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ariations: Coquille River OR |
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Coquille River OR (HL111)
was among the 'original 17'
lighthouses introduced in 1991 by Harbour Lights. These original 17
introductions were sculpted by a Southern California artist. Only the
first 250 pieces were cast from the original sculptures in California.
Production was shifted to Castle Studios in Ontario Canada. Harbour Lights may have actually shipped some of the cast pieces made in California as well as the master molds to Castle Studios. The Castle Studios, painting of some of the California castings was then completed in Canada. Castle Studios began making castings from the master molds it received from Harbour Lights. During this time, some minor modifications were made to the master molds to make them more aesthetically pleasing, to improve detail and to make them easier to cast and remove from molds as well as easier to paint. For Coquille River, the easiest way to identify the difference between those cast in California and those cast in Canada are the details in the door and windows.
The windows are the second key difference. In the earlier California made pieces the windows are very roughly made, looking mostly like two square indentations to represent the window panes. In the later Canadian made ones, the windows have a much more finished look with obvious wood graining and more details. The third difference is the painting of the uprights between window panes in the lantern room; the uprights (or mullions) are painted cream color in the Canadian ones while they are painted black in the California ones. (As seen in the photo below.)
When seen side-by-side, the top roof line of the California pieces have a distinct slope off of even (left above). The change was apparently made between piece #425 which was made in Canada and #386 which was also made in Canada but from the California mold. Roughly one-third of the Coquille Rivers may be made from the California mold. Production of the Coquille River lighthouse was discontinued when it was pointed out the model had six sides while the real lighthouse has eight sides. It was withdrawn from production and retired in February, 1993, after approximately 1,138 were made. It had a planned production run of 5,000. Do you have a Coquille River OR HL111? If you one of these sculptures, please send email with the number and whether it has a three panel or a four panel door. From time-to-time we'll update the information on this page based on feedback from collectors.
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