Vintage Lefton Mermaids, Fish, Seahorses and More Photos

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George Zoltan Lefton was a Hungarian immigrant who arrived in Chicago in 1939 and founded the Lefton Company in 1941. Although his background was in marketing and designing specialty clothing, he had a passion for collecting fine porcelain. That is probably why we see such beautiful Lefton mermaids clad in wonderful colors and outfits! Lefton imported many products from Japan to sell under the Lefton label. When they arrived in the US, a Lefton label would be placed on the back of the piece, or on the box it came in. Over the years, those paper labels have been removed, and boxes tossed. So now it is hard to identify which ones made in Japan were distributed by Lefton. However there was one Japanese owned company (owned by Kowa Toki) that Lefton became associated with and those pieces can be identified by the numeric inkmark on the back and a "KW." The Lefton Company was purchased by OMT Enterprises in 2005 and moved to California.

Lefton produced a number of items in Canada and those will be seen with the ESD marking. This mermaid is an excellent example of the same mermaid made in Canada and the US. The pictures were taken straight on. They are the same mermaid but a different mold. The one in Canada was bigger, the skintone is a little darker and she looks looks more to the side. You can see the markings/stickers on the back in the picture above.

The picture to the right shows the entire set. The mermaid has two seahorses (blue and purple) on a pearl chain.

Here is another mermaid with the ESD marking. The mermaid and fish came glued to a card (as a lot of them did back then). The Lefton label is on the card, NOT on the mermaid. The mermaid has the ESD inkstamp on the back.

There were mermaids made in the likeness of this mermaid made in Japan (no marking), and then later on in the 60's Kelvin made one. Each is a little different and I show examples of the other ones in the Japan and Kelvin sections. There were two to the set that face each other. .

This is probably the first mermaid set people think about when they think of Lefton mermaids. They were originally sold as a set but now you will often see them sold individually. The tailfin colors on this set vary dramatically. Some are almost a black/purple, some are more black/green, and then you see some that are primarily purple. The older sister always has red hair. You will sometimes see sets sold Canada and US ones mixed together. The younger sisters made in the US have red hair; the younger sisters made in Canada have blonde hair. It is best to buy this set together if you want the tailfins to match.

Here are the girls with pearls and their little sister leaning on a shell. The ones with the pearls came with two tiny seahorses. The one leaning on a shell came with two tiny starfish. I have never seen these in their original packing so don't know if the two girls with pearls were sold as a set or individually. They are real dolls with their poofy long hair that sticks way out from the wall and their thin tails with the little butts sticking up. They always had yellow tailfins.

These mermaids are some of my favorites to reproduce as they are just so pretty and look good in any color. To the right and left are pictures of some I've created. If you are interested in having me create you a custom set in the hair/eye/tailfin color you select, just click on the picture and it will take you to the page on my website where they are listed.

This mermaid wall plaque set is different in that there are a lot of bubbles that actually are attached to the mermaids! The tailfins are a nice pearl green color

This mermaid has a sister with pink tailfin and hair. They can sit on a counter or hang on the wall.

These two mermaids riding seahorses came out around the same time - there are a lot of similarities if you look at the detail plus they both have the # 528 inkstamped on the back. They look great by themselves but look dynamite together. he mermaid on the left came in a box with two tiny fish. The Lefton label is on the box and not on the mermaid. They were made in Japan for Lefton. I have not seen the mermaid on the right in a box but it wouldn't surprise me if she came with a couple little fishies too. I love creating the mermaid on the left in nice soft colors with a pretty vintage flower on her hat. .

Here we have some of the mermaids with a pattern on their tailfins. All have the poofy hair, and a design on the tailfin. They all came in pairs. The one on the seahorse has a sister with pink on the tailfin and blue on the seahorse. The ones on the bubbles have a starfish in the hair, the ones on the seahorse have a crown, and the ones on the right have pearls in their hair. These are beautiful mermaids, and all are very rare. The one on the seahorse can hang on the wall, but the way the tailfin of the mermaid and seahorse are made, she can also sit on a counter.

Below are some sets that I've made of these beautiful mermaids. Click on the picture if you want to order a set.

This is another gorgeous set by Lefton. The red headed mermaids on white pearlescent seahorses. This set you have the same problem with variations in tailfin colors as the 3 sister red headed set. Sometimes they are dark green, sometimes light green, sometimes purple. So it is best to buy them as a set. What I just love about this set are the eyes - they are done differently than any of the other Lefton Mermaid eyes. She was made by the Lefton designer Mirika who was known for her Lefton lady figurine designs.
Below are a few of the mermaids I have made from my molds of this mermaid. She is so gorgeous in any hair color and looks great with rhinestone waist and earrings. Click on the picture if you are interested in having me make your choice of hair/eye/tailfin color and you will go to my listing where you can order.

