The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1903-03-28

Dealers Have Large Trade = Far
niture and Pottery Made In
Imitation OF Old Pieces.

"The latest thing in antiques" il
the way witty dealer describes t.
his friends some of the tricks of hi.
business. If you don't comesto him to
buy, simply to talk soviably, he vii
| confess that there is an enormous
trade in imitation antiquities. Silver
furniture, pottery, and other thing
that folks bury because of their age
are exported to America in great
quantities by experts who make clever
| limitations, and each species of ian
tique" is credited as being the prod
uct of some particular country OF
city. Holland, for Instance, =, is the
headquarters for ''old silver" whily
Paris sends out most of the limitation
ancient pottery, says the New. York
Times. N
After securing sample pieces OF
real old silver as models, the Dutch
imitators make molds and then turn
out the copies by thousands. Having
manufactured the limitations, they
subject them to chemical preparations
to make them look time-worn. The
science of manipulating" has be.
come so exact that new pieces are
made to have the appearance of having
been dug up. from the earth after hid
ing from the light for centuries. Hol-
land, although the leader in the art
is not the only place where it is prac-
ticed, and a dealer ofthis city is au-
thority for the statement that the
United Statee, France and Germany
contain numerous establishments
where the trade fourishes. ~ ~.
Those who, initiate pottery and
marble are even more successful than
the silver molders, and the basic
theory of the business is to manu-
facture the pieces and then bury them
in the ground, allowing them TO re-
main there two or three years. When
the resurrection takes place. the APP
pearance of the antique" is such
that the uninitated. purchaser-to-be
readily believes the salesman who
points to 1t and says: "Hcre, madam,
is an old piece of marble that came
from the ruins of Pompeii; its price
has been reduced 10 $500" The king
of the itation pottery trade in Paris
is man named Sampson, of whom it
has been said that he produces wares
more ancient than the Biblical man
with similarly sounding name. His
goods go to all countries and are dealt
out for very high prices.
oil L. - x.s. Al
most fourishing is the antique fur
niture" trade. The dealers say there
is greater demand for old furniture
than for anything else they sell. In
the United States there is one city
which has factory that does nothing
but turn out. antique" chairs and ia
bles, and other such things. "They
just make a chair" to use the local
dealers words, ''and soak it in some
sort of fluid to make it look rusty, and
then they shoot few loads of small
shot into it to give it worm-eaten
appearance" This having been done,
the sixteenth century chair is COM
plete and ready for use or ornament,
Sometimes, il is explained, the maker
uses an awl instead of shot for pep
pering the piece of furniture with
"worm-holes," and this method has
the advantage of leaving less proofs of
deception than the small shot.
at doesn't take long for shop to
ELL up with real genuine antiques in
New York" explains the dealer. "Why,
! know man who quit the butchering
business to become one of us. He
hasn't been at it long, but already his
place is filed with everything from
roll of papyrus that was used by Ra-
meses the Second to a suit of armor
pierced by the sword of Richard Plan
tagenet."
= This same dealer will point out in
bis own shop Ito anybody who will
not telD clever imitation of wedg-
wood that any one but an expert read
lily would believe to have been fash
Toned by Josiah Wedgwood himself.
When asked whether buyers often dis
cover that they have been deceived
and return to demand reimbursement,
the dealer replies:
"The more they get soaked the
more they come back to buy. But
they rarely wake up, most often con-
tinuing to think until their dying day
that they. are, looking into mirror
which once reflected the face of
Queen Elizabeth or sitting in chair
sat Nine. de Maintenon to
receive King Louis XIV"
walk through the antique" dis
trict will show many real articles, of
course, but every real one is likely to
have it's imitation counterpart some
where about. As interesting as any
deception one sees is an elaborate suit
of armor, the owner of which, in de-
scribing its attractions, points to GER
tain indentures and declares that they
are ancient sword prints.
MORE BECOMING INSANE.