The specialists guide to Chinese antiques » Fakes and Copies

Detecting Fake Chinese Porcelain & Ceramics

Roger S. — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:42:17 +0000

I am always a fan of people who dig into a subject, taking the time to take photos, make illustrations and simply dig in to the nitty-gritty details. People often forget that it takes time to take the time to share their own thoughts and insights on topics they are passionate about. So I was excited when “JP” at earlyming.com was kind enough to allow me to share his writings (below) on collecting antique Chinese porcelain.

It’s been some time now since I’ve made any additions to my collection. There are several reasons. The first being that authentic Ming and Qing porcelains of value are quite rare and difficult to find. The second reason is that the online supply of such is totally out of control. I am speaking mainly of e`Bay. I like e`Bay, and in the early days (1998) there was an occasional bargain to be found.

Comparing the early trading days of 1998 to the present, I see many changes. Back in 1998 you could search for the exact phrase “Ming Dynasty” and come up with about 15 or 20 items. Of those, possibly one or two might be authentic. Statements of authenticity were carefully phrased with sellers wanting to build a good reputation. The e`Bay picture for Chinese porcelain quickly started to change.

Doing that same search on e`Bay today now returns about 300 items. Most are guaranteed to be authentic Ming Dynasty. The sellers are now international, many from China. The Chinese authorities would not allow national treasures that belong in their museums to be sold for pennies to outsiders. The Chinese are not foolish. Of the many wise sayings Confucius came up with, he’d have smiled at the famous P.T. Barnum saying that there is a customer born every minute. Time of course has replaced the quoted word customer with the word sucker. I bowed out of e`Bay’s Chinese porcelain trading years ago and have only recently returned with a renewed interest. I’m working on the detection of fakes.

Early in 1999 I reported a certain seller, user thesaurusfinearts, to e`Bay as being very dishonest in their claims, thinking they would look into the matter. Nothing happened. They instead allowed them to continue trading for another 4 years. In 2003 I got the following message when checking the username:

This seller is not currently offering any items for sale

Hmmm… I wonder why. Here’s why.

The US Government finally stepped in and closed down the dealer, Thesaurus Fine Arts of Seattle. Their claims of guaranteed thermoluminescence testing were finally challenged by an investigative reporter. Oxford’s Authentication Laboratory of England and Daybreak Archaeometric Laboratory of the US, both world leaders in the field, verified the fraudulent test results. Charges of fraud have been filed causing Thesaurus Fine Arts of Seattle to close down their operation. Click here to view that article.

In the Reference section of this site, under the heading of Buyer Beware, I point out one of the tactics to look out for in online auctions, the private auction. This particular seller quickly converted to the private auction early on. At one point I tallied up the asking price of the 50 some items they were offering that week alone. It came to $250,000.00. So why did e`Bay allow trading to continue for so many years in opposition of the many complaints I know they received?

Though the sales were few and far between, they must have received a nice commission on some of the 162 transactions listed, 88 from unique users.

I still like e`Bay, but only hope that they will now establish guidelines to protect the buyers instead of ignoring complaints, and turning a blind eye until the US Government has to step in.

Continuing on now with the detection of fakes, I’ve chosen these particular pieces as they have the appearance of genuine Ming blue and white. In some cases they almost mirror what you would see in a Christies or Sotheby’s catalogue.

Because of the explosion of supposedly authentic Ming and Qing Dynasty porcelain now available on e`Bay, I decided to do some purchasing to put together a page devoted to help identify fakes. I was looking for good quality fakes. What I got was bad quality fakes. Even though they were guaranteed authentic Ming Dynasty, I couldn’t complain since I knew they were fakes when I bought them. One however was so bad that I immediately demanded a refund and was granted one with no questions asked. My total expenditure for these items was about 100 dollars, but it might save someone thousands of dollars. I won’t disclose the sellers, as they are still trading on e`Bay under many different names. I will add however, if you’re not careful on e`Bay when buying China, you can get Shanghaied in a New York minute..

