Elisabeth Anne Philbrick Hall aka Jan Allan, Fred Press and "Contemporary Arts" figures: JAN ALLAN was the name used by Elisabeth Anne Philbrick Hall on all her sculptures for Contemporary Arts (CA). With the great demand for dog sculptures by the public, CA employed Anne Philbrick Hall. In addition to dogs she did a wide assortment of animals including horses, birds and more. Fred Press rates her as one of the finest American animal sculptors. Anne Philbrick Hall attended the Massachusetts College of Art where she majored in sculpture. She assisted in evening classes in sculpture and drawing. Her late husband was a professional handler and she was an assistant handler. They bred Kerry Blue Terriers, and at one time also had cocker spaniels and English Setters. One of her English Setter sculptures is in the permanent collection of the prestigious Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina, which features a collection of the work of the finest American sculptors. She was the sculptor of Northeastern University's "King Husky." Many dog clubs commissioned her for their awards. At one time Anne Philbrick Hall designed beautiful pins and charms in silver or gold, which were sold at the dog shows and elsewhere. CONTEMPORARY ARTS (CA) of Boston was founded in 1939 by Fred Press and his business partner, Alan Fox. The company employed skilled craftsmen to reproduce the original sculptures of Fred Press, Jan Allan (Anne Philbrick Hall), and Ann Dyer (Louise Shattuck). The company closed in 1947. Fred Press tells the story of how one day walking past a Woolworth's he noticed some ceramic dogs in the window. They were Cocker spaniels which he recognized as the "Jan Allan" cocker. The only difference was the size which was a bit smaller due to the shrinkage of the firing of the ceramic and hair lines which had been cut into the model before the molds were made. Since CA copyrighted all of their original sculptures, they took the Woolworth Company  to court for infringement of copyright. After six years of trials, appeals, etc. the case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court who handed down a landmark decision in copyright law in favor of CA. Since an effort was made to change the original work of art through shrinkage and manipulation of the texture, a statement was inserted into copyright law to the effect that "A copy need not be identical to be considered plagiarism."

As of October, 2003, her son Barye Lane Hall reports that, Ms Philbrick Hall is "still alive and well at 86, and has done a number of raku, bronzes, and other animal sculptures in the last few decades. Almost all were single castings in bronze."

Robert Simmons Ceramics Gallery: Robert Simmons Ceramics from the 1940s to the early 1960s. Most (if not all) of their figures were copies of other company's figures. Beswick & Royal Doulton were the two most copied from, but, many others were copied from too. Sets or pairs of animals shared a single item number. Figures were often marked with a Robert Simmons sticker & a small silver rectangular sticker with the animals name & usually the item number on it. De Lee of California, Goebel & another German company also used a silver name sticker. Many of the animal figures have a spot of paint on the bottom of a foot. Figures were also occasionally marked with the item number on the bottom, carved or ink stamped. At some time, Simmons was partnered with Burke (from Burke-Winton) under the name Burke-Simmons.

Goebel: Franz Detleff Goebel and his son, William, founded the Goebel company in 1871. In 1890, the first Goebel Porcelain figurines were introduced. By 1933, there was an extensive line of figurines.