The Victorian Trading Company, which specializes in selling Victorian and Edwardian inspired cards, clothing, and decorative items, is offering the following reproductions of naughties and bathing beauties in its current catalogue. The reproductions look to be of good quality and there is no indication where they were made or whether they are marked.
This is a copy of a flipper inspired by the Five Barrison Sisters, a music hall act of the 1890s. When she is flipped over, her bare bottom is exposed.
This is a copy of the turtle lady from the Germany company of Weiss, Kühnert, and Company. Her bare buttocks are revealed when the top of the turtle shell is opened.
This bathing beauty flower frog was originally produced by the Sitendorf Porcelain Factory, although other German companies produced similar items.
Is there a way to tell if its an original? My dad just brought home the turtle lady from my grandfather's house. Grandpa says it's an original but how can we tell for sure? Any idea of the value? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi! The repros first started showing up after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, so if your lady predates that, you can be pretty sure she is the real deal. The difference between the orignal and repro turtle ladies are pretty subtle, and I would really have to see a good sharp picture of yours. To make things more confusing, they were first reproduced in Germany and the quality of the bisque and decoration was BETTER than those of the original. Now most of the repros are coming out of Belgium and the quality is WORSE than the original's. On top of that, the turtle lady was a popular naughty novelty, and German (and Japanese) makers produced her in both bisque and china and in a number of variations and sizes. However, if yours resembles the one above, I would value her for insurance at between $125 to $175.
ReplyDeleteHi, I have an original turtle lady as pictured above that i'd like to sell. any suggestions?
ReplyDelete