Evening star., 1903-07-28
BOGUS ANTIQUITIES
WAYS OF DECEIVINa AMATEUR
ART COLLECTORS.
A Dealer in Ancient statuary and
Paintings Tells of the Tricks
of the Trade,
From London Truth.

From London Truth 2
The manufacture of bogus antiquities has
attained proportions so enormous as almost
to justify one in naming 1t among the staple
trades or professions or arts The choice
of a name will depend upon the cleverness
with which the forgery is committed. Not
only are antique wooden clocks, cabinets
and furniture Of all kinds made to order,
but original antique marbles-busts, statues.
fcuntains-are turned out in surprising
quantities by astute foreigners, criefy to
suit the tastes-and, incidentally the pocket
books-of wealthy South Africans and
American mulu-millionaires.
In the neighborhood Of Paris there are
said to be many manufactures of
tiquities. where the business Of swindling
the rich art amateur goes on merrly.
Il have been to see manufacturer of
such wares says a writer. He makes
no secret Of his business and enjoys some
times laugh at the amateurs who come in
his way. In chatting about them he said:
Iatterly an anuquary sent me a block of
marble to make a copy Of an object dart
belonging to him. 1 executed the order and
gave it such a patine that it looked more
genuine than the original l sent 1t to him.
and he took it for the original. Some days
later I took him the real thing. He lookei
at 1t, turned 1t round. passed his finger
over It, made face, and said: "It's a bit
b L
hardly care to take It l looked at him,
and al last said: Why it's the piece you
gave me to copy. I thought he would have
laughed with me. But no: he grew quito
had known without my telling him. but
feigned ignorance to how far my i'm
pudence would go.
Artificial Dry Rot.
Il turned the conversation from marble
to wooden antiquities
With wood you can do what you please
You can now make 1t worm-eaten and put
dry rot into the carved parts. A chlsel
cannot work on dry rot. This defect can
be used as a certificate of authenticity.
One of my friends bought a bahut. Ha
paid three experts to examine 1t and they
certified 1t to be genuine. Some time after
he had 1t taken down to Shift 1t to another
room. In moving 1t a panel got broken
and he sent 1t to Picard to be repair d.
Goodness mel" cried Picard at is the
bahut that 1 made few years ago" The
cab1netmakers who work for antiuuaries
now use the oak which had been employed
IN the beams and rafters of old houses
fortunes have been made by knowing peo-
pie who bought old tumbledown houses in
Orleans and other provincial towns They
sold the rotten wood to manufacturers OK
ancient furniture for more than the house
cost. and had the ground for nothing l
have another acquaintance who manutac-
lures tmep1eces for an antiquary at the
price Of 7OOto francs apiece.
"Ancient' Marbles
And for what does the dealer sell
them? He alone could say Such things
are counted invaluable. The antiuuaries
sell them to courtiers, who sell them to
Park Lane millionares and Americans
There are now only threse two classes of
purchasers. Here and there a French mil
hona1re springs up and wants to distin-
gu1sh himself as collector. One should
leave to all such their illusions The
forged thing is as good as the genuine Not
long ago took two pieces of furniture that
NJ. de Vaufrelard prides himself on possess
ing for genuine things. until l became ac-
quainted with the man who made them
Marble Is the material that least betrays
the present day workman. I am now max
ing marble fountain which will look the
product of far back time. I gave it pa
tine by burning damp straw under it, and
then l knocked off or a finger or
leaves of a wreath. 1t IS a great trial to
artistic workmen to be obliged to mutt
late their work In this way. We feel aw-
fully disguised when we have disagured a
statuette. But we can make three times
more money in work for antiquaries than
for moderns. Sometimes our profits are
enormous; we have to be conscientious
and SO attentive to details The antlquaries
can ask any prices they like. Their Gus
toners want antique things to give the illu-
sion of having ancestors who fiourished in
tile ldI Jith ttIlluIleS al present CEaZe
is for tenth. eleventh. twelfth and thir-
teenth century marbles. They are very
ugly, but they help to thrown dust In the
eyes Of South African gold kings settled
in Paris and American heresses. The
owner Of the Chateau de Rochefort
goes In for such things. He paid dear to
secure for his chateau marbles that l dare
say are genuine, but so inferior in work
manship and conception that l would not
stoop to pick them out Of the mud If by
doing so l could have them for nothing.
False Houdons.
Houdons are now the rage and have
been for some time Think Of the prices to
which they ran up those spurious Graces
on the timepiece bought by Frankforter
The most enviable Houdon is now LIE
Baiser. Copies of 1t are sold everywhere
by Italian boys. The original. at this mo-
ment in London. Is worth 100000 francs.
Well, there are seven or eight "orignals'
lying quietly to be brought out in due time.
Amateurs may often buy jewelry with
their eyes shut. Jewels have intrinsic value.
and such exquisite workmanship Is needed
for them that forgeries would not pay
The only frst-rate jewelers. for European
style are in Paris, and, for the oriental
styles, in Damascus and India. The Pari-
sian working jeweler earns very high
wages I should also purchase blindfold a
fine porphyry vase. Porphyry quarries are
nearly worked out, and porphyry Is nearly
as hard as the diamond.
Amateurs sometimes, "as a favor
taken by antiquaries through the living
rooms OF their flats cha teauS. dealer
in the neghborhood OF the opera house has
made a mint Of money out of the renais-
sance bed he sleeps on. He gives seekers
after rarities opportunities to discover It,
They imagine it is a find" because he uses
1t instead of keeping 1t In show ROOM He
lets himself be persuaded but not too
easily. to sell 1t; orders another just like it,
sells it also in the same way, and then
other
Here took leave of my informant
And now the following anecdote for the
finale. went some time ago to see avow-
edly spurious antiquities in a workshop in
the Rue de Turenne They were shown to
me as forgeries too clever to be detected
The middleman who hoped to circulate
them as genuine was named. Screws were
old and Of loose fits. The enamel on the
dial plate was identical with that on a
timepiece Of the same period at the Garde
Meuble. l examined the work with mag
nifying glass. and could see how they had
been worn. ...
mot long after I met an appraiser of the
Mont Piete. We talked art and antiquities.
told him Of my visit to. the Rue de Tu-