Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

Carpentier's-Eastfield-Village

Full Text:

Antique Reproductions, Etc

(W/Cuts)

By Joyce R. Hanes

EASTFIELD, N.Y. -- For three days between July 20-22, amateurs and

professionals gathered at Eastfield Village for a fascinating program on

antique reproductions, fakes and forgeries.

The village, which lies between Pittsfield, Mass., and Albany, N.Y., is the

creation of Don Carpentier, who has collected over 20 buildings dating between

1787-1840. Each summer he holds a variety of workshops on historic

preservation, as well as on various aspects of life in the Eighteenth and

early Nineteenth Centuries. Instructors include preservationists who are

familiar with early techniques, and experts in fields such as ceramics and

fireplace heating.

The July workshop on fakes and forgeries seemed too good an opportunity to

pass up. Specialists in nine areas -- pewter, textiles, paintings, British

pottery, American furniture, iron, glassware, tin, and Argand lighting -- were

on the roster. The informal sessions were conducted in a Greek Revival church

set up with long tables and an assortment of stools, chairs and benches for

seating. The ability to closely examine objects under discussion was an

invaluable component of the program.

Ceramics

The first speaker was Jonathan Rickard, a scholar and collector of British

ceramics. He offered tips on identifying fakes, calling particular attention

to the examination of mottoes and names, shapes of spouts and handles, and

decoration and glazing.

Rickard presented many examples, including unmarked "Whieldon" plates that

were made at the Bennington factory for the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a

green shell-edged platter later embellished with an American eagle and

re-glazed; and a Liverpool jug, transfer-decorated with the image of the ship

Caroline, made a century out of period.

In a slide lecture, Rickard showed fakes from the collection of the Henry

Weldon collection and told the sensational story of their maker, Guy Davies.

Though the British court found Davies innocent, thermoluminescence tests

proved that the pieces were new. The test determines the point at which an

object reaches its highest temperature, or when they were fired in the case of

ceramics.

Rickard described non-period, non-factory marked Wedgwood made in the

Twentieth Century by an Englishman named Thorley. Apparently, Thorley wasn't

creating exact copies of existing pieces. Instead he carved new molds. The

speaker showed a basalt teapot marked Wedgwood in a bamboo style never

designed by the company. This was definitely a Thorley piece.

Rickard showed a Thomas Toft-style charger and a Snow Hill-style bowl made by

Greg Shooner of Pennsylvania. Shooner makes very skillful reproductions, aging

the pieces to achieve an antique look. He marks every piece. Attempts have

been made to conceal Shooner's mark; a few pieces of his have made it to

auction.

Pewter

Wayne Hilt -- a collector, dealer and restorer of antique pewter -- opened his

presentation with the observation that "all fakers are dumb." Fakers, said

Hilt, put phony touchmarks on stylistically inappropriate pieces, or cast

multiple new pieces from molds without removing telltale marks and scratches

from the original. The expert shows a regular-rimmed plate that had been

altered into a wide-rimmed plate with the addition of a couple of inches from

a charger. He also discussed a London dealer who made and sold fake pewter out

of his shop.

Textiles

Patricia Herr, a specialist in Pennsylvania textiles, has documented forged

samplers that are turning up at auction from the Mid-Atlantic to New England.

These samplers are all in late Nineteenth Century frames and are worked in a

tight-weave cotton which is atypical of the early Nineteenth Century

embroidery. They use contemporary embroidery thread and are carelessly worked.

The backs have old newspaper and old nails. The material appears to have been

wrinkled and then washed in dirt. Each sampler has the girl's name, age,

location, and date. In short, these pieces are too good to be true.

Herr brought a variety of other Pennsylvania textiles, both old and new. Most

of the new pieces were reproductions rather than fakes, and many were made by

her friends. There were examples of quilts, coverlets, show towels, and pillow

cases. Most of the contemporary pieces were dated; none was made to deceive.

Iron

Rob Lyons is a working blacksmith at Old Sturbridge Village. He explained the

differences between cast and wrought iron, passing pieces of each around so

they could be examined and handled.

Lyons described different types of welds. Until the Twentieth Century, the

forge weld was the only type used to join iron. The gas weld, developed in the

early Twentieth Century, is evident on reproductions coming from Indonesia.

