© 2000 National Shelley China Club (NSCC)

Forged Chintz Patterns appear in England

& onto eBay auctions!

“Hello all:

Did anyone get a picture of the Maroon Chintz Leaf shaped dish on e-bay. I looked but could not find a picture. I believe it to be similar to a piece we saw two weeks ago. Someone had two pieces, a flat tray we thought was for milk and sugar and a small leaf-shaped dish. The small dish was obviously made as a saucer for something like a mustard or honey pot. The chintz pattern reminded us of the famous black chintz cup but with a maroon background. Any information appreciated.”

Regards, Pam & Howard

From this rather innocent email message on the Shelley Net, some rather interesting developments have occurred. There have been several reports of forged Shelley china pieces in the past but never so many, so fast. About January 11th, several unusual chintz items, represented as true Shelley china, came up on eBay auctions The auctions proceeded to the final seconds and several excited bidders, picked up one or more of the pieces. Gene Loveland happened to act faster than others so he was the first to physically obtain his piece (see below). The sweet dish in the shape of a leaf had a never-before seen chintz pattern applied over a red-brown or maroon base color. The pattern colors were very nice but until it was in the hands of a well-qualified collector, there probably was at least some (Continued)

(click to see pattern detail)

Gene Loveland’s maroon background, leaf-shape “Camellias and Roses” chintz forgery

concern by the buyers, about these new chintz discoveries. Gene inspected his piece and noted several inconsistencies with the quality you expect from Shelley china:

 1. The gold edge was roughly painted and irregular in width;

2. The green Shelley backstamp, very well done, however it was silk-screened OVER the glaze on the bottom of the piece, and;

3. The background paint was glossier than normal and uneven;

4. There were no pattern numbers on the back (by itself not critical).

Gene’s experience in collecting and publications was enough to question the item and alert others about the firm selling these pieces. Gene contacted the seller and several conversations took place. The seller, Cheshire Trading, was very cooperative and upon learning of Gene’s suspicions alerted other auction buyers, including myself, with this message:

“It is with much regret that we write to you. It has come to our attention that the trinket dish you bought from us is a fake! We are totally devastated by this news as we bought the dish from a Shelley dealer in the U.K. The dealer was equally as upset I might add. Naturally we will refund you. We have this morning reported this to the Royal Doulton factory who now own the Shelley name and their legal department is taking up the case. We believe somebody is buying Doulton seconds and adding a chintz print and a surface mounted Shelley stamp. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. Many thanks, Tracey - Cheshire Trading.”

Cheshire immediately offered to refund our money completely. We thought the piece interesting and with some educational value at least.

(click to see pattern detail)

The Leiser’s round version of the same forged piece, this time with blue background.

 So, a very reasonable offer for the piece was made and accepted. When we received our chintz dish, we too examined the piece closely and also noted on ours that the chintz litho was “crunched” together on the curved edges, where skilled Shelley personnel would have carefully cut and fitted the litho together for a smooth final surface. This piece was rumpled AND there was no indication of wear. We and one other buyer will bring our forged pieces to the Portland 2000 convention for close inspection by all. We learned something and think you will too. Forgeries, particularly on expensive items, will only get better. Be educated and aware. Also, this example shows some of the value of a fast-acting network of intelligent Shelley collectors.