The Alaska citizen., 1912-11-11
FAKES WHICH FAILED

IHHLU VIIlUll ! HILLU Thousands of people have a pas sion for collecting antiquities of various kinds One is keen on pewter. another on pottery a third on old copper and brass. a fourth on old furniture. and so on.
 The majority of these people have that little knowledge which is such dangerous thing. and it is small wonder that they are the prey of the clever dealer who purchases his antiquities from the modern faker- ovcrreaches himself He meets a customer who knows more than he has given him credit for knowing. or some little accident occurs which wrecks his well laid scheme. Lately the art world has been laughing at certain dealer who got left" in transaction of this kind.
 A collector of old pictures was told by dealer that there was an old woman in Clapton who had d few good pictures which she wanted to sell because she had lost money
 The collector said he would look at them. and the dealer took him to a little. old-fashioned house. where a few rather good looking pictures 1 were hanging on the sitting-room walls
 The collector took down one of the pictures to examine it in the light. and his sharp eye noticed at once that the old-fashioned wall pa. per behind il was exactly the same color as the rest not darker, as it would naturally have been if the l picture had been hanging there for years.
 This naturally aroused his suspi- 1 cions and he made another inspec. | tion which resulted in the discovery ] that the brass headed nail by which ] the picture hung was brand new. | Then he saw the remains of an que 1 tioneers mark on the back of the l frame. and at once realized that the ] whole thing was a plant
 i In putting back the picture he i happened accidentally to hit the old ] lady's head. Her cap and wig fell off revealing her as man. The 1 game was now up. and the collector, 1 by way of penalty. purchased the 1 best picture at his own price. and took it away.
 It is a common trick to plant fakes in an old house. perhaps among few genuine antiquities, and there to sell them by auction. | Some few years ago a well known | collector went to a sale that had buying some old Chippendale furni- 1 ture of which he had been told
 By mistake he went to the wrong i house. which was just opposite to l the address he wanted. The maid who 1 answered the door told him where the sale was being held. But it's a funny thing. sir she said. The 1 house has been empty this long time, It was only the day before yesterday they put in vanful of furniture, and now there's sale"
 The warning was not lost, The collector studiously avoided this "rigged" sale.
 Some years ago wealthy Ameri- can was told by a Parisian dealer of wonderful fifteenth century fireplace in a palace near Venice.
 which might be purchased for the comparatively small sum of fifteen
 hundred pounds. The American
 made up his mind to go and see it. The night before he left Paris he gave a bachelor dinner to which he asked several young artists. One of
 them. having taken little more
 champagne then was good for him,
 began to boast of his skill at imitat' ing sculptures whether ancient or
 modern. The collector, interested
 began to ask questions.
 If you doubt me-" said the young
 fellow. see here!" He pulled out
 a check for 2,500 francs ($50O). "l
 got this from a dealer for copying
 an old fifteenth century fireplace
 he had planted somewhere, and no
 doubt will sell it to some poor fool
 who knows no better"
 But the word to the wise was sui
 ficient. The collector did not travel
 to Venice the next day. Inquiries
 proved that the fireplace he had
 heard of was the very one for which
 the $500 had been paid
 ROBUST BURGLAR