Is this the case where a factory sold blanks to other’s to paint and resell or is this a fake?
Basically same figurine – which is quite distinctive – is showing 2 different marks.
(note one of the pictures of the bottom mark is from another figurine from that set – but illustrates the difference well)
How can I find out more about these and where and when they were made.
Explaining this would probably demand to write a whole book, but neither of these items is ‘fake’. Directly (legally) copied or traded (exchanged) molds, even items from a mold pool (multiple manufacturers using one and the same mold provided by a dealer) and such are common accepted business opportunities that lesser manufacturers have used for decades now.
Especially the often completely overrated Italian “artisians” have worked this into to a dead-beat horse. See the one thousand-and-second version of “The Cheaters”, by now available from all kinds of mold shops 😉