This first item was sold several years back as coming from a sunken ship off the Chinese mainland. It shows the mark Chenghua which is very rare. I’ve only seen (held) two or three that are authentic. The images on the auction page were carefully chosen in the fact that they hid the important signs of it being fake. It’s my belief that the cup did indeed come from a shipwreck and was quite possibly Chenghua. It displayed many of the properties such as very thin potting, a delicate (intricate) play scene, and an under-glaze blue of the native Chinese variety that is characteristic of the reign. The glaze itself was almost non-existent, giving it a more flat or matte finish. This possibly from 500 years of being submerged. The reign mark however is new, added recently. Close examination shows it with a deeper cobalt blue and covered with glaze. The actual shipwreck is on record, documented as salvaged by Captain Hatcher who has made many discoveries of shipwrecks throughout the world. Someone obtained this item, faked the mark, and ruined the treasure. It did have a numbered Hatcher sticker applied.


It’s a soft glaze, since they probably didn’t have the kiln, or the knowledge to refire the entire piece. A poor quality attempt to deceive.

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This next item, recently purchased, is an amateurish attempt to create a Xuande stem cup. I once had such a cup about twice this size, only it was late Ming, with the mark being apocryphal. I sold it under that condition for about what I paid for it, continuing my search for the authentic. The cup shown here however, is a very poor attempt to duplicate a Xuande stem cup. Symmetrically it’s perfect, meaning it’s tooled or machined. A very thick potting and the under glaze cobalt has run giving it a blurry appearance. The reign mark is supposed to be Xuande, but it too has blurred making it almost un-decipherable. The auction pictures were small, without showing any macro. Just enough to fool the buyer into thinking the image itself was out of focus, but enough detail to see it’s a Xuande mark. Glaze is lustrous with zero imperfections or wear showing. A piece like this would have been immediately discarded (destroyed) if from the period.

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This next item is from the same seller and also supposedly Xuande. Again, symmetrically perfect, same characteristics as the previous fake, only the decoration is a little better. Not blurry and it does have the correct color for the rich Mohammedan blue of genuine Xuande. This classic design is seen on many early Ming porcelains.

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Next is a very easily recognizable fake just from the mark. The strokes are way too difficult, not light and flowing. Instead they are thick and heavy, almost a heaped and piled effect. Sometimes this effect is seen on the decoration of genuine pieces, never on the mark. It shows repeated (retraced) strokes on the characters. Though the bowl itself is not symmetrical, it was created from a modern machined bowl, just tooled to modify its shape to be slightly out of round. Both the decoration and the reign mark were created by the same hand, displaying the same characteristic. Rarely did the hand that created the decoration also do the mark. The only thing right about the bowl is the deep rich Mohammedan blue of the under-glaze cobalt.

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This next reign mark is an excellent example of a mark made to deceive by someone with little or no knowledge of Chinese calligraphy. I did not purchase this piece, only saved the image for the example.

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This next item is one to pay close attention to. This came from a second hand furniture store. A Westerner with a good knowledge of Chinese calligraphy might be quick to point out that it’s a fake since the mark (temple mark in this case) has a mistake, several actually. One of the characters seems backwards and another appears incomplete. Delving a bit deeper into Chinese calligraphy, into the origin and etymology of the characters, shows the characters are indeed correct. I’ve come across about 7 or 8 marks with this exact same characteristic, several in museums. The explanation goes into a bit of detail which includes the connection between calligraphy and seal marks.

Click Here to view that information.

This bowl turns out to be of Imperial quality and was probably a gift made personal by the mark being placed by the presenter. An old hand in this case. At first glance with some knowledge, it’s a fake, and many an expert might pronounce it a fake. However, an in-depth detailed study taking in the quality, characteristic, and specifically the mark, say it’s priceless.

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.I recently had the opportunity of examining 8 pieces of supposedly authentic Ming dynasty porcelain from a village near Shanghai, China. All but one were fake. I’ve chosen one of those pieces to show you since I’ve started to see several of these same pieces now appear on e`Bay.

Here is one piece for example. It’s actually an attempt to copy the early Ming, or possibly late Yuan style.

The image below shows what a quick cleaning revealed (or exposed). The dark color looks authentic, and some genuine early Ming pieces have this property. On the authentic it can also be cleaned up (lightened) to some extent. But on this particular piece it was clearly done to deceive. If the piece were as old as the unglazed underbase discoloration suggests, the overall surface of the glazed areas would also have signs of 600 years of wear in the way of small scratches, nicks, and cracks.

