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Look-a-Likes / Fakes / Copies / Forgeries

Cooper Craft Koala

The koala bear to the below has been inadvertently classified as a rare Wade Ireland piece in one of the popular Wade Collector books. Once handling the piece, you can tell from the weight and quality of the piece that it is not Wade Ireland. Further confirmation of the origin of this piece has been found as shown in the photo below. The piece came complete with the original Cooper Craft label on the base and the original box.

The sad part is that the piece has sold for over $600 as part of a rare Wade Ireland set because it was classified as Wade when it is actually Cooper Craft!
Cooper Craft Koala

The photo to the right is the correct version of the rare Wade Ireland Koala.

Thanks to David Hawkes for allowing us to use his photo of this rare and unusual Wade Ireland piece.

The Koala model was reissued in 1997 as the Dunstable Wade Fair special. There is very little difference in glaze colors between the Irish Koala and the reissued model but they can easily be distinguished by looking for the Wade show backstamp.

Special thanks to Pat Murray for sharing the photo of the Cooper Craft Koala with us. For more information on Pat Murray's Wade Books, visit her website www.whimsicalwades.com.

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