The first rule of antique shopping: beware of the “it’s –a-steal” impulse. All buyers should be wary of the enticement of the obviously underpriced. Each time the item is being sold-up each dealer or auction is proudly referring to the last’s provenance.Īntique dealers, like everyone else, are less wary of cheap finds and can be encouraged by very low prices to delude themselves into thinking the “Antique” is a steal. This object could be sold for little money to an antique dealer, say $100., who could in turn sell it many times over, possibly fetching at the final retail end say $10,000. So what was gained from this process? Probably, some sort of revenge to an individual or group. Hence faking is not an easy business, it takes excessive time, effort, planning, creativity and deviance. Only after being dunked in the sea and pounded by the surf for a while was the chair deemed ready. Then a piece of back splat is removed to impart simulated major damage. This could be repeated as many times as desired to add-libb more damage. The next step is to remove the smell of smoke from the chair, bathing in concentrated salt water and then in bleach baths. This process also results in checking, warping and twisting of some of the components, thus an enhancement of age. The chair is elevated over a steel drum with a roaring fire inside this dry’s and browns the wood. When it is dry, it is waxed and prepared to be smoked. It is then coated with a wash coat of water/white glue and while still tacky covered in dust removed from a house vacuum cleaner. The chair is reassembled and presented with a thin coat of black paint. The char is then removed and bleached to remove every trace of carbon. I will use a hypothetical example of a chair once built to exacting standards to copy the original, it is dismantled and each component is burned over an open fire to imitate wear. In general when examining original crisp edges on wooden objects, they have only been slightly worn from wear and the ravages of time when compared to a faker who tends to over-round these areas, unconsciencely going to excesses of the original hoping to make his point. One will also find excessive wear marks added, generally being much over done and sometimes in the wrong areas as compared to the original being copied. After most fakes are assembled, they are attacked by denting, bruising and gouging out areas of some primitive furniture to simulate being handmade. It is the object many buyers fear most but is in fact the one they need fear least. This object was made from scratch to fool you. The path to the genuine is passing by way of all the frauds. I will use the terms: “fake” referring to a completely made phony fraud: designates an antique that has been altered, misattributed, or otherwise discussed or misrepresented as what it is not.
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