The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-10-05
FORGERY OF
| ANTIQUES
How American Snobbery Has Gre.
ated an Industry-Our De.
mand Was Supplied.
RELICS MADE TO ORDER
Statues, Furniture, Silyerware,
Pictures, Weapons, Armour,
Any Old Thing Made
to Order.
RELICS MADE TO ORDER

Il h-~N FsN~"N sVf NNbNShHtb oiiy AHIllb Olt
has swept Europe clean Of antiques.
The moment the American tourist
makes an inquiry for antiques, the mod :
ern Italian looks upon him as a bird
TO be picked. He knows there are no
antiques left. He remembers his father
selling at good price their carved
chest. brassware, a madonna, and even
the household pottery. At first the Ital-
lans told the tourists there were no
antiques left: but. finding the truth OF
no avail. and being an obliging people.
they invented new industry--the
counterfeitIng OF antiques-which has
today became almost fine art.
An English gentleman OF many years
residence In Italy, says: Il have stood
In more than one sculptor's studio, both
In Florence and la carrara. and seen age
given 10 marble by newly discovered
process which In twelve hours win give
TO "A statue 500 times Its true value.
one sculptor. In whose studio SO men
were hard mt work making antiques
informed ME that the greater part Of
his output WAS shipped TO an agent IN
New York, who judiciously distributed
II TO dealers all over America So
ceIyer is this mode OF giving age. that
the combination OF acids applied Is abb
sorbed by the marble and turns Il yell
low right through, so that even experts
can be deceived by those ingenious irni-
tations OF Michael Angelo, Donatello,
and other celebrated sculptcrS
At Athens there is factory busy all
the year round turning out by the score
"ancient" Tanagra terra-cottas. One
of these limitations will be sold for
$4,000 when SIS is every penny it is
worth.
When old silver became the fashion
able craze. the little stores on the Ponte
vecchlo contained many genuine chal-
ices goblets. sugar basins. and the like.
Today these stores are well stocked
with so-called ancient sIiverware, but
not single piece Is genuine. There
are factories in Holland that turn out
sllverware by the hundred pieces. They
take genuine piece-say fine old
goblet-and produce exact copies. BY
chemical process they give taem an
appearance of age that wonld deceive
the eyes OF an expert. For years there
has been an increasing demand by coll
lectors for medieval armor and arms.
In "A back street OF proseUus Ital-
Ian city is the Workshop OF a man
who is a genius at manufacturing every
conceivable kind OF armor. from breast
platns TO gauntleis, FROM halberds to
swords and daggers, all stamped with
the monograms OF some famous Span
lsh or Italian armorer.
Tir steel Is treated with acids: the
bronze hilts of swords are dipped in
some Kind of a solution to give the ap-
pearanec OF age and use; then the
pieces are placed In boxes of damp
earth lu induce rust: and In a week or
two they are, ready To be sold to the
dealers at so much a dozen.
In spite of all the care taken by
collectors gentleman employed In a
EuropeaR museum gave his opinion
that 25 per cent of all the antiques
In private collections were forgeries. To
such an extent is this counterfeiting
carried on that after a Russian noble-
man had spent $4,000 in forming a
collection of cameos so many whenj
carefully examined proved to be for
series that despairing to separate the
'alse from the true, he sold the entire
for what 1t would bring.
In Manchester, England. larget h
lumber Of men are employed in max
ng old furniture. The large ma