Wow! Another beautiful set! This is the Lefton Mermaid sisters sitting on starfish. They are very pretty and make a wonderful wall display. Note the typical Lefton Poofy hair on both the mermaids and the soft colors on the starfish with a hint of pink on the tailfins. The have the number 6981 and Japan on the back. They have a different Lefton label on the back - it is silver rather than red.

This is the Lefton set of mermaids on dolphins. The dolphins have rhinestone eyes. This set is ceramic - there is another set you see of these two that was made in Janpan out of plastic.

Lefton made a set of 3 mermaids sitting on fish. Each fish is in a different position. Note that Norcrest also made a set of 3 mermaids sitting on fish but their tailfins are blue. The Lefton mermaids on fish had a pink tail. These mermaids can be hung on the wall, but can also sit on a counter.

There weren't too many vases made by Lefton or Norcrest. To the left are two Norcrest vases, and to the right is a Lefton kissing mermaid vase.

There were a number of sets made by Lefton in the late 50's, early 60's that were bisque with a matte finish rather than a gloss finish. The bell is listed in referenc books as made by Lefton but you see a Jasco sticker on it a lot - I suppose they bought from Lefton and put their own sticker on it. The set to the right is the Lefton Prince and princess set - the merboy even has a crown on his head.

To the left are a couple reproductions I make, one is of the mermaid holding flowers above. I often create her with a fish or whale as she looks like she is singing to them!

The picture with the two mermaids kissing is a wall plaque - I made a wall plaque mold from the Lefton vase of these two cuties. If you click on the picture of the two babies kissing, you will also see one version that I made for Christmas with red tailfins and gave to my mother. She puts it out in the bath area every Christmas. These babies are so cute!

This is a really pretty mermaid set and the tailfiins are kind of a blue-green... leaning more to green than blue. They are so elegant looking in hand and are 5.5" tall. Bradley made a similar set with greener tailfins. Most of the time you just see the KW60153 inkmark on the back, but they also had a Lefton label when they were sold.

You don't see these mermaid that often. She is featured on the contents page of Arleen Smith's reference book. They can be hung on the wall but look better sitting on a counter because of the thickness... especially at the bottom. There are no Lefton markings but all writings point to these being made/distributed by Lefton

This is a pretty Lefton mermaid and she is rather a thick piece. The top is the original and the bottom shows a my reproduction. The original doesn't seem to appeal to many people... but I sure get a lot of orders for her to be custom made! Click on the picture below if you want me to make her for you.

A lot of the manufacturers made fish so they could either sit on a counter or hang on the wall. This type fish looks good either was but gives the alternative of having fish running around on the sink!

There are about 6 of these cute Lefton figurines that sit on something. They aren't very big but they sure are cute. You don't see them come up for sale much and usually just as singles rather than the set of 6.

This Lefton set is really pretty and was made around the same time as the mermaids on starfish. The top pictures are of the Lefton set. The bottom pictures are thought to be made in Japan for Lefton but I have never seen a Lefton label on them so they may be a reproduction. The ones that were made in the US just have the Lefton sticker, no number. They have pearls in their hair and as earrings. The ones made in Japan have what appears to be a starfish in the hair and they do not have any earrings. Both are pretty and in many cases the faces of the Japanese ones are cuter than the Lefton US. The Japanese ones have a Japan sticker and a number inkmarked on the back. Both are pretty sets but the quality is a little better on the Lefton US ones. The tailfin also seems to be a little lighter green on the Lefton ones.

Yellow was a favorite color back in the 50's. Here is another set that the original only came with a yellow tailfin (first picture on left). They each have a starfish in their hair and are the only set I know of that appear to be standing just like if they had legs. They are a nice size at 8" tall. This is another set that Lefton made that doesn't seem to appeal to many people... I think because of the bold yellow tailfin and hair color. The set looks much better with different colors. Above are some of the sets I have made that really bring out the beauty of these mermaids. If you are interested in ordering one with your choice of hair/eye/tailfin color, click on the picture that will bring up the listing on my website so you can order.

These fish came in yellow and blue. They can hang on the wall or sit on a counter. They are a nice size fish.

There were a number of fish sets made by Lefton and a lot of them I have molds and make reproductions. I'm not going to show all the pictures of my reproduction fish but if you are interested in looking at them, go to my reproduction fish section.


	Please note that I have over 300 molds of vintage mermaids and fish. I have shown examples of several I make but didn't want to bombard people with pictures of every one I make.... so please go to my website and look around. I have a Vintage Mermaid section and I have a Reproduction Mermaid section.