Pitfalls, Mistakes and Imitations
A few traps lie in wait when reading base inscriptions - semi-legible numbers, wrong numbers, and outright fakes.
Semi-legible inscriptions
Obscured by glaze; the number is actually 119/8M not 19/8M
Collection; Stuart Lawson
Badly written; this scrawl is 235. The eBay vendor of this piece read it - not unreasonably - as 'ZJ5'
Badly written; matching with other pieces of similar shape identifies this as 313/9.
Ground away; grinding the base has almost obliterated part of 315/5.
Mis-readings
The suffix letter 'S' (for Small) and the number '5' (5 inch) are frequently confused, particularly when the result looks like a date, eg '1925' for '192S' and '1945' for 194S'.
It's usually easy to tell the difference though. The letter 'S' is incised in a single stroke whereas the top of number '5' is clearly a separate stroke. Also, a number suffix always has a slash or dash separating it from the shape number, whereas a letter suffix usually has no separator.
Dated 1935? No - numbered 193 s.
Mistakes at the pottery
Premier Pottery Preston was not a relaxed workplace. The pressure was on. Incising signatures and shape numbers was commonly done late in the day, by anyone available, and mistakes happened. Such mistakes present a problem for cataloguing. An unexpected or anomalous number cannot necessarily be dismissed as a 'mistake', and while some shapes are sufficiently plentiful and well-documented that a mistaken example can be confidently recognised, that's not always the case.
Pieces with wrong numbers were typically stray one-off errors, but there were also occasional bungles in assigning numbers when the numbering was first being set up. Two shapes would be inadvertently assigned the same number, then when the mistake was realised one of them would be given a new number - but not before a few pieces had been made. For example,
Early Series 28 was assigned to two shapes, one of which (the popular 'ginger-jar' vase) then became Early Series
42.
Collection; Stuart Lawson
The shape is
Pamela 1 but this piece is numbered
3.
Pamela 3 is similar but round-mouthed. The two were probably hard to tell apart when standing upside-down.
Caught in time - '57' corrected to '56' while still on the pottery bench.
(for a more significant alteration see
Pamela 14)
Imitations and Fakes
Remued's characteristic glazes are hard to reproduce convincingly but it's been attempted.
This piece is not Remued, despite the signature, although perhaps it is not a deliberate 'fake' either. The name Remued has become so identified with its characteristic drip-glaze-and-gumnut style that it is often taken to be a generic name. Items are offered for sale as 'Pates remued', 'Diana remued', and even in the US 'van Briggle remued'. Maybe the maker of this piece was merely striving for a characteristic style (and maybe not, too!).
Imitation.
Not signed or numbered as Remued, base stamped 'Made in Japan'
Mark Jackson & Amanda Warriner
And finally - these are neither fakes nor imitations. Premier was by no means the only pottery to use applied decoration of gumleaves and twig-handles. Here are two fine examples by Florenz. Such pieces are usually signed 'Florenz', but not always, and they are sometimes mistaken for Remued.
Deco Downunder, Albany WA
Collection; The Peoples Potteries
Other 'PPP' brands
Premier Pottery Preston is not the only pottery to have used the letters 'PPP'. Several others are known. Their styles of pottery are quite different however, as is the style of the PPP insignia.
The other PPP most commonly confused with Premier Pottery Preston.
Found in the US but not in Australia; presumably an American pottery. Pieces have shape numbers which can fall in the same range as Remued and PPP. Base inscriptions are impressed not incised. The glaze is usually a plain single colour but examples are found with sponged glazes, not unlike some of Premier's sponged glazes.
A range of tableware, made in Japan and marketed in the US
.
The Premier Pottery Preston monogram.
Studio pottery from New Zealand
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