good Moorcroft and Troika pieces are getting so difficult to buy in at present. We fully understand that making a big money purchase is something that needs to be considered, but we'd urge you to think very carefully about putting off ordering something you really like. Even though it's only November, the Christmas decorations are starting to go up in the shops - we even have a few tasteful decorations in our unit at the Tetbury shop - and people are starting to think about buying that special and elusive present.
Talking of the shop, quite a few of our pieces are on display at Unit 52, Long Street Antiques in Tetbury. You can identify these by a large yellow banner flash at the end the item description. We'd recommend that if you want to 'mail order' one of these pieces that you contact us either by phone or email. We can then check and confirm the item is available, and reserve it for you (maximum of 24 hours) until you can place the order on-line. There may be a slightly longer delivery time for pieces at the shop as we only visit twice per week. If you have an urgent requirement please contact us before placing the order as we will always try to accomodate, though we may have to apply a small delivery surcharge to the order if we have to drop everything to dash to the shop to collect, as it's a 90 mile 2 hour round trip!
New Troika stock due in time for Christmas! (9th November 2009)
We have had something of a challenge over the past few months buying in Troika - it just hasn't been appearing at auction, and with the closeure of the Bonhams saleroom in Bath, we no longer have the Wales and West Country Ceramics sale to stock up from!
We have been working hard scouring the auction rooms across the UK and have managed to buy in a good range of small wheel vases and a few larger pieces. Prices at auction though are still climbing, obviously spurred on by people speculating to sell on via the on-line auction sites and by the 'promotion' of Troika on TV programmes such as Dickinsons Real Deal, Flog-It and Bargain Hunt!
Deco to Modern probably have the largest variety of Troika available to buy on-line or if you prefer to view in person before you buy, a wide selection of pieces are available at our retail unit in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. We are doing our best to maintain our competitive pricing, and you can always be assured of the best standards of quality and service from us.
Keep checking back to view our New Arrivals 'scroller' in the left hand column of the website as we hope to have the new pieces fully checked, photographed and added to the site this week.
New Whitefriars & those fake Bricklayers (20th September 2009)
We have just added a few really nice pieces of Whitefriars Glass to our Whitefriars category page. We have managed to secure a couple more small Drunken Bricklayer vases, one in the rare and highly sought after Indigo and one in the popular Tangerine colours. We have also added a beautiful Aubergine coloured Volcano vase, a Tangerine Bottle vase with original label, a really pretty Onion vase and an unusual Random Strapped vase, both in Kingfisher Blue. All of these vases date to the late 1960's and early 1970's and were designed by the iconic Geoffrey Baxter.
Now, we have been accutely aware of fake Whitefriars Drunken Bricklayers and Hooped vases for some time. Until yesterday I had never actually seen one in the flesh, though I had seen them being offered as genuine pieces on ebay and other on-line sites. Well, we were at the Shepton Mallet fair yesterday, and saw three 'dealers' offering fake Drunken bricklayers on their 'general collectables' pitches. I must state that none of the 'specialist' dealers had them. These fakes to the uninitiated can be hard to spot but there are good tel-tales, particularly the pattern of dimples in the front of the Bricklayer which can't be 'sorted' after the vase has been moulded. The Pontil marks on these fakes are also a giveaway as they are not ground and polished but are moulded in. However it probably wouldn't be impossible for an unscrupulous 'dealer' (read crook) to get the Pontil 'fixed'.
We have links on our Drunken Bricklayer product pages to a couple of external sites which give some good detail on spotting the fakes. These can be found here: Whitefriars Fake Drunken Bricklayers Info and Deceptive Drunken bricklayer Vases. We can assure any prospective buyer that all our pieces are real and as described. We have our reputation to consider, and couldn't display these at the Tetbury shop if they were 'dubious'!! Shop safe and with a reputable dealer!
Quicker and easier purchasing! (15th September 2009)
Today we have implemented a 'single page' checkout process to make the buying process easier and quicker. All the information you need to enter as a new customer is on one page, and for existing customers you just need to login and click our Terms and Conditions acceptance. Payment selection is also on this page, and you can select from Credit/Debit card (processed through RBS Worldpay), Bank Transfer or Cheque. Selecting Worldpay will take you across to RBS Worldpays secure server as usual to enter your card details completely off our site.
Please contact us if you have any issues when using this new checkout process - we have completed thorough testing but we are only human and may have missed something!!
