The Evolution and Death of SylvaC.

Eloise bought five pieces of beautiful china from a late Victorian wash bowl sets today 2/5. Missing the large jug (ewer) she broke them up and listed them individually.

One of the great things of the internet is the ease of discovery.

But you didn’t need the internet to work out how long ago the jug had been broken. To the back was a recent auction sticker 52 x 6. 52 being the lot number and six the number of items to the lot and Eloise bought five pieces, the sixth obviously being the jug which had obviously just broken! I digress.

Of more interest was the stamp on the back. Moonlight Ware. The manufacturer name was not evident but by putting Moonlight Ware into Google and Shaw and Copestake Ltd came up. But looking at other listings already on the internet it became apparent that Moonlight Ware was also associated with SylvaC.

The sober traditional ceramic wash basin set a stones throw away from the gimmicky animal and quirky figure led brand we associate SylvaC with. But Shaw and Copestake registered the name SylvaC  in 1938.

Of course, researching SylvaC I realised why I had such a poor record selling it online. It is because I listed it as Sylvac and collectors will be putting SylvaC into search engines!

Things get a bit complicated now.

So the original ceramics were made in the Sylvan Works and this is where Shaw and Copestake began in 1894. In 1938 Shaw and Copestake purchased the popular Falcon Ware brand and registered the SylvaC brand. Copestake and Shaw already had tenuous business ties with Falcon pottery.

What I found so fascinating is the actual timeline of Shaw and Copestake, Falcon Ware and SylvaC is so complicated and one of the failures of the internet is sometimes there is so much jumble and misinformation it is nigh on impossible to get clarity.

But I got lucky and found an article. Naughtily most of the article quoted verbatim a piece I found my information on. But they did research some information themselves !

Falcon and SylvaC were intertwined on paper but from 1938 until 1957 worked independently. A new factory was built next to the old  Shaw and Copestake premises where they manufactured together and in 1964 the Falcon mark ceased and from 1964-1982 the production brand was SylvaC. I think. I could not find an explanation anywhere for why they moved into the distinctive and iconic lines of pottery they did.

The evolution of SylvaC is fascinating if complicated it as there were two companies involved and various different partnerships. It just seems there was a lot of family shenanigans and a lot of connections between the businesses, which as with all family matters evolve in complicated manners due to different personalities. It is just interesting to see how over the years this particular grouping of ceramic manufacturers evolved not just as different companies but also how their product change so dramatically.

I remember selling SylvaC in the Eighties when I was very young and it is something I have been aware of for nearly 40 years. Just twenty minuted researching and it has all unravelled and when I next see some SylvaC when I am out buying I now know more about the history. We are never too young to learn!

it just seems there was a lot of family shenanigans and a lot of connections between the businesses which as with all family matters evolve in complicated manners due to different personalities and it is just interesting to see how over the years this particular grouping of ceramic manufacturers evolved not just as different companies but also how there product change so dramatically.