The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-05-25
CLEVER ART FORGERS
They Flood the Markets Abroad
With Their Wares.
PARIS THE CLEARING HOUSE.

tAhlS IhE CLEANING nOUSe.
The French Capital 10 the Chief Mart
For the Disposal 81 Imitation An
tiqass-ltaly Leads u the Production
Of the Spurious Artieiss.
Italy has always been the classic soil
for fabrications. but In some depart
ments Holland and Paris run her close.
Vienna has speciality for rock crys-
tai and thirteenth century gold work.
Florence and Lucca for fourteenth
century armor. London initiates the
pate tendre OF Sevres. Constantinople
makes oriental weapons. Madrid Da-
mascus swords. Dresden sculptured
ivories. Aix-la-Chapelle pewter plate.
Berlin Roman potteries. Amsterdam
wrought iron. Rotterdam Indian porce-
lains. Odessa tiaras and antique jew
elry. while Paris IL the chief mart and
clearing house for all these products
Italian bronze statuettes. now 80
much sought. are turned out with dex-
terity and taste in Tuscany. It Is said
that 1t was from one Of these foun-
dries there issued the group Of virtue
expressing vice. assigned to Clan Bo-
logna. which is now the choice treas
ure Of Il celebrated French collection.
XIV. repousse work.
Al for renaissance and medieval
jewelry. hardly bit is real except
what Is In museums. 1t is not to be
bought. In the disturbed epochs that
followed the renaissance precious
stones were broken from their set
tings and sold to meet urgent needs.
The same need for extreme dididence
applies to the pretty bibelots Of the
eighteenth century. watches. chate-
LANES. bonbonnieres. OF modern fabri.
cation. too. IL the ename!ed jeweiry Of
the sixteenth century. Vienna turns 1t
out to perfection. And so cunning are
the makers that. for example. they
take care that the ring on which q
locket 10 suspended should show signs
Of friction. well aware that the buyer
who thinks himself cute will look for
this Indication.
much bought and sought in Florence
III wv VsA OAso6c anu S1SC '" uS4Ss SnS
genuine II long ago exhausted. for.
after all. peasants own but q limited
stock. 1t all consists Of clever copies
or more often tasteful combinations of
old designs. The stones. too. despite
their nne designations. are rarely any
thing else but those marvelously clev-
er tinted rock crystals 50 ingeniously
made in Switzerland and sold by the
ton If desired.
Venice Is the great depot for ebony
inlaid with ivory. and cabinets incrust.
ed with tortoise shell. once its glory
and now In their decadence, are still
the Joy Of travelling Americans on the
lookout for bargains. Buy II the OBJ.
ject pleases you. but do not when you
pay your dollars imagine you are ex.
changing new lamps for old. As for
old clocks, grandfather or other, there
is not one genuine in hundred. Ware
ivories! They are generally bone or,
worse still. celiuloid aged by the help
Of tobacco or Of that invaluable hand.
maiden. licorice Juice.
Nor does even glass defy the artif
icer. In the Museum Of st. German
can be seen Roman goblets. their out.
sides incrusted with dirt. whose iri.
descence has been obtained by fish
scales fixed upon their surface. Some.
times real bits Of iridescent glass dim
work. Cologne turns out lachrymatory
vases by tho gross. not even troubling
to copy the old shapes. but using the
long narrow bottles in which cheap
sweets are sold. These are buried IN
dung after being smeared with some
connection OF which the secret Is
guarded. and in a little time they issue
from retirement patinated and rides
cent. Old German and Bohemian glass
is also excellently copied in Hamburg
and Paris. Venice. too. has not for
gotten it's traditions and turns out its
own old wares.
Sevres and Dresden innocently help
ed the counterfeiter by selling thcil
not yet decorated pieces. II imperfect
for a trife. On this genuine ground
the forger worked with ease. Thi!
tradic has been stopped. still the
forger knows no obstacles or over
comes them. and false Sevres and
Dresden are supplied by all dealers
and the purchaser rarely has the mi
mute knowledge that will save him. II
the eighteenth century oriental porce
lains were openly made In England
and Holland and sent to China fos
decoration. when they returned a. rea
China porcelain, or the reverse proc
ess obtained. The porcelain was made
In China and decorated in what wa.
presumed to be the Chinese style II
Europe. Paris at the present moment
makes and exports old China porce
lain. and many a tourist who buys 9
ind at Hongkong or Shanghai merely
brings back Goals to Newcastle. Rho
dian plates are made near Paris in NIB
solute perfection. Except as matter
Of sentiment there Ii no need to seet
the old. Re cautious. too. in buying
Greco-Roman pottery. It is mostly
made at Naples.
Most Of the genuine things wer,