Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-01-16
IMITATION ANTIQUES
THE WAY CABlNe eTMAkERS CAN COPY
 ANCIENT FURNITURE.

ANCIENT FURNITURE. Curious Inside Information That Was
 Cleaned by an Inauisitive Visitor
 st Little shop In an English
 Country Village.
 Sober, he Is one of the most inter- esting men l know. Unfortunately he is sober only three days week When I ask him the reason he merely says he doesn't know. Yesterday when walked Into the laboratory at the back of his little village shop he was Band of Hope epltomized.
 There'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 klngwood bands. The accu- racy of the jointing was wonderful, the finish perfect
 You must come in again when I've stained and polished it," he went on, "and then you'll think it one of the best Queen Anne pieces extant."
 Don't your customers ever find you outT I asked.
 Lord, no, sir When you've pulled seventeenth century furniture to pieces all your life and learned the things the tenons 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. .lany of the London dealers aren't much bet ter"
 But this veneer-so very new" l hazarded.
 "Ah, wait until you see it toned down and the drawers fitted with set of old Boule handles and scuteheons I've got by me and a few little dents ham mered here and there. especially about the feet, where they get kicked. You'll not know it 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 q trained eye and satisfaction ln explaining his dexterity.
 left the bureau and began examin. ing hoary looking oak settle gray with age.
 Looks ancient. doesn't it?' he ob served.
 'Looksw I wondered Surely it's genuineT
 He shook his head with a wise old smile Its 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 it, you know"
 But the carvingT argued. Its almost effaced in places"
 Tt would be after half an hour with a sand blast. little thing of my own contrivance. The worm holes l make with a very fine punch. Beginners use shot, but that's a clumsy way. Of course the timbers it's made of are old.
  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 I filed off and then hammered the heads a bit"
 'T didn't know you-treated metal as well as timber" admitted.
 Sometimes See that firebackT
 I went to the corner indicated and scrutlnized 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, 1887, seemed to show.
 q bought dozen of those of differ ent dates from a man who makes them. They're only cast but after they've had bonfire over them in my yard for week or two they get soft and look right enough, don't they"
 I admitted that they did. flinching q bit, though, at the adjective he used.
 "Theres 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 tbe country districts now hunting for antiques. They think the things they pick up there must be genuine TLe simple countryman in- spires confidence. There's nothing hardlS tnat cant be initiated" he went on. Its 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 it to himself | that is, If he's got sense of humor. | Do you think that Syrian gold work been known as forgery if somebody hadn't talked? No, indeed! There's china, now. People always think it's above suspicion, but you just look at those two china cows on the shelf there. Ones genuine old Stafford The other isn't. Can you tell the differ ence?''
 used pocket magnifying glass this time, but at the end of several minutes l came to the conclusion that they were identical and said so.
 'I gave one and nine for the imita- tion one, but can't tell which now" he admitted.
 And the selling pricew I inquired.
 "Six guineas each. One of them's worth that. After all, it doesn't really matter, for there's no difference be- tween them intrinsically." = London