A decorative swirling Art Deco typeface

[Gecko]

Years ago I found a vague source and used it as inspiration to draw all the characters of this typeface. Over time I have lost the original source and don't know who to credit the original concept to. Can anyone recognise it and direct me to the original author. I called it Seraphime Curl but that wasn't it's original title. Any thoughts?

[Greg Yerbury]

it is quite different but i thought of Ringlet

[Riccardo Sartori]

8 hours ago, Gecko said:

a vague source and used it as inspiration to draw all the characters of this typeface.

Do you remember which ones where in the source and which ones are your creation?

[Gecko]

Do you remember which ones where in the source and which ones are your creation?

Riccardo it's been a project for me on and off for at least 3 or 4 years (more off than on) and my memory is terrible these days. Lately several folks have asked me for it as a finished font, and I would like to give the credit where the credit is due. But I just can't recall the original source, or where or how I found it. 

I was hoping someone would recognise it or something very similar and point me towards the original.

[George Thomas]

I don't remember ever seeing anything like it in metal specimens.

[Ralf Herrmann]

Hasta La Pasta isn’t too far away, citing a “1888 specimen book from the Central Type Foundry of St. Louis” as the source. https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/nicksfonts/hasta-la-pasta-nf

[Greg Yerbury]

Here is the 1892 book and I can't see anything similar.

[Riccardo Sartori]

30 minutes ago, Ralf Herrmann said:

citing a “1888 specimen book from the Central Type Foundry of St. Louis” as the source.

“called simply "Spiral". The ragged contours on the original face have been smoothed out”.

download at MyFonts

Spiral has been revived in a form closer to the original as Gramophone:

download at MyFonts

 

[Gecko]

So Ralf what should I do if people want me to complete it and distribute it as a font. 

1) Just do it anyway and don't assume any credit for it's creator, mark it unknown.

2) What are the legal ramifications if someone steps forward in the future and claims plagarism.

3) I would not distribute it for payment but only as a free typeface.

Any thoughts I certainly don't want anyone to think I ripped off their original concept.

 

[George Thomas]

On 6/23/2019 at 9:32 PM, Gecko said:

Years ago I found a vague source and used it as inspiration to draw all the characters of this typeface.

Gecko, did you find only a few letters of the original and design the remainder yourself? If that is the case you likely have no liability. In the U.S., even if you copied the entire design by digitizing it yourself, you wouldn't have any liability unless the original was covered by a current
design patent or if the original designer was predatory litigious.

As to attribution, you can always add that later.

You can spend years worrying about what might happen if you do produce it, but usually it doesn't happen and if it does it is almost always never as bad as you imagined. Most of the time you would first receive a cease-and-desist letter which may or may not be enforceable. I would go ahead and release the font if it were mine in the same circumstances, and at the same
time continue and try to find your original source inspiration for your files.

::disclaimer:: I am not a lawyer.