I've read many warnings about Fire King reproductions on the market, but mostly these have been limited to fabricated mug decals and not focused on the area I collect - Mixing bowls, grease jars, shakers & bakeware items.
But here lately I've noticed more and more "fakes" turning up in local antique stores, and I just wanted to share my experiences.
Reproduction Fire King Mixing Bowls:
I've seen these now in Tulip & Red Dots. These are very solidly opaque, similar to Vitrock but absolutely bone-white. In most instances, the decals are full color and without flaw. The bottoms have no markings whatsoever except sometimes you may find a Made in China gold foil sticker on them. Both bowls I've seen have been the 2 quart (7 1/2 in) Splash Proof, but very well may come in all sizes. It's also possible to come across one of these that is 5 1/2 inches since the grease jars are also being reproduced.
Reproduction Fire King Grease Jars & Shakers (aka Range Sets): I have seen these in Tulip & decaled Jadeite. First word of warning: Fire King never made a splash proof style grease jar in Jadeite. This is technically a "Fantasy Item" instead of a direct reproduction. Of course these are not marked in any way on the bottom, except possibly by sticker. All the ones I have seen are decaled in some way. I don't know if the shape is truly identical to the original white grease jars, but they appear to be quite close. The Fire King Tulip Grease Jar & shakers are also dead white. The biggest additional giveaway on the shakers is that they come with new silver lids. The real shakers have tulip decals on them & say salt or pepper.
Unfortunately, the jadeite shaker reproductions in circulation right now are too numerous to count. And not just jadeite - white with decals and fired-on color styles are being repro'd. It's every style and decal imaginable - and they span the likes of not just Anchor Hocking, but McKee, Hazel Atlas, Tipp City - the whole spectrum. The only thing I can say is, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
I have a very strong (but totally unconfirmed) suspicion that one of the newest Fire King fakes is the rare and very expensive "Kitchen Aids" pattern. I've seen what appears to be fakes in online auctions, which makes it hard to say for sure. But until yesterday, I had only seen the "fake" Red Dots in online auctions, so Buyer Beware!
I'll update this post & cross reference it if I can confirm more.
1/26/12 *Edit* Check out the pictures here. Solid proof on the Red Dots bowls. Also, I did not know that Fire King Vitrock is now being Reproduced!
Wow, thanks for the information! I love your Le Creuset au gratin find too!
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks for the info - I kinda figured there were repos out there since there were soooooooo many listings on Ebay for Jadite, Tullips, dots, shakers etc. Do you happen to know if they start reproducing Delphite? I'm seeing a lot of 'mint' pieces which is usually not a good sign.
ReplyDeleteDO YOU KNOW IF THE FIRE KING LOGO IS ALWAYS ORIENTED IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION ON AN ITEM. I HAVE SEEN PIECES THAT HAVE THE LOGO IN VARIOUS POSITIONS. ARE THESE FAKE? ARE THERE ANY REPRODUCTI0ON SWEDISH MODERN OUT THERE?
ReplyDeleteI'm suspicious of some new Jadeite "tulips" bowls I'm now seeing on eBay. I've only ever seen the vintage ones made in ivory. Did Fire King ever make the green bowls with tulip designs? The one I'm looking at now has no maker's mark at all...but I do know that there are occasional FK items that weren't marked.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Anonymous's question, above, all of my genuine FK items have marks facing any which way, so that's not an indication of genuineness. After all, the fired-on colors are applied after the bowls are pressed (two different processes). There's no telling which direction the bowl will be facing when the firing occurs.
I am just now seeing the comments on this post. Thanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteI have seen a square, delphite refrigerator dish that I believe to be a repro of the original Jeannette dishes. Delphite fakes ARE out there, I just don't believe them to be nearly as common as fake Jadeite.
As for the Fire King logo, I agree with the fourth commenter here- the direction of the mark doesn't seem to matter. I've seen Fire King marks that were completely backwards - I'm speculating that they went from clear glass (where the mark would be legible looking 'through' the bottom of the dish), but then they transitioned to white glass you couldn't see through - making the mark completely backwards.
The fact that it has the Fire King logo on it at all is a good indication that it is genuine. I think Anchor Hocking is pretty vigilant about keeping the Fire King name. There is a current (or very, very recently discontinued) line they make called "Reflections" that still uses the Fire King name. I have a salt cellar with this new, modern Fire King logo. I need to remember to update this blog with a photo. It's not the greatest looking logo, but it IS real.
My reply was getting so long, I decided to break it up into two.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen any Swedish Modern reproductions. These bowls are some of the most expensive Fire King mixing bowls out there - someone is bound to take notice of this and the fakes will abound. As far as I know, these bowls are always marked, so look for ones with the Fire King logo.
And finally, the Tulips on Jadeite items are 100% fake. Never made. These are "Fantasy items" that take the same shapes, materials and decorations used on vintage items, but remix them in a way that doesn't exist on vintage.
Fire King made "Tulips" items on white and ivory (but never on jadeite). Extremely hard to tell the difference online, but if you are trying to put together a Tulips mixing bowl set, you will be able to see a real difference in the color of the glass. To see the difference for yourself, look up Anchor Hocking Tulips on replacements.com - the white ones are about twice the price.
Thanks for the questions! I've answered what I could. And I'll come back and fix my mistakes if I've made any. All this information is good material for a new blog with pictures. :-)
Fire King did make jadeite salt and pepper shakes with tulips printed on the lids.
DeleteI see TWO Fire King grease jars on eBay today in the "kitchen aids" pattern. They're both in pristine, bright white, perfect condition, too. I would normally not do or say anything about this, but one of them has three bids on it, and its current bid is right around $50.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but believe this is a bogus piece...does anyone else have any input?
i had bought a fake tulip batter bowl as well so beware there out there
ReplyDeleteI just found 3 pieces of Fire King Copper Tint Ovenware. The mark on the back has some letters upside down. Didn't notice until I got home. Guess I got dupped.
ReplyDelete