The cleaning was done with a stiff bristle toothbrush using soap and warm water. It took very little effort. Rarely will a piece clean up this easily. It is possible on some genuine pieces, but examination of the other properties show the discoloration was clearly done with intent to suggest 600 years of wear.

This next image shows what appears to be 600 years of wear to the footrim. It looks real, but is indeed faked. It’s hard to believe the image below is the same image, only cleaned up. It has the right color, the right design, even the right feel. It’s looking closer with a magnifier that tells the true story.

Not just in the lack of discoloration, but how the smooth, sharp lines show no wear at all. This would not be a characteristic of a genuine piece having the discoloration and wear as suggested by the image.

Close examination under a 30 power microscope reveals straight lines with no visible wear other than from normal manufacture. Not even a good fake. The image below is an example of what the entire glazed surface area looks like, completely new. Not a single scratch or sign of wear, even to the rim where it would be most expected.

The entire glazed surface is smooth and uniform. Not a single scratch over the entire surface. The experienced forgers will at least attempt to create the look of normal wear, but it’s almost impossible.

This is where the use of a fairly powerful microscope comes in handy.

Last but not least is the underbase. Even when the fake discoloration was removed, the color and texture revealed beneath are not that far off from the authentic. The color and texture on this piece were created with a slight glaze. It’s easier to obtain the correct coloring with an additive than hoping the kiln will produce it naturally.

Regarding the above piece as well as the other pieces accompanying it, I was doubtful that the source would readily admit to their being new. He at first vehemently denied the accusation. But after being confronted with the details challenging their authenticity, he finally admitted that they were indeed modern reproductions. This, after first blaming the source on a villager his father obtained them from. I now know the true story. The one piece I did not challenge was from another source and very authentic. I believe he himself thought it a fake.

I hope the above information is helpful. Thank you for viewing the page, and always remember what P.T. Barnum said.

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

Germany’s fake terracotta warriors – seems even the museums get duped sometimes

Roger S. — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:47:57 +0000

Somehow I missed this one (which dates all the way back to 2007). While I have to admit its a bit cynical to say it, I find this absolutely hilarious (on so many levels, I can’t even begin to touch on all of them). From rampant piracy in China, to its historical context concerning fakes to the gullible nature of foreigners doing business in china. Either way, for any of us who have burned a few bucks on a item we thought was “an authentic antique,” its good to know that from time to time even the experts get taken for a ride.


A fake at the Hamburg museum.	On of our own “authentic fakes

German museum admits terracotta warriors are fakes

More than 10,000 visitors to an exhibition of terracotta warriors in Hamburg are to be offered refunds after organizers admitted the figures on display are fake. Germany’s art world was stunned by the scandal, which came to light when officials from Xian, the home of the 2,000-year-old clay army, said they were unaware that they had lent any of their figures to Germany and that those on display at Hamburg’s Museum of Ethnology could not possibly be real as the originals were all elsewhere.

Chinese experts are on their way to the northern port city to examine the objects in the Power of Death exhibition, which consists of eight clay warrior figures, two horses and 60 smaller artefacts including bronze vessels, weapons and tools. German art detectives have launched their own investigation.

A spokesman for the Leipzig exhibition company, Centre of Chinese Arts and Culture (CCAC) which arranged the show, reluctantly admitted on German television that the figures were copies. But he was keen to stress the figures’ similarity to the originals.

“First of all one has to say that the material clay was also used in those days. Then one can say that these figures are the same size as those in Xian, but in any case they are not originals,” Yolna Grimm said. He added that the figures had been obtained from public authorities, institutes and businesses in China.

The company also organised a show of terracotta warriors in Leipzig two years ago, but there visitors were explicitly told that they were viewing copies.

Wulf Köpke, director of the Museum of Ethnology, said he had agreed to the exhibition on the firm understanding that the exhibits were genuine and the company had assured him that was the case.

“The CCAC presented us with certificates of authenticity, but not documentation proving how they had been transported,” he said.

The museum has not managed to free itself from suspicion of involvement, particularly as the figures for exhibition were delivered after dark. “The fact that the warriors came to the museum in the dead of night adds to the sense that deception was at play,” wrote Die Welt newspaper.

