Topic: J Ditchfield or Fake ? ID = Not a fake - confirmed by maker

[petet63]

With the number of fakes turning up I was wondering if anyone could confirm what this is/isn't. It is around 5.5cm in height. It is darker than shown in pictures, more maroon. The iridescence shows in the right light. Has the familiar lily style and Marked J Ditchfield 1980. I have seen the sig and 1980 on pieces listed as JD and the  sig on this is very  close in style.  I have emailed the Ditchfield website and hope to hear from them soon but thought it would be good to have the opinion of people on here. If it's genuine, it would be nice. If it's a fake, it is here for future reference and still a nice piece of glass. 

[antiquerose123]

Hi there....not sure, but here is his website:  http://www.glasform.com/gallery.asp



I have a Mushroom that I had ID here on the Board....but have no signature on it to compare yours with. 

Here is my mushroom by him:  http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,42603.msg236909.html#msg236909

[petet63]

It would be great to collect some of his work but far too pricey for me sadly. Looking at pictures will have to do    That is the site I sent an  email to. Will post answer on here if I get a reply. Thanks antiquerose123.

[chopin-liszt]

I've just had a good look at 3 signatures - there are variations between them. This piece of yours is very small, although beautifully formed - it looks much more like a proper "miniature" than simply a small piece - although I do not know if John Ditchfield makes miniatures
I'm trying to describe how there is so much attention to detail for such a small thing - a sign of quality.
The broken pontil mark is right.

My only tiny worry is in the execution of the capital letters J and D. In all 3 of mine, the J has a top bar on it, and the D is executed differently too. All the other letters look fine... particularly given he must have been trying to get his writing small to fit on to your bit.

[Leni]

I have a signed John Ditchfield paperweight, and on it the J has a top bar the same as Sue's and the D is also of different construction, as Sue says.  It has serifs. 

[chopin-liszt]

 
I'm going got have to get the camera out, I see. My D's are all slightly different. You need pics. Please, bear with me until I can manage it.

[antiquerose123]

  My mushroom by him is small.  Only about 3 inches tall.  Some other mushrooms glass I have here - they are about 5.5 inches tall. 

So not sure if that qualifies as a miniature or not ??

[chopin-liszt]

I don't think so Rose. The mushrooms are a bit more sort of "bread-and-butter" pieces produced by the studio.

Please, this is only a rough sort of outline of what went on - I may get some details wrong, do not take this as accurate information.

Initially he mostly made individual pieces - each signed and with its own registered unique number, although he did make some mushrooms and weights with silver things on them too.
Then, one of these caught the attention of a TV presenter of collectables programmes, it got a lot of publicity.... and suddenly the mushrooms and pwts were going like hotcakes and he went into overdrive making them.
The publicity and demand rather changed his operations and production of the unique numbered pieces went into decline and he started marking things in a more general manner.


  I mean by miniature (rather than a small thing) a similar thing to the Monart miniatures - where the object is a scaled model of the larger thing - all the details are in miniature too. It's a much harder thing to produce than the large scale item, or indeed, just a small piece with it's own design.

[petet63]

I have had  reply from Karen Ditchfield.....


Hello

I will check with John as there are no records pre Glasform that I can check with. Please forward your phone number and I will ring you once I have spoken to John.

Regards

Karen Ditchfield

I will post as soon as I get an answer. I think it's great that they take the time to answer an email and quickly. Not all of my emails get an answer, I dont send many, but dealing with Glasform is a pleasure. Hope I get the answer I want.
   I have noticed that a few of the signatures differ slightly and have  seen the sig on mine matched to another piece on line but can never be 100% sure that wasnt a fake. Do they differ on the pieces that are confirmed as J Ditchfield ? I am looking forward to the answer   
   

[chopin-liszt]

I haven't seen a faked Ditchfield signature. 
(Not that I know of.)