I recently purchased three unfinished greenware wheel vases from a UK auction. These appear to be genuine items that have not been fired to bisque. Note the difference in size between the unfired and finished versions. The greenware will shrink during the first firing.
The vase on the right is a finished version of the unfired vase on the left.
Here is an example of a small wheel vase comparison. Unfortunately, I don't have a finished version of the greenware vase, but the finished sizes of the small wheel vases are similar.
The reason this comparison is important is because there are some sellers on eBay, and other sites, selling fake Troika items that were molded from finished pieces. When the copy is fired, it will shrink, so all items will be smaller than the original. Unless the buyer has a similar original piece for comparison, it might be difficult to spot the difference by size alone.
Other clues will be the sharpness of the details and the colors used for decoration. When the molds started losing their detail, they were scrapped and new molds were made.
The vase on the right is a finished version of the unfired vase on the left.
Here is an example of a small wheel vase comparison. Unfortunately, I don't have a finished version of the greenware vase, but the finished sizes of the small wheel vases are similar.
The reason this comparison is important is because there are some sellers on eBay, and other sites, selling fake Troika items that were molded from finished pieces. When the copy is fired, it will shrink, so all items will be smaller than the original. Unless the buyer has a similar original piece for comparison, it might be difficult to spot the difference by size alone.
Other clues will be the sharpness of the details and the colors used for decoration. When the molds started losing their detail, they were scrapped and new molds were made.