Buyer Beware! Part II: Fakes and Reproductions
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- Wen
- Barbara Bell
- Carol Wallace
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» Wen - Hello Barbara, I really enjoyed your article and found a few
Hello Barbara,I really enjoyed your article and found a few links that were actually totally new for me. I was unaware that the Antiques Roadshow (a great show!) had a website, so that was a lot of fun.
A few years ago, US News and World Reports had a nice article about reproductions which is now arrchived on-line.
The United States Hobby Protection Act described in that article, which was established in 1973, required that reproductions of coins and politcal memorabilia be clearly stamped (not just stickered as is required of other reproductions) with the date, country of origin, or something permanent that would indicate that it was a repro. In the spring of 1997, the Federal Trade Comission examined this Act in regards to whether or not this interfered with the trade of coins and political memorabilia and whether the Act should be expanded to cover other collectibles. While there was overwhelming support to keep the current Act and add other antiques to it, the FTC decided to just recommend that the Act stay in place as is and did not recommend that congress review the Act. Their argument was that it would be much harder to police the large business of reproductions import in the United States (some of which is legitimate and has value in it's own right...furniture is a good example of this) and that there was a huge amount of information available for consumers to educate themselves about reproductions.
Do you agree with this? Should the government take a stand against this for all reproductions, or should the buyer indeed beware?
<img src="http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/25772/..." alt="Orange Witch Hat" align=left width=55 height=52>
Wen Zientek
Desserts Editor, Temporary Witch
-- posted by Wen
» Barbara Bell - Hi, Wen! Thanks for your nice comments. My personal experience
Hi, Wen! Thanks for your nice comments.My personal experience as an antique dealer is that all imported items, especially legitimate reproductions , should have permanent marks somewhere on the item. Originally the import act enacted in 1922-23 required permanent marks, but later paper stickers were allowed. Paper stickers are impermanent, and many objects like pottery, china, wood articles, etc. are now impossible to authenticate. Today's imports and even US-made items seldom have permanent marks. Those that do, can be verified as to manufacturer and country of origin, and age as well.
The Federal Government regulates some products and artifacts, such as ivory (which cannot be legitimately purchased in the US) and military medals (which cannot be sold).
The IRS has its say as to valuation of antiques.
These, I think, are proper regulatory responsibilities.
I think most dealers feel the government sends mixed messages. Too much regulation makes it almost impossible to conduct business. Too little opens the door to more fraud. And there may be a huge amount of information for the consumer, but mechanisms for acquiring it are clumsy and fragmented. No one agency handles regulatory matters, or acts as a clearinghouse. Private information services are narrow in focus.
I don't know the answer, but the Internet has made research more productive and energy-efficient. Still imperfect, however!
Research is still the key.
Thanks for the information. I will follow up on that article you mentioned.
-- posted by Barbara Bell
» Carol Wallace - I'm all for some clear way of identifying reproductions. We hav
I'm all for some clear way of identifying reproductions. We haven't got many, but my husband and I have made some fairly costly purchases of Art Deco and Art Nouveau bronzes. Normally I can spot a repro - there is a certain lack of detail, a thin-ness that the original lacks. But our first major purchase still worries me= a really beautiful Art Nouveau femme-fleur lamp with art glass shades that I think are not original. It's signed. It has terrific detail - and the dealer had another one just like it in her shop the next time we hit New Orleans. <img src="http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/79/rhubarb.gif" alt="rheum" align=left>
Carol
virtually gardening
Northeast Pennsylvania, zone 6.
-- posted by Carol Wallace
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