DOI Heft:
Nr. 232 (June 1915)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43461#0332
Fakes and Reproductions
space at his disposal, to works of applied art,
mainly ceramics, that have been either forged or
frankly reproduced without any attempt at fraud,
and exposed for the sake of comparison side by
side with genuine pieces of the same wares; in fact,
occasionally, with the original sub ject of the forgery .
There is probably no collection of works, either
of fine or applied art, in the United States, public
or private, that does not include among priceless
genuine objects some counterfeits not infre-
quently better works, as artistic productions, than
the originals. This curious and rather humorous
side-light on the subject is illustrated by one or
two examples to be seen here, notably in the case
of a number of pieces of forged Old Capo di
Monte porcelain shown with the genuine articles,
that are quite elaborately modelled and artis-
tically coloured and entirely suited for decora-
tive purposes, but, of course, not what they were
represented to be, rare and valuable examples.
Among the reproductions signed by the potter,
Victor Barbizet, are a number of superb Palissy
plaques and dishes that seem to be quite as desir-
able works of art as the originals, besides show-
ing a high degree of technical skill. It appears,
from the interesting foreword of the catalogue,
that the porcelain of the Sevres factory, both
hard and soft paste, has been more extensively
imitated than any other ware. Twenty-four of
these are shown in this collection, quite a num-
ber of which were made at Sevres but decorated
elsewhere, being known as “Duffers,” the factory
marks and dates forged.
Imitations of Chinese porcelains are very nu-
merous also, many of them fabricated in Paris,
others in Buda-Pesth,such as a pair of ginger jars
on view. The Chinese themselves have for
years been imitating their own porcelains of early
manufacture, but the inferior colourings betray
the fraud just as they do in the European speci-
mens—some very clever imitations of the old
Chinese Boccaro wares made by Ary de Milde
at Delft, Holland, in 1675, are shown. Red-fig-
ured Greco-Roman vases are copied and an ex-
ample of a black varnished Roman Rhyton
decorated with a satyr’s head figures among the
fakes. English Lowestoft ware; Lowestoft imi-
tations of Chinese porcelain and of Old Worcester,
principally in underglaze blues, Creamware
pitchers bearing transfer printed designs and
portraits of Washington, Franklin and Lafayette;
imitations of Old Staffordshire with Doctor
Syntax plates; Toby Mugs and statuettes of his-
torical personages, sometimes incorrectly labelled,
in the same ware, could be easily detected as
frauds. A very successful reproduction of an
Old English Copper Lustre bowl looks quite as
brilliant as a genuine piece near it. French Stan-
niferous Faience, Italian Majolica, German Salt
Glazed Ware, and English Wedgwood Jasper
are all imitated in turn. Perhaps the most pal-
pable fakes in the whole collection are a number
of pieces of so-called Aztec pottery made in
Mexico and lent by the Smithsonian Institution
of Washington, which are not even imitations of
anything ever produced by the ancient people,
but are simply faked up for the benefit of the
curio-seeking tourist. Old German and Spanish
glass drinking vessels, pewter tankards and
flagons, Champ-leve enamels of the thirteenth
century and Old Pennsylvania German stove plates
in cast iron, in more or less successful reproductions,
give to this unique exhibition significant interest
in these days of the collecting mania.—E. C.
Pennsylvania Museum
Exhibition of Fakes
BOCCARO WARE, GENUINE
IMITATION
CXVIII
space at his disposal, to works of applied art,
mainly ceramics, that have been either forged or
frankly reproduced without any attempt at fraud,
and exposed for the sake of comparison side by
side with genuine pieces of the same wares; in fact,
occasionally, with the original sub ject of the forgery .
There is probably no collection of works, either
of fine or applied art, in the United States, public
or private, that does not include among priceless
genuine objects some counterfeits not infre-
quently better works, as artistic productions, than
the originals. This curious and rather humorous
side-light on the subject is illustrated by one or
two examples to be seen here, notably in the case
of a number of pieces of forged Old Capo di
Monte porcelain shown with the genuine articles,
that are quite elaborately modelled and artis-
tically coloured and entirely suited for decora-
tive purposes, but, of course, not what they were
represented to be, rare and valuable examples.
Among the reproductions signed by the potter,
Victor Barbizet, are a number of superb Palissy
plaques and dishes that seem to be quite as desir-
able works of art as the originals, besides show-
ing a high degree of technical skill. It appears,
from the interesting foreword of the catalogue,
that the porcelain of the Sevres factory, both
hard and soft paste, has been more extensively
imitated than any other ware. Twenty-four of
these are shown in this collection, quite a num-
ber of which were made at Sevres but decorated
elsewhere, being known as “Duffers,” the factory
marks and dates forged.
Imitations of Chinese porcelains are very nu-
merous also, many of them fabricated in Paris,
others in Buda-Pesth,such as a pair of ginger jars
on view. The Chinese themselves have for
years been imitating their own porcelains of early
manufacture, but the inferior colourings betray
the fraud just as they do in the European speci-
mens—some very clever imitations of the old
Chinese Boccaro wares made by Ary de Milde
at Delft, Holland, in 1675, are shown. Red-fig-
ured Greco-Roman vases are copied and an ex-
ample of a black varnished Roman Rhyton
decorated with a satyr’s head figures among the
fakes. English Lowestoft ware; Lowestoft imi-
tations of Chinese porcelain and of Old Worcester,
principally in underglaze blues, Creamware
pitchers bearing transfer printed designs and
portraits of Washington, Franklin and Lafayette;
imitations of Old Staffordshire with Doctor
Syntax plates; Toby Mugs and statuettes of his-
torical personages, sometimes incorrectly labelled,
in the same ware, could be easily detected as
frauds. A very successful reproduction of an
Old English Copper Lustre bowl looks quite as
brilliant as a genuine piece near it. French Stan-
niferous Faience, Italian Majolica, German Salt
Glazed Ware, and English Wedgwood Jasper
are all imitated in turn. Perhaps the most pal-
pable fakes in the whole collection are a number
of pieces of so-called Aztec pottery made in
Mexico and lent by the Smithsonian Institution
of Washington, which are not even imitations of
anything ever produced by the ancient people,
but are simply faked up for the benefit of the
curio-seeking tourist. Old German and Spanish
glass drinking vessels, pewter tankards and
flagons, Champ-leve enamels of the thirteenth
century and Old Pennsylvania German stove plates
in cast iron, in more or less successful reproductions,
give to this unique exhibition significant interest
in these days of the collecting mania.—E. C.
Pennsylvania Museum
Exhibition of Fakes
BOCCARO WARE, GENUINE
IMITATION
CXVIII