F is for Fishy Follow-up of Fellows Fly-Flinging

Chris Smith sent me an interesting mix of fishermen, and a whale . . . which is not a fish, but which smells pretty-fishy eviscerated on the deck of a Japanese 'scientific survey' vessel, so I've tacked it on to the end of the post.

Gutted! My guy is missing a fishing-rod and I hadn't even noticed; I thought he was holding his catch with a gaff or something! Anyway, Chris's is also a different colourway, has the same ring-chain loop-removal scar . . . and a fishing rod . . . fussa-russa!

Chris also wanted to know about this chap, he's around 60/65mm? I think he looks Fontanini'ish (precepi / nativity figure), but the plastic colour is wrong and the paint's a bit bright, so possibly a Hong Kong copy, although unmarked? Have you anything to add for Chris?

Seeing Chris's reminded me I had one (in addition to the larger Chinoisery one we saw from Hong Kong a couple of years ago), I think this guy is also Fontanini and I'm sure the cotton thread is an owner's addition, but I've never had the heart to remove it!

When I say I think he's Fontanini, he is the same dense PVC as a lot of their other production, particularly the painted stuff, in a flesh-pink polymer; which they commonly used, and has the same dark-green base as the African warriors.

But, it is a solid base (see below) with no hollow, or marks, so he could be from one or two of the other presepi-makers in Italy, such as Nadi, but they also tended to hollow bases and a mark?

That solid base on mine and a couple of size comparisons for Chris's pair, one with the aforementioned whale! Mine is smaller, but he comes from a larger set of European rural or 'rustic' types, while Chris's is in the Chinoisery style of the more upright set of Asian figures from Fontanini we've also looked at here, indeed there's a sub-set of fishing-related figures in the Sino-Japanese set?.

It's a Sperm Whale I think, or is it a Blue? Chris wonders if it's Hill, purely on the painting, which is similar to some of their animals, likewise I wondered if it might be Hong Kong from the similarity with some mini dinosaur rack toy's painting, but it's unmarked (most HK stuff has some mark?), and reading the current articles by Steve Pugh in Plastic Warrior magazine (issues 175 & 176 - current) on early British dinosaurs, it's clear the red-mouth thing was a trope across the toy trade back in the day!

Again, if you can help Chris with either figure, that would be great.