Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-01
ROMAN RELICS.
Their Manufacture is Legiti-
mate and Lucrative.
The Crafty Italian and the GullibIe
American Tourist. y
Al Industry with limitations Which
& sPusiIs the Experts.

fhe-ma rufaeture'ef- bogus antiquities
ia legitimate and lucrative occupa-
tIoh in Rome, and other parts of Italy,
writes William f. Curtis from Rome to
the Chicago Record Herald. A lady
tourist from America found a marble
babtismal font in an old curiosity shop
the other day. 1t was exquisitely
carved but was somewhat defaced and
.ho;wed signs of great age. She thought
II would do for flowers and ferns in
heE drawing-rOom. and so she bought
il and made careful notes of its his
tory, which the seller gave in great de-
tail He said it had been discovered
among the ruins of an old church dur
ing some recent excavations in a little
village near Orvieto: that the designs
of the decorations showed it to be
fifteenth century work, and as the
ruined church had been erected about
the same period. it was undoubtedly
carved for the baptistry.
The price was paid. the marble was
carefully packed and sent to the United
States. A few days later the lady
drifted hack to the same shop to see II
there was anything else to suit her
fancy, and, to her establishment, she
found another baptismal font exactly
like the one she had purchased. The
prdprietor, with whom she had been
dealing, was absent, but the man in
charge gave her the same story that
had been told about the duplicate she
had purchased few days before. Sus-
pecting that the dealer had packed and
shipped something else in the box, she
decided to make an investigation, and
when she confronted him he blandly
Informed her that there had been two
baptismal fonts in the old church ex-
sctly alike. and as she had bought the
other. he would sell her this for a
slight reduction.
Her husband warned her that the
man was a swindler, and that both
fonts were undoubtedly Bogus. but her
faith was strong and she purchased the
second one and sent It after the first.
A few days later an acquaintance told
Of similar baptisrnal font which she
had seen in another shop, and short
walk led the. mortified tourist to an old
dealer who had triplicate of her fiji
teenth century font, which she could
have purchased for about two thirds of
the price she had paid for the others,
and the identical story was told her.
This Is a single illustration of what
happens here every day, and the same
sort of swindling is carried on at
Florence, Naples and.ether cities Of
Italy. Not only areSaf6dern articles Of
porcelain and ssfiveEs Amped with the
old marks. but the AsQnes are imi-
tated 30 cleverly ago puzzle experts.
Arms and armor al eated with acid
20 eat away portiors ~ the metal ex-
sctly as II 1t had be enawed by the
teeth of time. CaHeed worries are
stained with oil to make them yellow.
and exposed to heat to produce cracks:
Greek and Roman coins are initiated IN
the most perfect manner, and 1t Is no
longer possible to detect the counter
eats. Cabinets, clocks and furniture
have worm holes artificially drilled IN
them. ,t,
A man who was brought np in the
rolice court for disorderly conduct said
NE was a worm hole maker 1t was
his business to fire birdshot into carved
furniture and other cabinet work and
to treat the holes so that they would
look like the work of worms. There are
factories at Bologna and other places
which produce large quantities of an
tfaue furniture. At aBrestia antique
marble work is done, door frames, man
tells baptlsmal fonts, sarcophagi. foun-
tains and all that sort OF thing. Al
Sienna vast quantities of old statuary
with broken arms or legs are re
stored in such an ingenious manner as
TO deceive the experts, even the most
critical The image is first produced
as II it were intended to be modern.
by the skillful application of a mallet
one of the limbs or an arm, or perhaps
the head. is broken off. or all three, and
then, carefully replaced 50 that the
crack willappear. but the beauty of the
outlines ,tsiu not be affected. The mar
BILE Is tken toned" by soaking 1t III
tobacco fiiee coffee and other liquids.
There Isl no Jaw against selling bogus
STUFF, as III Fsance--only the ordinary
statutes against fraud. People who sci
any kind of goods upon false pretenses
or misrepresent any articles may DIT
prosecuted whether the articles arr
ANTIQUITIES or modern merchandise, .pu
the great majority Of purchasers neVel
suspect that they are deceived, ana
rine times out of ten. when they dt
discover the fact their pride will no
allow them to admit it.
An American gentleman who buys
good deal OF old stuff was visited th'
other day by dealer who had won
derful fragment of mosaic work whici
he said had recently been discovered II
the earth on an estate near Naples
and was at least. a thousand years old
Its appearance confirmed the state
ment. and 1t was purchased at a raj
price. The purchaser wrapped II IN
newspaper and placed it away in TIL
lower part of cabinet until ne coui'
have It mounted. When he took 1t on
three or four weeks after, the wrapping
were saturated with dampness ant
dropS IL moisture were apparent upol
the lining Of the mosaic. which. o
course. was absolute evidence that tn
cement work was new. The manu-
facturer was too impatient to sell it t
allow 1t to dry.
The purchaser sent him note saying
that II any other mosaics were found o
the same kind he would like TO Sc
them. and within Very short time tn
dealer appeared with another piec
equally beautiful. The purchaser ex