Grimm of the CCAC insisted he had never claimed the figures were original. “There was never a word about originals in the Hamburg contract,” he said.

China’s state office for the administration of cultural artifacts in Beijing, said it was likely that the exhibits were illegal copies. “It looks like this is a problem with the protection of copyright,” a spokesman told German media.

Authorities in Xian confirmed that the only exhibition of the clay soldiers that had been authorized was the ongoing First Emperor exhibition at the British Museum in London, China’s biggest ever overseas loan of the figures.

Many have questioned the timing of the row. China recently heaped criticism on Germany after the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, paid a visit to the chancellor, Angela Merkel. Political leaders promised that Germany’s refusal to stop the visit would have “consequences”.

Until now the Chinese authorities have often turned a blind eye to terracotta warrior fakes, even allowing a controlled number of authorised fakes to be made by certified manufacturers. It is not clear whether the Hamburg exhibits were authorised copies.

Hamburg’s museum has now put up a sign informing visitors that the authenticity of the exhibits is in doubt. “Some or all of the objects in the exhibition that are said to be authentic may in fact be copies,” the sign reads.

An "authentic rare blue terre cotta warrior" on a customers balcony

German art critics have called it the “art crime of the decade”, saying that exhibition-goers have been conned in what could be one of the biggest copyright infringement cases Germany has ever known.

The terracotta army was uncovered around three decades ago by a farmer digging a well. It comes from the tomb of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, who spent more than 20 years laying the foundations of modern China before his death in 210 BC. The clay soldiers were created to protect him in the afterlife.

Original article from the guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 December 2007

Costly mistake, costly fake: Billionaire killed at home while making a fake antique

Roger S. — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:49:45 +0000

This from the China Daily / China.org recently:

The chairman of a major pharmaceutical company and his employee died in an explosion caused by a “chemical experiment gone wrong” at the businessman’s residential villa. Police found an instruction book of ozonizer as well as fragments of oxygen cylinders on the fourth floor, suggesting a chemical experiment was in progress. Zhang’s family confirmed he often carried out tests on the fourth floor of the villa. Many chemical materials were stored inside the Zhang residence, police said. Zhang was also an enthusiastic antique collector, who owned a private museum in Taizhou. According to a local media report, Zhang tried to make the antiques he owned appear older, using chemicals, and subsequently sold the pieces off for a profit.

Obviously creating fakes comes at a (heavy) cost. I have had this book called The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals sitting in the office for quite some time which I was thinking to put to go use. However after reading this, I think I will think very carefully, before I cook up any of these recipes,.

The original article reprinted here:

The chairman of a major pharmaceutical company and his employee died in an explosion caused by a “chemical experiment gone wrong” at the businessman’s residential villa in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, last Friday, local police said yesterday.

Police said preliminary investigations indicate that the chairman of Taizhou Nova Medicine Chemistry Co., surnamed Zhang, along with one of his employees, was conducting an experiment on the fourth floor of his villa in the city’s Huangyan district when the explosion occurred.

Both men died on the spot.

According to witnesses, Zhang and his employee were lying dead on a lawn near the villa soon after they heard an explosion.

Police said the “massive blast” most likely threw the two men out of the window.

Police found an instruction book of ozonizer as well as fragments of oxygen cylinders on the fourth floor, suggesting a chemical experiment was in progress.

Zhang’s family confirmed he often carried out tests on the fourth floor of the villa.

Many chemical materials were stored inside the Zhang residence, police said.

Zhang was also an enthusiastic antique collector, who owned a private museum in Taizhou.

According to a local media report, Zhang tried to make the antiques he owned appear older, using chemicals, and subsequently sold the pieces off for a profit.

The report said Zhang had been caught selling fake antiques in Beijing in 2002.

Police said they are continuing an investigation to confirm the cause of the explosion.

With this Chinese noodle cabinet-scholar cabinet, appearances can be deceiving!

Roger S. — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:57:39 +0000

A customer recently sent me these photos of a Chinese Noodle cabinet which they purchased from an estate auction. Their inquiry was pertaining to its age, value and authenticity. In other words, a quick antique appraisal. The question of course was the one I am asked most frequently which was “Is it old and is it valuable”

Is it really old?

