Beware buyers of Troika pottery – it looks like there are fakes being sold on eBay – this means that they will soon make their way into the sale rooms and fairs. Apparently someone has the original Troika molds and is painting them himself!

I first read about these fakes on the Antiques Trade Gazette website which says :

Seasoned buyers told ATG that discrepancies exist between these recently decorated wares and those made by the factory prior to closure. In particular, the colour palette is wrong for the early 1980s period and, when placed side-by-side, the painters’ marks and painted factory signatures differ greatly from originals. The repainted wares also lack the white/cream gloss glaze that one would expect to the interior of a factory-finished piece.

 

I set out to investigate a bit for myself on eBay. The userid in question is “misterphluffy”. When you type this into the advance search option to find all items by a seller you can indeed find this user has an unusually large quantity of Troika for sale – yes this could be someones collection but reading his negative feedback I doubt it. Even more alarming is the text contained in the listings. misterphluffy says:

 I AM RELISTIG THIS TROIKA  GINGER JAR  FREE  FROM  CRACKS  CHIPS  OR  RESTORATION  IT IS 5 INCHES HIGH    SOME IDIOT BY THE HANDLE OF 1708xxxxx bid £500  NOW REFUSES TO PAY  THE UNDER BIDDER BY THE HANDLE OF  pcbluexxxxx  ALSO  BID £500  IH HAVE REPOTED THE MATTER TO EBAY  WHAT NASTY PEOPLE  I DIDNT THINK THERE WERE PEOPLE LIKE THAT   THESE PEOPLE DONT REALISE THAT I HAVE A SON SUFFERING FROM A FATAL DESEASE  icantxxxxx PURCHASED MY DOULTON JACKPOINT FOR £1020. AND REFUSED TO PAY SO HE CAN GIVE ME NEGATIVE FEEDBACK  IT HAS COST ME OVER £100 IN FEES   HE IS peter xxxxxxx london telephone  999999999 WILL SOMONE HELP AND PHONE HIM  AND TELL HIM THAT THAT HE DOING IS WRONG HE ALSO USES THE f WORD  SHAME ON HIM   ANYWAY BACK TO THE GINGER JAR     IT  WILL  BE  DOUBLE  BOXED   WITH   A  SMALL  GIFT      POSTAGE  WILL  BE   SPECIAL  NEXT  DAY IN  THE  UK    EUROPEAN POSTAGE   £14  WORLDWIDE £24   I CAN ALSO POST TO THE  UK FOR £6       IT IS 6INCHES HIGH   GOD BLESS   P/S     SOMONE BY THE HADLE OF  harryxxxxxx   HAS DONE THE SAME THING 17xxxxxx HAS PURCHASED A GINGER JAR FOR A STUPID PRICE OF £500 GIVEN MENEGATIVE FEEDBACK AND COST ME £50 IN FEES HE AND THE OTHERS HAVE SENT EVIL MESSAGES THEY HAVE USED THE f  AND THE c*nt  WORDS  FOR GOD SAKE  AND MY SONS SAKE  SOMEONE HELP ME I FEEL LIKE ENDING IT ALL  THAKYOU FOR READING THIS MESSAGE IT IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN STORY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE OUT THERE   GOD BLESS YOU  I WILL THINK OF YOU ALL IN MY PRAYERS     JOHN

 

( I have changed the names and addresses in the text to protect them and myself here)

Another community spirited eBayer has actually taken the time to run a parallel auction on Troika to warn about the fakes – lets hope enough people see it and no one else gets caught out. If you want to take a look search for ”

BEWARE FAKE TROIKA ON EBAY FROM EBAYER MISTERPHLUFFY

 

Pass the message on and help avoid scams.