Is It A Josef Original or Imposter?

This one's an enigma!  It appears to be vintage and appears to be the Josef Original Town & Country figurine "Cindy".  However, there are just too many red flags to make that claim to fame! 

The mold used to make this piece was almost an exact replica of the ones that would have been used to make a Josef original except that it is lacking in some fine detail.  For example, the hand, hair, and bow details are not quite as deep.  Then the colors used for the hair, bow, and stool differ, while the "embroidery" screams "cheap" and is probably a decal and not hand painted.  Add to that the fact that Josef Originals are very well marked and recognizable and this one has none of the distinct Josef markings.

The founder of Josef was Muriel Joseph George, a Californian artist, who originally made lucite jewelry but because lucite was needed for the WWII effort switched to making ceramic jewelry. She later made figurines with her husband when he returned from the war with the first pieces made in California. Josef Originals was founded by 1946 and the name was a misspelling of Muriel's maiden name thanks to a printing error. They enjoyed some success post-war until cheaper imitations of their work from Japan flooded the American market. To combat this at first they began by adding more details to their pieces which resulted in costing them more. In a bold move, production was moved to Japan in 1959 where they personally trained local craftsmen to produce ceramic wares of their quality and the rest is history as they say.

An other red flag is the "maker's mark" on the bottom of the piece and the bottom of the piece itself. Firstly, the opening hole is substantially larger than on a Josef Original which would make it cheaper to produce which supports the cheap imitation theory. However, the markings consists of a pair of undecipherable initials and "Cindy" handwritten which in my opinion are something you would find on a "hobby" piece, and not made in Japan. If it was a hobby piece, where did the green ware come from? And yet, the painting of the features and trim is skilled. This piece while still lovely lacks the finer details in the line-work, and the small ceramic flowers on the skirt of a Josef Original, making it a cheaper piece to produce and not characteristic of the quality Josef is known for. Since it has my name on the bottom, I think I may keep it!