If you read “Blurring the line” you know answering this question becomes even more difficult when you consider the awkward journey a piece my take as it travels through the “antique-reproduction” supply chain.

The first question of “is it old” is quite easy to answer: Yes and No. Before going any further, take a moment to read a post from a while back entitled “Blurring the line further… How to tell if its a genuine antique?” which will explain just nicely the points to consider here. Finished yet? Ok, great – back to this item.

In this particular case, the actual cabinet itself is a very common tapered edge Chinese Noodle cabinet or “Mian tiao gui” since the shape of the cabinet itself or the hardware (depending on who you talk to) slightly resembles the shape of a noodle. With carved doors like this, it may be mistaken for a scholar cabinet. In un-restored form, a cabinet like this may be referred to by the workers as as a “la ji gui” which literally means “trash cabinet.”A Chinese country antique cabinet such as the one above, in un-restored form, built from common woods (value is often placed on exotic hardwoods), of a non-descript style and in poor condition will often hold minimal value on its own, with its true worth being essentially as parts and raw materials. From a materials cost perspective, a badly damaged cabinet will be cheaper to restore then to build new from scratch.

A quick look at the overall process...

Here is a quick overview of what typically occurs:

Take a fairly standard poor condition country antique cabinet ranging in age from 30 to 80 years old, which can be used for parts & materials
Restore main structure, replacing damaged panels and other sections with replacement wood.
Add in additional details to spice it up like carved panels.
Add shelves and drawers for additional functionality (easier to sell)
Add a new lacquered finish to cover inexpensive woods, repairs, etc.
Use aging technique so item does not look “too new.”
Add detailed gold “miao jin” painting for an additional touch.
Install new hardware.
Claim to customer it is Qing dynasty scholar cabinet, at least 150 years old and sell at a premium price.
Finished!

A "trash cabinet," like the one pictured above,may often be worth more for its parts then the sum.

Is it worth anything?

The answer is yes! However, maybe not for the reasons you might expect. Its worth something, because of the time and effort that an artisan put in hand-painting the gold trim and other details. Its worth something, every time someone visits your home and remarks what a beautiful cabinet it is. And its worth something, because you probably have a story about where and how you purchased it. So while it may not be worth an extreme amount in dollars, money is not the only value of worth. Its a beautiful piece and would look great in any home, and you never know – in 100 years down the road it just might be someone else’s genuine antique!

Some pretty standard inexpensive Chinese noodle cabinets up for sale on the internet

Guide to buying Chinese Antiques on eBay

Roger S. — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:55:52 +0000

The Brutal Truth about Buying Chinese Antiques on eBay

This is a great little guide from an ebay seller who goes by the screen name of loveshackbaybee. Its fairly comprehensive and worth a reprint here. Well written, very candid and overall good advice for the masses looking to pick up that “authentic Qing Dynasty vase at a great price!” I added some screen shots as well of some so called “authentic Asian antiques” which are currently on offer on ebay.

As long time collectors of Asian art, we have purchased many authentic and truly remarkable Chinese antiques on eBay. You can too. But fair warning – you need to really understand how this fraud riddled business works – or you will most certainly be ripped off.

Here is a summary of years of hard learned experience.FACT # 1 – EXPORTATION OF GENUINE ANTIQUES FROM CHINA IS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED.

It is highly illegal for sellers based in the Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan Republic of China, to export very old Chinese antiques out of their respective countries. These countries have enacted strict Cultural Preservation laws designed to keep their national heritage at home.

In the Peoples Republic of China, exporting anything earlier than 1796 (the end of the reign of Emperor Qianlong) is strictly forbidden. Items dating from 1797 to 1949 must be inspected for approval, and most often Imperial or other culturally important pieces are prohibited from exportation. In Taiwan, anything 100 years or older cannot be exported. In the Peoples Republic of China, the penalties for smuggling “Cultural Relics” are severe. Lengthy imprisonment, and even in serious cases execution. The Government of the Peoples Republic of China doesn’t fool around -they execute grave robbers. This is well documented – look it up on the internet.

