Short Qs and As

On this page:

• Red Lion on London Victorian Pub
• Specials on Liverpool Hessy's
• Sherlock - Off the Rails?
• The Wheatsheaf on Banbury

Red Lion on London Victorian Pub

From Karen A on 21st January 2004:

"I own a plaque which I purchased in Bermuda in 1992. It is the Victorian Pub - Red Lion. In my research I have noticed that this piece is usually shown as Murphy's Irish Pub. The two look identical except for the wording above the door and the sign between the upper windows. Does anyone know if my Red Lion is more valuable or exclusive since at some point Hazle Ceramics switched the wording to Murphy's Irish Pub?"

From Marilyn:

The Victorian Pub was done with many different names. The Red Lion was probably the most prolific overall. It was painted with pink curtains. The Irish pubs (mainly Murphy's, plus Flanagans and a few others) came a bit later and had green curtains. Rose & Crown was the most common name with blue curtains.

Specials on Liverpool Hessy's

From Dara on 19th December 2004:

"I was wondering if anyone online is familiar with Hazle’s Synagogue piece? It’s listed as a Limited Painting on a website that I found when exploring the Yahoo Hazle site."

From Marilyn on 20th December 2004:

The Synagogue is a Limited Painting of 30 sold by John English Gifts in London at £85. Called East London Synagogue, it is painted in a very pale blue, says ‘All Faiths Welcome’ and has a Star of David above the door. The main window has a half-curtain, with a candelabra and a man with a large dark hat visible above this.

It is painted on the retired Hessy’s Music Shop from Liverpool - where the Beatles first bought their instruments. When a building is retired from the standard range it is still sometimes used for specials. I mentioned to Hazle that none had been done on Hessy’s although it has a good-sized main window, whereupon painter Iona Driver got to work. The first, Mountaineering, was a highly decorated LP10 for Harvey Weston in October.

From Marilyn on 7th December 2006:

The Irish Centre LP30 was issued in Spring 2005 and I believe there is a Public Library still to come. A prototype was painted as a Mosque but the LP was never done.

Sherlock - Off the Rails?

From Clay on 17th January 2006:

"The Sherlock Holmes currently on eBay says "no damage", but it sure looks like the Hazle standard one missing the railings and lamp post. Anyone seen this variation?"

Marilyn replied:

The metal railings and lamp post on Sherlock Homes are stuck on with glue after the ceramic has been fired - otherwise the metal would melt in the kiln. Sometimes the glue dries out and bits come off. (Hazle will stick them back or you can do it yourself.)

If the seller picked up this piece say in a car boot sale they may not realise something is missing. As far as I am aware Sherlock Holmes is always sold with these add-ons. However it is rather unusual for everything to come off, so another possibility is that this one slipped through the net by mistake. If it did once have railings it is likely that some small residue of glue would remain.

Most specials on this ceramic are without add-ons, except the Police Station LP80.

From Marilyn on 9th December 2006: This article is also in Goodwyn School where there are photos of the latter without railings - and Sherlock with them. There is a photo of the Police Station on the Corn Craft 2005 Signing Specials page under Events.

The Wheatsheaf on Banbury

The Royal Oak	The Cricketers

From Marilyn on 12th December 2006:

Some collectors emailed this question to Hazle Ceramics who forwarded it to me:

"Recently we have acquired a piece called The Wheatsheaf which is on the mould of The Tea Shop with Roses but also has the telephone box. The piece does not have initials of painter on the back but unusually has what could be Hazle Boyles signature in the position at the base where the later pieces just show Hazle. Any news that you could supply regarding the piece would be most helpful."

Hazle Boyles' signature was on the front of all ceramics until 1st January 1993 when it was changed to Hazle. In early pieces the signature could be quite faint - which may be what the collectors were referring to with “what could be Hazle Boyles signature”.

The Banbury model was one of the original pieces to be issued in 1990, primarily as Teashop & Telephone. Teashop & Roses was suggested by Lesley of Roding Arts and ran from 1991-1999. Occasionally pieces have been painted as Teashop, Telephone & Roses - and one is above in the Streetscene header of this website.

There were no dedicated pubs until 1991, so the Banbury was sometimes painted as one. I am presuming that The Wheatsheaf is a pub name - and one that I haven’t come across before. The Royal Oak, above left, is an example from this era bearing a faint Hazle Boyles signature. As seen here, early pubs on the model generally had no telephone or roses. The Cricketers, above right, is named after a pub near Harvey Weston in Cobham, Surrey and was probably exclusive to them. It is a later painting with a Hazle signature and roses. (The difference in size between the two will be due to different clay and shrinkage rates.)

Although The Wheatsheaf is a rarer name, Teashop & Telephone is still current and the Banbury model is one of the two most prolific Hazle buildings ever - along with Bath Chemist. This is likely to affect the future secondary value.