|
chris
|
 |
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2018, 03:01:46 PM » |
|
One article from our section "Help to help yourself on purchases of ancient artifacts" also available for our guests. For more information you might join our forum.
Excerpt from "how to spot a fake" by Louis McWhinnie
unfortunately not available online anymore
"A big bit of advice to collectors, and you can quote me on this!....
A big library is more important than a big cheque book"
Louis McWhinnie
I have even seen private collections where the fakes outnumber the genuine pieces! I remember a good friend of mine, over a number of years, buying up quite a few fakes, and very low quality artifacts, when I questioned him about it, he replied that the objects were cheap to buy, and that it was all part of his learning process, I replied, “well how long do you want to keep on learning,….ten years,…twenty years,………… how long?”
There are basically four ways of spotting a fake, they are, Tooling Techniques, Patina, Style & materials used,
Style
Judging the difference between a genuine and fake style takes certain knowledge and experience, it is a matter of handling and studying as many artifacts as possible, even scrutinizing items that are of no interest to you at the time, as maybe one day your taste will change, and when they do, you will already have a basic understanding in that particular field.
Sight
The most important of the senses when it comes to collecting, sight tells us the tooling techniques used, size, visual power, form and presence of an object, (aesthetics) the quality, condition, colour, patination, and whether an object has been restored or modified. (Fakers love to modify a new or authentic piece, because the hard work has already been done, they are, more or less, working with a blank canvas)
Touch
Will let us know the weight of an object, whether it is made of stone, metal, soft or hard wood, cotton or silk, we can also feel the texture of the surface, whether it is rough, smooth or polished. Touch is a good indicator for silver. Silver is a very good conductor of heat, and will quickly warm up in the hands.
PATINA
Patina is the natural aging on the surface of a material, caused through polishing (as in furniture) handling, weathering, and in the case of metals, oxidation. Genuine patina will not come off if wiped with a damp cloth, or with methylated spirits. There are two types of patina, with variations of each, (an inside or outside patina) A statue kept inside a house will have a far different patina to one that has been placed outside in the weather.
Patina can be faked on virtually every material!
Bronze
Of all the materials, bronze is one of the most difficult for collectors to understand, unlike iron objects that just go rusty, bronze can be a variety of colours, it can be green, brown, reddish, blue, black, silvery, or a combination of each. The reason for this is because of the material itself, bronze is basically a mixture of copper and tin, with various trace elements, that also react to oxidation. The variation of colour can be put down to the copper and tin ratio, keeping also in mind that the artists could only smelt whatever metals were available at the time, the casting of bronze was never an exact science. (bronze that has a silvery patination, has a high tin content that resists corrosion)
Other factors taken into consideration are, whether the bronze had been excavated, and if so, how long had it been in the ground, was the soil well drained, acidic, or was it found buried under silt in a freshwater river, or salvaged from the bottom of the ocean floor. Genuine bronze artifacts will not have any sharp edges, oxidation would have corroded the metal so that all the edges would be smooth to the touch. A heavy oxidation will be blister like in appearance, almost like a green rust, where the patination has swelled up on the surface of the metal, and will not wipe off with solvents.
Gold (a nice entertaining episode from the Far East, which should make thoughtful)
This one is a real beauty, and has been lately catching a lot of Indonesian art collectors, dealers and institutions, new gold is boiled in a secret recipe of “herbs & spices” to give the pinkish/reddish patina that is found on most excavated archaic pieces. I have seen pieces that are so good, they would bring tears to a glass eye. The Indonesians are so smug and confident with this one, that they will invest many thousands of dollars in solid gold bullion just to make one masterpiece, knowing that they can double, triple, or quadruple their investment in such a short time, and that there is always another sucker just around bemo corner, (landmark in Kuta, Bali). Collectors think that because the gold is genuine, then the item must be genuine also, but the fakers know, unlike other materials, that there is no such thing as an ugly piece of gold, and as I have stated before, collectors can be their own worst enemy.
quote from 7 tips for collecting ancient jewellery from Christie’s
In ancient Mediterranean, Near Eastern and Egyptian cultures, gold and silver were as much a symbol of luxury and status as they are today, and highly valued. That has meant, however, that some of the most important and valuable ancient pieces have been melted down for their materials over the centuries.
‘Ancient gold jewellery tends to be of comparatively high-carat: close to 24 carat, and roughly 93 per cent pure or better, which gives it a warm golden hue and texture not typically found in modern jewellery,’ our specialist explains.
Gold is also very soft, which means that an ancient stone in an ancient gold setting cannot be resized. Collectors who want to wear a centuries-old gemstone ought to consider a stone set in modern gold fixtures as an alternative.Given the delicate nature of ancient gold, collectors should handle gold jewellery gently, particularly when wearing it.
Collectors should adopt a healthy scepticism when it comes to bead necklaces, gold bracelets and other ancient jewellery. ‘More ancient pieces have survived from antiquity than you might expect,’ explains Solomon. ‘But there are fakes that have either been created to purposefully deceive, or else fashioned as revival jewellery meant to imitate ancient pieces in style.’
Silver, mysterious material, wonderful craft.
Already in ancient times, silver was value as precious metal. The most important places where silver was found, were in Ethiopia and Nubia/North-Africa. Greek dug for silver around Athens, the Romans got silver from Spain. A mysterious influence seems to go out from silver, one fround this precious metal in temples and castles, in palaces and churches. Masterpieces of silver were also given into the graves of kings for their long journeys. Since the color of gold reminded people of the sun, they associated silver with the moon.
Silver almost never is processed in pure form, it is usually mixed with copper and some zinc. The mixture is called an alloy. This light, shiny metal is resistant against many chemical influences, and silver even surpasses gold in elasticity. To work on silver was a laborous, costly work, which required expertise. Most object were moulded from plates. Besides hammering and embossing, silver-objects also were cast
|
