The Red Cloud chief., 1907-06-21
IMITATION ANTIQUES
THE WAY CABlNETMAkERS CAN COPY
ANCIENT FURNITURE.

esting men I know. Unfortunately he
is sober only three days week. When
! ask him the reason he merely says
he doesn't know. Yesterday when I
walked into the laboratory at the back
Of his little village shop he was Band
Of Hope epitomized.
"Tbere's something you'll like" he
said, indicating small bureau. old
Spanish mahogany within. new satin
wood veneer-so far unpolished-with-
out. The veneer was inlaid with ebony
lines and kingwood bands. The accu-
racy Of the jointing was wonderful.
the finish perfect.
stained and polished It," he went on.
"and then you'll think 1t one Of the
best Queen Anne pieces extant."
"Don't your customers ever find you
out" l asked.
"Lord, no, sir! When you've pulled
seventeenth century furniture to pieces
all your life and learned the things the
lemons and mortises and the finish tell
you, it's easy enough to get the right
effect. The public hasn't any judg-
ment, and, for that matter, many Of
the London dealers aren't much bet
ter"
"But this veneer-so very new," l
hazarded.
"Ah, wait until you see 1t toned down
and the drawers fitted with set Of
old Boule handles and scutcheons I've
got by me and few little dents ham,
mered here and there, especially about
the feet, where they get kicked.
You'll not know 1t then. See that lit
tie black knot I've left on the face of
the third drawer? That knot would
take in all Wardour street"
He is always frank with me about
his fakes. He seems to take pride
In being able to deceive a trained eye
and satisfaction in explaining his
dexterlty.
left the bureau and began examin-
Ing hoary looking oak settle gray
with age.
Looks ancient, doesn't it," he OBJ
served.
"Looksw wondered. "Surely it's
genuine?'
He shook his head with a wise old
smile. "It's as genuine as dilute nitric
acid can make It, Oh, you needn't go
by the panels. They're purposely
warped with hot ammonia. The sun
and rain do the rest-bleach 1t, you
know"
"But the carving" 1 argued. 'Its
almost effaced in places"
1T would be after half an hour with
a sand blast, little thing Of my own
contrivance. The worm holes l make
with very fine punch. Beginners use
shot, but that's clumsy way. OF
course the timbers it's made Of are old.
They are bits of Charles l. table
mostly. The hinges are ordinary trade
copies that have lain in the wet all
summer and got nicely rusted, and If
you were to draw the screws that hold
them you'd find they were rusty, too.
and had no points. Those l filed Off
and then hammered the heads bit"
81 didn't know you-treated metal
as well as timber" admitted.
sometimes. See that fireback"
I went to the corner indicated and
scrutinized the fireback. As far as l
could tell, it was beautiful specimen
OF hammer work bitten and worn by
over two centuries Of Use, as its date,
1857, seemed to show.
81 bought a dozen Of those Of differ
<l,N, vuvhn lynd
them. They're only cast but after
they've had a bonfire over them in my
yard for a week or two they get soft
and look right enough, don't they?"
admitted that they did. fllnching a
bit, though, at the adjective he used.
''There's a regular trade between the
manufacturers Of faxed antiques and
the country dealers-more than with
the London ones. Why? Well, the
manufacturers have discovered that
people go into the country districts
now hunting for antiques. They think
the things they pick up there must be
genuine. The simple countryman In
spires confidence. There's nothing
hardly that can't be initiated" he went
on. 'It's merely question Of time
and skill, Of course-and it's only by
accident, or talking as I'm doing. that
the facts discovered. But when man
knows he can take In an expert It's
difficult for him to keep 1t to himself
that is, II he's got sense Of humor
Do you think that Syrian gold work
they had at the Louvre would have
been known as forgery II somebody
hadn't talked? No, indeed! There's
china, now. People always think it,