Some common, lower quality antique items are legally exported from China, and bear a red wax inspection seal, a so called “jianding”. You see these seals occasionally on items from western sellers. These seals are found on genuine antique items sold at official government “Friendship Stores”. Tourists can also request inspection of items that they find locally, and if compliant, Chinese Customs will affix a seal to them. There are several versions and forms of these seals. All the seal means is that the piece was inspected by some Chinese government official and was found to be in accordance with the antiquities exportation laws. It is possible to obtain a seal for a brand new fake. Remember – seals alone are no guarantee that the advertised age of item is accurate as the seals do not authenticate the piece.

Hong Kong was the gateway to the west and served as an important trade center for Asian antiques for many years. When rule reverted to China in 1997, many of the free and open trading practices were curtailed and selective enforcement of Cultural Relics regulations began. Although some HK dealers claim they are still allowed free trade, it may be safest to assume that Hong Kong dealers now fall under the same Cultural Relics laws as those in Beijing. Do business with HK dealers at your own risk.

Tibet is part of China, and the same rules apply there too.

Can you imagine any official Chinese Museum or other legitimate Chinese business issuing “Certificates of Authenticity” for the export of very old and very valuable antiques? There are plenty of them on eBay! Complete with snazzy photos, lots of bogus Chinese text, and official looking stamped seals! Some people are actually paying thousands of dollars for fake pieces from these scammers, and leaving glowing feedback. Don’t fall for this pathetic scam.

FACT #2 – THERE IS A HUGE DEMAND FOR GENUINE CHINESE ANTIQUES INSIDE CHINA.

The market for genuine Chinese antiques in China is much hotter there than anywhere else in the world. China has many new auction houses that do a booming business selling genuine Chinese antiques to the nouveaux riche Chinese businessmen. It is a well known fact that world record prices for Chinese antiques are being set in auctions taking place in China. American and European auction prices for equivalent articles are substantially lower than typical prices achieved in China. That’s why Sotheby’s and Christies are so hot to get a piece of the action, and have established a HK presence. If a China based antique dealer acquires a valuable piece, he or she would sell it inside China, legally, for a lot of money. Why on earth would they want to sell it cheap on eBay, to a foreign buyer, and take the chance of imprisonment?

We collect certain types of Chinese antiques – specifically carved lacquer, or Cinnabar. We have an extensive library of carved lacquer reference books, and a large collection of genuine pieces – many of them found on eBay. We look at every single listing for carved lacquer, and have looked at every listing for many years now. We have NEVER seen a genuine antique carved lacquer piece offered by any China based dealer. Not once. And we have looked at countless thousands of listings.

FACT #3 – MOST CHINESE ANTIQUES LISTED ON EBAY ARE MODERN FAKES.

The overwhelming majority, maybe 90% or more, of all Chinese “antique” items listed on eBay (regardless of the source) are not antique – they are modern reproductions. Or tacky fantasy creations – like these horrid examples currently appearing to the right of this guide! ————–>

Some reproductions are beautiful, and undoubtedly require skilled artistic abilities. But heads up – you are buying a worthless modern decorative piece. If you like the piece, that’s great. If you keep it long enough it will be an antique some day!
FACT #4 – BEWARE OF IMPORTED FAKES FROM WESTERN DEALERS.

There are several large “Chinese Antique Dealers” out there who live in the USA, or Canada, or UK. They seem to have the same stuff as advertised by their mainland brothers, but they proudly display “USA DEALER”, or “UK DEALER”, or similar. This does not mean that these items are genuine. This means that these con artists import their modern junk, and sell it from a western country to an unsuspecting dupe who lives in a western country. Apparently, there is no shortage of dupes!

Some of these western scammers claim to have current antique sources inside remote villages in China, or they have personally collected large quantities of pieces and moved them offshore prior to the enactment of the export laws. (The laws have been in effect since 1982, and have further tightened up over the last few years.) This is pure nonsense.

Some western sellers appear from nowhere offering batches of 20-50 high end Chinese antique items from an “estate” they are liquidating. Great pictures. All fakes. We call these “hit and run” dealers.

FACT #5 – MOST SCAMMERS HAVE GREAT FEEDBACK!

