Featured Bidders be aware!!! Christie's is selling fake antiques through online auction!

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/...=1&PageSize=112&ShowAll=true&ListLayout=false

Quite a lot items are made between 1950 to 2017.
I even saw several items which were made this year and last year are described late Qing or even early Qing.

 

Yeah, i can't say i am surprised! Auction houses are basically middle men, their biz is moving product in the front door & out the back door at a profit.
And, since asian antiques are "hot" right now it stands to reason some are questionable.

 

Thanks, Asian.

 

That could cost them if they try it in the UK.

 

And they are supposed to have experts to judge and appraise the items.....

 

Yeah but those are mostly 20 something kids out of school with an art history major, then catalogue dead lines, photo shoots, bla bla bla. If you read most auction house disclosures which are written by lawyers, the buyer is responsible for EVERYTHING!

 

They do have experts to appraise the items, but they just name the auction as collectibles and sell new items with antique descriptions. That is ugly.

 

Yeah, is and, it's what gives the antique industry a bad name, nobody trusts, everything is fake and most people today do not have the time to educate themselves. This translates into, GO AWAY ANTIQUE PEOPLE! i am goin to IKEA!

 

I don't know about Christie's, but all the auctions I have attended include a very precise disclaimer as part of the auction terms, such as:"no representation is made as to the age, condition, authenticity, ethnic or tribal origin of the items auctioned. Buyers must inspect the items they are bidding on and satisfy themselves as to the nature of the items."
Nonetheless, more reputable houses do have experts, and the ones I deal with can be trusted....if one is careful to inspect the items.
But even the best of the ones I am familiar with are not really guaranteeing authenticity, when they have a written disclaimer as part of the auction terms.

 

EXACTLY! It's buyer beware in antique buying at auctions.

 

Always has been. I bought a jewelry jar today at the Ill Will, and the bracelet I saw that made me go on it has a broken clasp. That's on me. The auction houses are the same way. You buy it, it's your problem unless there's fraud or theft involved ...and then it's still your problem.

 

Antique Doll collecting is the same way, the market is flooded with repros, fakes etc, some of them very well done. It's only with 40 yrs of collecting that I can spot a fake repro .. the old bisque itself has a silky feel to it that the newer ones don't have, the face-painting is a dead give-away too .. the answer is of course is to KNOW your subject, the feel, the look .. and if ones not sure they can always come here!! . And even then sometimes the buyer wants to INSIST that they have the real thing and don't really want an opinion. .. Joy.

 

Very interesting indeed......Just to give you exemple..I am originally from French Basque Country...And well known Painter name Ramiro Arrue Has become really high in the the Art Market for approx 20/ 25 Years...For the best he did...And now..You find from Paris to the best Auctioneers in the Region....Minimum 5 to 10 "Original R.Arrue" For sale at Auction Min 5 to 20000 Euros a Pieces..From Where they come from..??Whom does expert them..?? It is like a Production Machine of Fakes which doesn't Stop....Whom is corrupted then???

 

Since this thread has been taken up again, I will add my 2 cents. From the glimpses I have had of the workings of big name auction houses, they do have 'experts', each of whom is supposed to be expert in a wide range of things. The Internet must have made their job much easier as a large part of what they do is consult reference books & look for past auctions of similar items. I think it is rare, & only for very high end items, that they do something really like a study.

For most items they accept the representation of the consignor & leave it at that.

I see misrepresentations all the time. For example, all of these 'hardstone' (agate) cameos:

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...ger&utm_content=srly10258&utm_term=2020/02/04

and all of these:

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...ger&utm_content=srly10258&utm_term=2020/02/04

are shell. I always reassure myself that anyone willing to pay that kind of money for cameos probably knows what they're looking at, even if the auctioneer does not.

 

If I may throw my opinion,as I said on the brown furniture post,
people going to auctions without Knowledge (my favorite word) a fool and his money will soon be parted (I am not sure who first said this)
Auction houses as it has been said before have pages and pages of their conditions of sale ,that they feel covers them,but not you the buyer.

People that by fakes at auction or anywhere ,really have only themselves to blame for not doing the home work,as most people that work in auction houses have limited knowledge (favorite word again) are mostly people that move the things around the rooms,they are more handlers of goods,rather experts in a lot of the areas that they are dealing in.
Regards Giotto.

 

100% True