Eighteenth Century iron was finished by a whitesmith, who filed the piece to

hide all hammer marks and beveled the edges. Rivets were handmade.

Some fakers' tricks include using old iron to make new things; adding patina;

enhancing an antique piece (for example, adding a wedding band to a plain

hogscraper, adding a date, or embellishing a piece with brass inlay); or

marrying two old pieces to create a new form.

Iron is often misidentified. A pet peeve of Don Carpentier is the standing

crane. He sees these at shows, labeled as Eighteenth Century. In reality they

are British Ordinance table bases, used by the British military in the late

Nineteenth to early Twentieth Centuries. Often said to be used over fenders of

wood-burning fireplaces, many trivets were actually made to be used with coal

grates. By setting up a grate with various trivets, the truth was apparent.

Lyons' talk ended with a quiz. Students were asked to study various pieces and

determine whether they were new or old. Almost everybody got an A.

Paintings

C.R. Jones spoke about paintings and painted surfaces. Jones is a conservator

at the New York State Historical Association and Farmer's Museum in

Cooperstown, N.Y.

He described the different types of stretchers and strainers used for

canvases, and discussed canvas stamps and framer's labels. Tips on spotting a

phony signature on a painting include seeing if it is over the varnish or

under it (it should be under) and looking for age cracks under the signature,

indicating that the signature was put on later.

Jones also discussed painted surfaces on furniture, and methods of cleaning

painted surfaces. "There are no cookbooks. Each piece requires something

different," he said.

Difference between laid and wove paper were considered, and an example of an

Eighteenth Century American laid piece carefully married to a later wove piece

was shown. The marriage was so skillful that it could only be detected under

magnification.

Tin

Dave Claggett is a scholar and tinsmith who creates exact reproductions of

historical lighting. His show-and-tell presentation included dozens of

examples of old and new items spread on the table for everyone to examine.

Claggett stressed that very few pieces of tin were signed, and that tinsmiths

wasted very little material.

In the Nineteenth Century tin came in 10 by 14 inch sheets. A tray that is

larger than that and does not have a seam is not an antique. He cautioned that

Indonesian workers have limited technology. The conditions they are working

under may be similar to those of a Nineteenth Century American tinsmith,

thereby producing similar results.

Glass

Corning Museum of Glass curator Jane Shadel Spillman offered common-sense

pointers for looking at glass. For instance, old glass was made to be used.

New fakes and reproductions do not always function properly. A pitcher may

dribble, or a handle may be too weak for the size of the vessel.

Clebenger was a glassmaker in Pennsylvania who made gift-shop wares which are

now appearing on the market as period pieces. Erickson reproductions from the

1940s and 1950s are also being passed off as old.

Engraving has been added to antique glass to enhance its value. A scratch

under the engraving may be a sign that the work has been embellished.

Marks can also be added. New England Glass Company marks were put on pieces

sometime in the 1960s. All of these pieces appeared around Newburyport, Mass.

Heisey bought Sandwich Glass molds and reproduced Sandwich products starting

in the 1920s. There is a proliferation of glass curtain tiebacks and dolphin

candlesticks from this period.

Lighting

In the case of Argand lighting, said Don Carpentier, problems are associated

less with reproductions than with replacements and refittings. Shades may be

of a different vintage. Often they weren't designed to go with the lamp.

Argand lamps were often converted to keep up with the times, so it is not

unusual to find one altered to use kerosene or even wired for electricity.

In 1928 Israel Sack Inc. produced a catalogue which sold all kinds of

reproduction lamps and shades, many of which appear today as early Nineteenth

Century antiques. Carpentier also mentioned that round hanging globe lamps

with smoked shades were imported to this country from India, where they were

used in the temples.

Furniture

John Kovacik, a professional cabinetmaker specializing in restoration and

reproduction of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture, said that color

and wear are the most difficult things to duplicate.

The best way to expose a fraud, he said, is to compare it to an authentic

piece of furniture. It takes several years to make a really good fake, and

most fakers do not have that much patience.

Worth Attending

About two dozen dealers, auctioneers, curators, and collectors attended this

year's workshop. Most found the Eastfield Village program as valuable as it

was entertaining.

For information on future workshops, write Eastfield Village, PO Box 539,

Nassau, N.Y. 12123, telephone 518/766-2422. Workshops run through October.