Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-11
MAKING ANTIQU Els.
OF A THRIVING
MODERN TRADE.
Where Millionaires Get Their "Rare
Art Treasures"-Forgery
and Deception.

| William Ia Queux in the London Mail
| The modern craze-for collecting anything
old-or even anything having the appear
ance of age-has swept not only England
clean of antiques. but also France and even
Italy-the land which was, within our own
memories the paradise of the curio hunter.
The English housewife nowadays delights
in her old oak Chippendale or Sheraton
| 20 which the fatal word style should gen.
orally be added-while the Englishnan of
means and the leisured American. knowing
| that our land has been denuded Of every
thing, turn their attention to- Italy. the
country where Della Robba plaques are
set in the wayside shrines, and where every
contadino of the fields possesses some
smoke -blackened Madonna or Pieta. and Is
| ready to sell cheaply.
Misguided persons! One can only smile
| at their ignorance. AS a resident in Italy
through a good many years, and as col
| lector of antiques myself, am personally
| acquainted with good many dealers many
| of the mezzani, or middlemen, and most OF
| the manufacturers 1 have, therefore, OBJ
tanned an insight into the fearful and won.
| derful secrets Of this ingenious trade some
of which may not prove uninteresting to
| the ardent collector who goes abroad after
finds"
Fool Foreigners.
| Your average Tuscan looks upon the for
estiero as born fool IL he makes any In
Quiry for antiques for sale. He knows that
there are none, and only foreigner We uld
ask such a ridiculous question. His fathers
| house was cleared Of every stick that was
| of value twenty years ago. old dowry
chests. Montelupo earthenware, the carved
| wardrobe, the blue and white terra Gotta
| Madonna from the house wall, mis- mother
| necklet of old pearls even to the I'D cop.
l ~ k;.l,
| the well. The travelling agents took them
all and were welcome, for they paid prompt.
cash for them. Yet the Inglese WHO spends
the winter in Italy still wants antiques
| therefore he must be supplied. Hence there
mas sprung up trade of forgery and imi-
tation which is well nigh incredible.
1 nave stood in more than one sculptor's
studio both in Florence and in Carrara
| and seen age" given to marble by a newly
discovered process which. in twelve hours
VIII give to statue five hundred times its
| true value. One sculptor. in whose studio
| hfty men We're hard at work making an
tlques. informed me that the greater part
| OF his output was shipped to an agent IN
| New York who judiciousy distributed it TO
CeaierS all over America. So clever is this
mode of giving age that the combination
| of acids applied is absorbed by the marble
and turns 1t yellow right through so that
| even experts can be deceived by those in
gen1OuS limitations Of Michelangelo Dona-
tellO and other celebrated sculptors
| "old" Silverware.
Old silver is fashionable craze and
time was when one could find III those tiny
| shops on the medieval Ponte Vecchio gen.
| uine chalices. patens and mass bells of the
| cinquecento, goblets of the sixteenth CEN
| tury. and those curious old sugar basins
! with the spoons oung around them Today
| the Seareher for antiques can still find
| them all. and more. beautifully hallmark
| ed, and at a price much lower than he
/ nav q dnaJ IlY,%
| your find when you get 1t home. The Eng
| nsh seventeenth century mark which
| caught your eye does not stand alone for
| IL is accompanied by the square Vienna
| date mark, or perhaps even the spread
| eagle of Frankfort-on-theMa You will
| find upon the goods offered you a variety
| OF irresponsible marks and countermarks
| that bewllder you-French and German side
| by side-and the articles all genuine of
| course! And yet even this rubbish is eager
| ly purchased and carried to England and
America in ignorance that il was made IN
Germany last year.
The largest profit Is. however, made on
| arms and pictures The armory where the
| greater part Of the ancient" arms sold by
| dealers In Italy is forged is in back
street in Leghorn and its proprietor is a
| vcritable artist n iron. Here. in a couple
of tumble down old blacksmith shops, every
| conceivable kind of armor is made from
| the fourteenth century helmet or breast
| plate to the gauntlets, halberds swords
| and daggerS of the various centuries and
| OF the most celebrated makers. l have
| watched those swords being stamped with
| the marks or monographs of the well-known
| Spanish armorers of the sixteenth century;
| the coronet in shield of Domingo the
| crossed scissors of Sanchez the half moon
| of Juan Martin or the star of Gil de Altman
| together with good Selling Latin inscrip-
! tons or owners names with dates. 1 have
| stood by and seen how the steel is treated
| with acids: how the bronze hits are painted
| With some solution to render them old and
how they are placed in trOughs of damp
earth to induce rust and Datina before
| being sold to the dealers at so much a
dozen assorted
Forged Paintings.
Where the foreign enthusiast in Italy be-
| trays his greatest ignorance is in pictures.
| He is always in want of an old master, and,
! of course, he is supplied. Munich Siena
| and Perugia are the centers of manufac-
ture of false examples of the famous mas
| ters. The works of Rubens. Raphael or
| Titan too well known, therefore the
| forger resorts to limitations of such artists
4 as REM, Sodoma, Andrea del Sarto, Van
! Dyck, the Gaddis Ghirandajo. Each
| foIger possesses his own particular style,
one turning out dark time-stained portraits
| OF Van Dyck, another painting the WY
| necked Virgins of one or other of the
Gaddis, while the mandatory of spurious
Ghirlandajos is in Perugia, where an artist
is busy year in and year out painting works
| by that maestro. which, when complete and
| ready for sale, are certainly marveis of IN
genuity His main secret lies in the use or
| a special varnish. which, If not used prop
| erly and applied at a certain temperature.
| may spoil months of work: but If put on in
| the right manner gives, I'm twenty-four
hours, such an appearance of age that even
| certain directors of the national collections
| have been deceived.
| An amusing incident occurred not long
| ago when an American purchased one OF
| the Ghirlandajos through dealer in Siena
| and on being taken to the Uffizi for the
| official permit to allow it to leave Italy it
| was actually detained genuine speci-
| men.
| A Trick Of Dealers.
Again, case of clever trickery with re-
| gard to a picture came before my notice
| short time ago. A mezzano in Florence
| called upon a well-known and wealthy En-
| glishman staying on the Lung Arno, and
| In confidence informed him that there was
| a genuine Madonna and Child by Fra Bar
| tolOmmeo in fhe nrfyqfe chanel of villa