Help Identifying Crown With IVO Pottery Mark

by Richard
(UK)

Help Identifying Crown With IVO Pottery Mark:- I have two 9" figurines. Both are blue and white porcelain with gold/guilt embellishments. They are dressed like late 16th century/early 17th century.

The mark is like a crown, with three 'arches' side by side with the middle one taller. Under that is a bar with four smaller bars/gems inlaid. Below and still part of the image is a plaque with the letters IVO. Please see picture.

My parent have had them for a long while, but do not know where they came from. I have tried to find the symbol without luck. There is no further marks I can find.

Richard

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Reply by Peter (admin)

to Help Identifying Crown With IVO Pottery Mark

Dear Richard

Please submit a second photo of the actual pieces. Send as many pics as you like - using a new submission form for each photo.

***{ed. pics now submitted - see above}***

The reason I need visuals is they sound unusual and I have never sen this mark before and it is not amongst the 6000 marks in my various reference books and encyclopedias.

There is another anomaly in that you say your parents have had these figurines a long while, yet, to me, the mark looks typical of the type of mark you would see on more modern wares. The pottery mark appears as if it has been cleanly transfer printed rather than 'stamped' like most older wares.

Best regards

Peter (admin)

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Further comment by Richard

Hi Peter - in addition to my earlier post. I include a couple of pictures of the objects - 1 in this part and one in part III - to give a better idea of the objects themselves. I will ask my mother when in get chance as to when she bought them, but it was at least 20 years ago as they moved house then and they were part of the move. The mark in not impressed in the clay, but is under the glaze. Thanks again Richard.

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Reply by Peter (admin)

Thanks for the pics, Richard. I have uploaded them adding them to your original IVO pottery mark pic.

These items are a mystery to me as this makers pottery mark is nowhere to be seen in either Kovels or Millers guides.

However, I did find other similar blue & white 'period' figurines with the same 'IVO' mark selling on ebay (go to my China Replacement page to see how to search correctly - use the keyword term "ivo figurines", keep the search on 'all categories' and do not use the 'include title and description' box.

The weird thing about these items is there is a bit of a 'Twilght Zone' connection I found. It can't be a coincidence that the name of a renowned collection of rare and very valuable antique porcelain figures is called "The Ivo Forde Collection". I have no idea who Ivo Forde is, but whoever they are, they lend out their priceless collections to various important stately homes in England.

For example, the Ivo Forde Meissen collection of Italian comedy figurines is housed at Clandon House near Guilford, England. Clandon House and Park is a grand 18th-century Palladian mansion, built in 1730 by the Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni. Another of the Ivo Ford Collections is the the "Ivo Forde collection of Sèvres Porcelain Figures".

These collections are literally priceless.

The IVO figures on ebay, similar to yours have a starting price of just a couple of pounds. You can follow the auctions to see what they fetch (click the 'watch' button).

All round this is quite weird. Someone seems to have done a collection of blue and white figurines in period costume which pays 'homage' to the Ivo Forde priceless collections of Meissen and Sevres figural groups. This means their knowledge of antique china is first class because Ivo Forde is not exactly a household name.

Here are two guesses from me. Feel free to invent your own:

1. The museum shops put together a reproduction figurine collection based on the Ivo Forde collection to sell as souvenirs to tourists.

2. A clever Japanese importer such as Arnart (well known for fakery in the 1950's and 1960's) put together a collection and tried to cash in on the prestige of the Ivo Forde Collections.

It could all be a co-incidence, though, in which case we are still in the dark.

Best regards

Peter (admin)

You can continue your own research by looking through these great sites:

Gotheborg.com - Chinese & Japanese and Far East porcelain marks - export marks are normally in English, often with English sounding patterns and brand names.

Porcelainmarksandmore.com - German and East European porcelain marks - excellent site but uses navigation based on geographical location not maker’s name, so lacks simple alphabetical navigation (can be frustrating).

Collectorscircle.com - Bohemian & Czech china marks - great for eyeballing lots of pottery marks quickly – I always scroll down on ‘auto-mouse’ to look for a mark (you can sip a cup of teas as you do so).

Oldandsold.com – French pottery marks - 22 pages of French marks. Navigation can be somewhat muddled.

Oldandsold.com - American pottery marks - 41 pages of antique pottery marks to search in alphabetical listing. Good luck!

I give general tips on pottery marks here .

If you need the professional there’s none better than, Whats-it-worth. They are best for one off questions. Their service is well used and appreciated by visitors with zero negative feedback.

I can send you some sample appraisals to give you an idea of what they do – just contact me here.

For those people who have a series of ongoing queries about china items (dealers and collectors) you need membership site:

Marks4Ceramics.com

For details of special discounts on John’s database and membership site, contact me here.

Here is an interesting ebook for both collectors and dealers:

'How To Buy & Sell Antiques For Fun & Profit'.

Check it out here:

www.figurines-sculpture.com/buy-and-sell-antiques-for-fun