Customer Login to review orders (10th August 2009)
We have today added the facility for all currently registered customers, whereby you can enter your login details to review all past and current orders. You will be able to check on the current status of any order and see the dispatch date and tracking number. You can also make a customer order query directly from the Order Information page.
To login, enter your registered email address and password in the 'Login to Your Account' box in the left hand column of the website (under the 'New Arrivals' and Shopping Cart' boxes). If you have forgotten your login password, click on the 'Forgotten Password' link under the password request box and your password will be sent to your registered email address.
We are always trying to improve our customers experience and hope you will find this facility useful.
Many new Troika pieces arriving week commencing 22nd June 2009 (17th June 2009)
We have just bought in a quantity of excellent Troika pieces ranging from Coffin vases and Marmalade Pots, through Wheel vases to Lamp bases. We will be photographing and listing these beginning next week (22nd June). Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are looking for something particular as we may have exactly what you are after!
Troika is getting very scarce on the open market and we are travelling further afield to secure top quality pieces. We are adding new pieces weekly, and if you have Troika to sell, from a single piece through to a large collection, please contact us for an offer.
Deco to Modern featured in the 'Seaside Special' edition of Collect It! magazine (15th June 2009)
Deco to modern were asked to provide photographs and 'expert advice' for the July 'Seaside Special' edition of Collect-It! Magazine which went on sale on 15th June. The article is a brief beginners guide on collecting Troika but gives us excellent exposure and places us as one of the top suppliers of Troika ceramics in the country.
Troika fakes 'explosion' on popular auction sites! (16th January 2009 - updated 23rd January 2009)
** 26th January 2009 Antiques Trade Gazette article on Troika fakes **
We have been contacted by a couple of people who have purchased pieces of Troika from the on-line auction site Ebay. They were concerned that these pieces didn't seem 'right' and were concerned that they were fakes. Examination of the pieces in question proved that they were in fact recently painted biscuit-ware ceramic with fake base marks and signatures.
The issue of fake pieces has come to a head recently due to the sheer quantity of pre-decorated biscuit-ware forms that are being sold from the Donaldson collection. When the Troika pottery closed down back in 1983, a quantity of the contents of the pottery was purchased by Neville and Anne Donaldson. This included moulds and more importantly all of the undecorated biscuit-ware ceramic forms that were the basis of the whole Troika Art Pottery design. Many of these pieces are collectable in their own right, and most avid Troika collectors have one or two pieces. However, when prices started to rise significantly, unscrupulous con-merchants found that they could pass off low value undecorated wares as much more valuable original pieces by the application of paint and felt tip pen.
Until recently, these fakes have been quite rare, however the Donaldsons have started selling ever larger quantities of their biscuit-ware collection on Ebay, and these are being bought up in large numbers by these con merchants who have 'perfected' their technique of painting, signing and then selling to unwary buyers on ebay and Amazon.
Some of these fakes are actually quite 'passable', especially if you do not have another piece to directly compare the quality, technique and markings with. But buyers need to be aware that any piece not painted by one of the genuine Troika decorators is worthless, and in fact is illegal to sell on!
So, how can you check? Well, for vases, you need to check the colour, coverage and quality of the titanium white high-gloss glaze used on the inside of the vases. This should be hard and very shiny. It should NOT look like paint and should have an even coverage. Look for faint crazing in the glaze which will show it is the real deal. Also, many genuine pieces have a slight blue tinge around the lip of the vase where the high gloss white glaze meets the edge colour.
Look at the body. Look for brush strokes or overpainting. Genuine pieces won't have this. On things like Spice jars, Chimney Vases, Slab Vases which have a smooth edge, this should be in a gloss glaze, usually white, blue or brown/bronze. It shouldn't look like paint! Test to see if any of the colour comes off. Use a mild solvent such as Isopropyl Alcohol on a piece of white kitchen towel. You should see NO colour on the towel.
The base of Troika is usually unglazed. Exceptions are pieces that have a recessed base in which case these will be in a gloss glaze. The base should show its age and not be pristine. These genuine pieces are 25+ years old and should have dirt and wear.
The base marks are a real giveaway, but for the novice collector it is really difficult to tell a fake from an original. Each decorator had their own style of writing the base marks, and not just in their monogram. The way each decorator forms the letters of Troika, Cornwall, St Ives and England (not all these will be on every vase mind you) alongside how the monogram is written will prove beyond doubt whether a piece is fake or not.
