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Regrettably
Wade
have always maintained that they cannot find any record of the pig
being produced, and have 'questioned its authenticity'. Lombard
NatWest couldn't provide any information and say that with many
corporate changes since 1995, there is no-one left who could remember
anything about them! We are now waiting for a reply from NatWest
to see if they can help.
There
are several puzzling aspects to this piggy bank which really do
need clarification:-
- It
is so remarkably similar to Sir Nathaniel but with a normal red
tie instead of the bow tie.
- The
pig is embossed Wade England just like the original.
- Same
height, looks identical except the colour is not pure black but
has a deep blue sheen.
- This
one weights 705gms against our real Sir Nathaniel at 675gms -
just 1oz different.
- The
Certificate looks fairly authentic, signed by Peter Mill, Marketing
Manager.
- It
is inconceivable to think that Lombard would have given away fake
Wade piggy banks.
- It
is hard to imagine that Wade can't remember something so like
their famous NatWest pigs.
*UPDATE*
After
years of investigation and questioning the National Westminster
Bank, Lombard, NatWest bank managers and Wade we were no nearer
to finding the truth of this pig, but all along we have remained
totally convinced of his authenticity.
Now, through
the kind intervention of Suzanne, we have discovered that Wade do
now officially admit to having produced samples of the pig, whilst
still maintaining that they never went into full production. Wade
state that they have come to this conclusion after a discussion
with a lady who worked for the bank at the time and who apparently
produced a news article about the promotion and launch of the pigs.
However they also say that someone working for them “... seems
to remember that Wade produced samples but the plug was pulled on
this due to a kidnapping at the time of a bank manager!!!!”
UPDATE
FEBRUARY 2007 - We have been contacted by someone who worked
for Lombard at the time of the pigs and they confirm that an initial
order of 100 pigs was placed with Wade but that no further orders
were made. We are most grateful for the information which would
seem to provide the conclusive proof we have been waiting for.
We
are therefore convinced that Wade did produce this pig for Lombard
NatWest,
in a limited production run of only 100.
If
anyone can throw any further light on this rare character please
do e-mail us.
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