Uncle Kirker / Auction Fakes
Monday, June 01, 2009
First, the big news: I'm an uncle! My brother's twin boys were born today, one 6 lb 10 oz (and named Colin McLain - the middle name was his wife's dad's name) and the other 6 lb 14 oz (name still TBD). Their first pic's already up on my Facebook, if you're one of my friends on it; since my brother's not really into the online thing and only got his first cell phone a couple of years ago, I don't know if he'd want me to post their photo in a totally public forum like a blog (access to my Facebook profile is limited to friends and some work associates), but e-mail me if you're not on Facebook and want to see the tots.
More on auctions, which I posted about a few days ago: it still never ceases to surprise me how many people have been duped into thinking a line of Paul Evans sculpted-bronze knockoffs is the real deal. This list includes myself: I bought a full dinette set early on in my gallery-buying spree that was listed by the smallish auction house in question as "Paul Evans." Not "Paul Evans-attributed," or even "in the manner of Paul Evans," but "Paul Evans." They were wrong: the set was part of one of two lines of Evans fakes, derived from his sculpted-bronze line, that hit the market for a couple of years in the early '70s. In hindsight -- and having learned much more about Evans' work as time has gone by -- I see now how clearly they're fakes, but I made a rookie error in trusting that an auction house would have verified the provenance of all pieces on the block. In reality, only the largest auction houses guarantee provenance, as I learned the hard way a second time as well. I'd feel worse about it had I not purchased the full set for a song (and have it listed for sale for a fraction of what 1stdibs dealers selling the stuff have it priced at).
Last fall I made a non-rookie error and got duped on a pair of fake Marco Zanuso Lady chairs from another small-time auctioneer. Had I been more familiar with the design, I would've noticed the deviances in the legs (real Ladys mostly had steel or aluminum legs; these had thin brass ones) and heft (real Ladys are heavy; these are feather-light), but everything else this particular auctioneer had on hand was legit, so I assume the Ladys were as well. Wrong. They're still good-looking chairs, mind you, and were recently reupholstered in a nice Knoll beige textile, but I bought them on the cost basis of them being legitimate Ladys, and now have to take a loss selling them as fakes.
Anyway, today I received a flyer from one of the smaller auction houses I work with, where the best deals are invariably had, and what do I see? The exact same fake-Evans dinette set presently sitting on my gallery floor (at a 2/3rd markdown from our original price), but listed in the flyer as original Evans, along with several accompanying pieces. The rest of their gear looks legit (and believe me, I've now learned how to spot a fake, in most cases, from a mile away), but I felt compelled to e-mail to tell them that their Evans stuff was not actually Evans and that they're only going to damage their reputation by advertising it as such. I also do this periodically when I see similar fake Evans pieces come up for sale on eBay, which I monitor on the incredibly unlikely chance a good Evans piece comes up for sale there. (In the year and a half I've been looking, this has happened exactly once -- not counting auction listings from Rago and Wright that are no longer listed on eBay.)
To sum it up much more succinctly: caveat emptor.
More on auctions, which I posted about a few days ago: it still never ceases to surprise me how many people have been duped into thinking a line of Paul Evans sculpted-bronze knockoffs is the real deal. This list includes myself: I bought a full dinette set early on in my gallery-buying spree that was listed by the smallish auction house in question as "Paul Evans." Not "Paul Evans-attributed," or even "in the manner of Paul Evans," but "Paul Evans." They were wrong: the set was part of one of two lines of Evans fakes, derived from his sculpted-bronze line, that hit the market for a couple of years in the early '70s. In hindsight -- and having learned much more about Evans' work as time has gone by -- I see now how clearly they're fakes, but I made a rookie error in trusting that an auction house would have verified the provenance of all pieces on the block. In reality, only the largest auction houses guarantee provenance, as I learned the hard way a second time as well. I'd feel worse about it had I not purchased the full set for a song (and have it listed for sale for a fraction of what 1stdibs dealers selling the stuff have it priced at).
Last fall I made a non-rookie error and got duped on a pair of fake Marco Zanuso Lady chairs from another small-time auctioneer. Had I been more familiar with the design, I would've noticed the deviances in the legs (real Ladys mostly had steel or aluminum legs; these had thin brass ones) and heft (real Ladys are heavy; these are feather-light), but everything else this particular auctioneer had on hand was legit, so I assume the Ladys were as well. Wrong. They're still good-looking chairs, mind you, and were recently reupholstered in a nice Knoll beige textile, but I bought them on the cost basis of them being legitimate Ladys, and now have to take a loss selling them as fakes.
Anyway, today I received a flyer from one of the smaller auction houses I work with, where the best deals are invariably had, and what do I see? The exact same fake-Evans dinette set presently sitting on my gallery floor (at a 2/3rd markdown from our original price), but listed in the flyer as original Evans, along with several accompanying pieces. The rest of their gear looks legit (and believe me, I've now learned how to spot a fake, in most cases, from a mile away), but I felt compelled to e-mail to tell them that their Evans stuff was not actually Evans and that they're only going to damage their reputation by advertising it as such. I also do this periodically when I see similar fake Evans pieces come up for sale on eBay, which I monitor on the incredibly unlikely chance a good Evans piece comes up for sale there. (In the year and a half I've been looking, this has happened exactly once -- not counting auction listings from Rago and Wright that are no longer listed on eBay.)
To sum it up much more succinctly: caveat emptor.