The seller(s) on ebay are currently under investigation. If you believe you have purchased a fake, please contact us and send us a couple of high resolution photo's and we will try and identify whether it is a fake or genuine. You will also need to tell us the ebay or Amazon seller ID. But remember, if you have been unfortunate enough to have purchased a fake, you are not legally allowed to sell it on! We would recommend anyone who has inadvertantly bought one of these pieces to contact the Police and Trading Standards, and if you have paid by PayPal or your Credit card to try and get your money back.
To protect yourself from buying a fake on ebay, we would recommend that you don't actually buy from this venue, but buy from a specialist dealer! But you will think that we would say that, so if you must, check out the sellers feedback. Look at the listing and see whether it is a 'Private' listing where the user ID's are not available after the auction ends. The con merchants do this to ensure buyers cannot communicate with each other when they realise they have a fake, or can't warn others that they have bought a fake! Most of these listings are of short duration, 3 days or less. The reason is that it takes time for Ebay to react to Fraudulent listing reports and the auction will be over and the buyer probably will have paid by the time ebay get round to investigating! If you have ANY doubt, for the sake of your wallet, don't bid!
UPDATE - Below are two vases offered at PF Windibank's sale on 31st January 2009. We have contacted them to remove these from sale, however they have now just updated the description to say Restored. These vases shown below are of a very poor quality and it can clearly be seen that the colours are wrong and looking closely, you can actually see that the interior isn't correctly glazed. The worry here is that these fakes are now knowingly being sold on by reputable auction houses, using their 'buyer beware' clause.
Lot 59 PF Windibank Auctioneers Lot 60 PF Windibank Auctioneers
You can be assured that any pieces offered by us have been checked and are guaranteed to be genuine. We offer a full money back guarantee and are governed by the EU Distance Selling Regulations. Many of our pieces are available to view before you buy at the Tetbury shop, and we just couldn't do that if we sold fakes. And our reputation is too important to us.
Remember, if you believe you have bought a fake, contact us for advice and we will try to validate it for you and offer advice on how to get your money back.
Items on display at our Tetbury shop unit
Some items available in our web shop are on display at our retail unit at Long Street Antiques in Tetbury. These items are clearly marked with a yellow banner in the item description.
Should you wish to purchase one of these items, we request you contact us by telephone or email so we can confirm its availability, reserve the piece for you, and advise on dispatch time. To minimise our impact on the environment, we visit the shop once a week and collect items for dispatch then. Should you require an item urgently, we can collect and ship within 48 hours but a delivery surcharge will apply.
Discount Vouchers & Voucher Codes
Some of our customers have queried that when they 'checkout' after selecting their items to purchase, there is an option to enter a discount code.
From time to time, we run promotions such as money off your order, free postage etc. If you are a previous registered customer, you will be on our email mailing list and will receive an e-voucher when a promotion is running. If you have not bought through us previously, you can still register for our e-mailing list by completing our enquiry form, fill in your details and select 'other' as enquiry type and type 'Please add me to your e-mailing list' or similar text in the 'Enquiry detail' box. We will then send you details of offers or promotions which may be of interest to you. If you also include details of your area of interest (eg Clarice Cliff, Troika etc) we can make sure you only receive information that is relevant.
Recommended Reading:
- Troika Ceramics of Cornwall by George Perrot
- Troika Pottery St Ives by Carol Cashmore
- Collecting Moorcroft Pottery by Robert Prescott-Walker
- Moorcroft (Revised Edition 1897-1993) by Paul Atterbury
- The Complete Clarice Cliff by Francis Joseph
- Comprehensively Clarice Cliff by Greg Slater
- Charlotte Rhead; Potter & Designer by Bernard Bumpus
Links:
Digital Museum of Cornish Ceramics
An excellent resource for researching Troika Pottery. The spirit of the museum is to provide information for pottery lovers and researchers about the many Cornish potteries and the potters, decorators and ceramic designers who work or have worked in Cornwall. Special attention is given to marks and signatures to help researchers with identification wherever possible.
Tetbury's PREMIER antiques centre, with over 40 dealers offering furniture, silver, ceramics and collectables. Deco to Modern selected Long Street Antiques as their retail outlet, and you can visit us at Unit 52
Page updated Tuesday 9th February 2010
