W A Pottery Mark with Crown - {ed. Fake Hummel Figures}

by Diana Ryan
(STOCKPORT ENGLAND)

W A Pottery Mark with Crown - {ed. Fake Hummel Figures}:- I have an old figurine of a young girl holding a basket of flowers (see picture).

Below the bottom has a ladies crown and underneath says W & A then what looks like earlove or girlove can you tell me what make it is and how old it is too.

I bought it for a £1 at a car boot do you have any idea what it is worth. They had a boy too but it was broken in two halves so it went in the bin it was in a bad condition.

Thank you very much, I look forward to your reply.

I tried to put a photo up it would not go onto your site for some reason she is also holding a four leaf clover she is stood in front of a fence yellow headscarf white socks and shoes and a reddy orange dress the shoes are black the basket is full of four leaf clovers the crown looks like queen elizabeth.

Managed to get the picture after all thank you.

Diana

reply by Peter (admin) below - just scroll down...

HOW I MADE MONEY FROM BITS & BOBS OF OLD CHINA .....more

Reply by Peter (admin)

To:- W A Pottery Mark with Crown - {ed. Fake Hummel Figures}

Hi Diana

Thanks for your query and for uploading your photo successfully.

**IMPORTANT APOLOGY AND CORRECTION TO THIS ANSWER!!**

My answer to this query just shows you how a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I originally wrote the WRONG answer, which you can see below the red update here.

The right answer is here:- Hummel Fakes and Look-alikes

The figurine shown above is not a cheap Japanese import at all,
but a figurine from high class East German makers WAGNER & APEL. During a period of the illustrious history of this company, they went through a slight mass-production era under the Soviet State control - but are now back in the original family ownership. Good luck to them. My apologies to Diana who picked up this mistake and let me know. My excuse is Diana didn't sent me a photo of the crown mark, and from the description, I presumed Arnart.

Below is my original answer, which would be right if the pottery mark had been the Arnart crown 'made in Japan' sticky label instead of the printed W & A WAGNER & APEL label.

You are in possession of a figure by Japanese mass importer Arnart. They branded these 'mock' Hummel figures as being designed by German artist Erich Stauffer. Exactly who he was, and what he actually had to do with the making of them I do not know.

These ('fake') Hummel figurines began production in the mid 1950's.

The figures themselves are sweet enough (if you like 'rip-offs'). However, what makes them interesting to me is they date from a time before Japan became the industrial giants they are now.

In the 1950's they had a reputation as mass producers of 'tat'. Boy, how they changed that around! Since then the world has seen Japan become an esteemed and high quality industrial nation leading the way in many fields.

For that reason alone, your figurine is an interesting object.

Best regards,

Peter (admin)

p.s. The following page is a 'must see' if you are researching fine china - for value and identification:-

Researching the identity and value of antique and vintage fine china.

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