Bradley

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Most of the factories in Japan were small family owned businesses.  Japanese pottery imports had a dramatic impact upon the US in the years following the American occupation of Japan after WWII.  Not only did Lefton, Napco and Norcrest import ceramic giftware from Japan, there were many imports from Japan coming in from these small pottery shops in Japan.  Bradley Exclusives made some very beautiful and whimisical mermaids that are highly collectible today.  They had a red sticker on the back.  Although there isn't anything that I can find on this manufacturer's history, their legacy lives on with their beautiful mermaids in our homes!

These mermaids are similar to the 3 mermaid baby wall plaque set you see made by individuals all the time.  But these are a little larger and they are done by a manufacturer so the quality and look is consistant.  The ones to the left were made by Bradley, the yellow and pink tailed one in the pictures above were made by Pandora. They are very similar in quality and the Pandora and Bradley ones go great together on the wall. 

This is one of the cutest sets Bradley Exclusives made - the 3 sister wall plaques.  You often see them sold separately but rarely find them as a set, which is important if you want a set as they are done differently in differnt batches!  Bradley made these girls in wall plaques, figurines and salt/pepper shakers. 

They are a ceramic bisque so have a matte finish rather than gloss.  Their tailfins range from a light green to a darker green and the figurines were also made in blue.  Some have gold highlighting on them, some do not.  Some of them are painted as fine as Norcrest, and then some have paint slopped from the tailfin on the belly or arm of the mermaid and paint drips on them.  They were all hand painted so I guess it depended on who painted them!  The mermaids aren't that large, about 4-5", but they make quite a display because they were made to lay or sit on shells.  So you can have them on bubbles, shells, starfish and fish.  I had a moon in my bedroom that was just begging to have some playmates so mine ended up on a moon!

Recently there have been a home-made ceramic mold made of these gals and bisque pieces produced to paint.  But the pieces don't look much like the original set and I found them real difficult to paint. However, a number of artists have made silicone molds of them (myself included) and the chalkware ones produces are real close to the original with that big chubby little face!

Here is another pretty 3 fish set made by Bradley Exclusives.  You most often see these in pink and blue, but recently I found one in yellow.  Sometimes the larger one has her eyes closed, other times they are open.  I also found this one as a picture frame or guess it could be used as a soap dish although the way the bottom fins stick out it doesn't look too good laying flat on a counter.  The lovely thing about these sets is that you can hang them on the wall or you can sit them on the counter.  They look so cute on the counter with the little fishies following behind the bigger fish. 

This is a wonderful mermaid made by Bradley.  It is larger than you would think and pretty thick.  The faces on these are just so cute!  The one to the left is the original Bradley Mermaid.  There were two to the set and they came with blue or pink tailfins.  Sometimes the hair was almost white and the tailfins were real light pink or blue.  Again, it depended on who painted them since they were done in a small Japanese pottery shop. 

 

These two are ones I made from molds of the original Bradley set.  I sold the other one and couldn't find the picture so just wanted you to see what the sister looked like.  Her eyes are closed and she has a little cuter look than her sister.  Either one of them make wonderful displays by themselves but the pair really looks cute together. This mold is really hard to make and you often see people that make this mold end up with the mermaid being a lot fatter than the original because of the way the tailfin it - I know I had to block around the waist part to make mine exactly the same as the originals. 

These are two of a 3 piece shelf sitter set made by Bradley.  Each mermaid is playing an instrument.  There have been some new ceramic molds made of these three girls but they don't have the great detail as the originals.  This picture is compliments of Linda.  The Bradley sticker was still attached to one of them.

This is a cute 3 sister mermaid set of figurines.  two are sitting and one is laying down.  They either had plain green/gold tailfins, or had little beads applied to their tailfins. Some even had glitter.  Their bras were multicolored.  These are a delightful set  to sit around anywherer.  There was a ceramic mold made of these sisters and you will occasionally see these painted by individuals - the set made by individuals has the middle sister below with her tailfin out to the side rather than coming down to hang over a ledge.  A lot of times you will see where people have attached these to starfish, shells, trinket boxes, etc over the year.  I have even seen where people have spray painted the originals one color to sit on something in their house. 

These are two really rare pieces made by Bradley.  They stand 7" tall. Both have a little dish at the end of the tail that serves as a ring holder (or tiny soap). The one to the right also has a basket on her head that you could place small things in.   They are flat on the back/bottom so can hang on the wall or sit on the counter.  Gorgeous pieces!

Bradley made a number of fish Wall Pockets.  They all came in pairs that were facing each other. 

The colors seem to vary a lot.  I have seen this pink one in all sorts of colors! 

Bradley made a 3 piece mermaid wall pocket set too.  One holds a mirror, one a harp and one an arrow.  They aren't that big but they sure are cute!  This set was made in the US and in Japan.  The quality varies tremendously on the sets made in the US and the ones made in Japan.  The ones made in Japan have solid black eyes and the paint job on the tail is awful.  The ones made in the US have white to the eye and the paint job is really nice.  The ones pictures were made in the US.  I'll be adding a picture of the ones made in Japan so you can see the difference. 

Here is another 3 piece mermaid set made by Bradley.  I'm missing the picture of the one diving and will add it later.  These are smaller pieces and are only 4" tall.  Typical of Bradley, one is sleeping, one is winking, and one is wide awake with both eyes open. 

There was another set with the mermaids in the same position as two of these Bradley girls, but they are an inch longer and believed to be made in Japan for Norcrest.  Their tailfin is a more blue green than these bradley girls.