Good feedback ratings on these western con artists do not mean that they are selling real antiques The types of customers who buy junk from these scam artists are mostly low feedback novices. They are all too happy to leave excellent feedback for their “genuine Ming Dynasty jade dragon pendant”, or whatever piece of junk they just blew $100 on. They wouldn’t know a real antique piece from a fake – so how reliable is their feedback? There are dealers out there who have thousands of sales and better than 99% positive feedback who have never sold a genuine piece their entire life.

What’s one common tactic used by almost all these scammers? “USER ID KEPT PRIVATE”. When you see this, hit the back arrow key. This is most often used not to protect a buyer’s privacy, but to protect the scammer’s sales. This is used so you can’t look at the seller’s negative feedback, look at an actual item and say “Hey, that buyer WAS right. This WAS a fake.” There are several dozen dealers out there that if eBay rules allowed us, we’d simply post their IDs and tell you to avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately, we can’t do that – you’ll just have to figure out who these crooks are yourself.

FACT #6 – LOOK IN THE USA, CANADA, JAPAN & EUROPE FOR THE REAL PIECES.

There are not that many good, undiscovered antiques left floating around in China. Surprise. This is difficult to believe, but true. An ancient and large country like China should be teeming with antiques, right? Wrong. The good ones have mostly been looted and taken out of China over the years (by a succession of foreign interventions and wars), voluntarily sold to westerners or Japanese collectors years ago, destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in the 1970′s, put into public museums, or bought by wealthy dealers and/or private collectors living in China. If you want to find good Chinese antiques on eBay, do what the China based collectors do – look in the USA, Canada, Japan and Europe! If you find yourself bidding against a person living in China or Taiwan, bingo – you’ve probably found a real piece! But be forewarned, most of the China based collectors are actually dealers, and they have a lot of money. You might be in for a bit of a bidding war. Some of these dealers ALWAYS seem to win their auctions, so we suspect the market is so hot in China they know they can buy expensive and still sell pieces at a premium price.

Sort your listings by country, and pay attention to those NOT in China. Then, look at the Chinese listings – this will show you what kind of fakes are currently hitting the market. Keep an eye out for these bogus items appearing from western sellers – they will show up sooner or later.

FACT #7 – YOU MUST KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT.

If you do not know what you are looking at, you stand an overwhelming chance of buying a fake. Want to collect snuff bottles? Great. Buy a couple of books and study the subject. Then you will start to develop an eye for what is real and what isn’t. Buying something because it looks cool will not guarantee that it is genuine. Read. Study. Learn. Browse the Asianart and Gotheborg boards. You will still make mistakes occasionally (we do), but less and less. When you do buy a fake, try to get your money back as quickly as you can. If you get stung, that’s called your “tuition fees”. You will pay some.

FACT #8 – MOST LEGITIMATE SELLERS DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT GENUINE CHINESE ANTIQUES.

When it comes to Chinese antiques, many sellers know next to nothing about what they have. They are not experts in Asian arts. Don’t take their age estimates, descriptions, stories about where the piece came from, etc. seriously. They’re guessing. Educate yourself and trust your own opinion. Listings with lengthy history lessons are virtually guaranteed to be bogus! Beware fuzzy photographs – ask the seller to email better ones. Occasionally you will find some sellers who know EXACTLY what they have. You will probably not get any “great deals” from these people, because they also know exactly what it is worth. But “great deal” is relative. It may seem expensive to you, but if it is truly valuable, it is probably selling for a price way less than Sotheby’s or a major art dealer. Of course, ignorant or greedy sellers often price items way beyond what they are worth, so look out for these too. Interestingly, pieces which are grossly overpriced are usually described generically – like “old oriental vase”. Sellers have no idea what they have, but darn it, it sure looks valuable to them – so they want a lot of money for it! We find the combination of ignorance and greed very entertaining.

FACT #9 – ITEM DESCRIPTIONS ARE PROBABLY INCORRECT.

If the item description says Qing, Ming, Song, Yuan, Tang etc. – it probably isn’t! (But then again, we have seen some rare few pieces from all these periods selling on eBay, so you never know…) Same thing for TIBET, JADE, IVORY, SILVER, CINNABAR. Fake city – you better know your stuff. An eBay search on the two keywords TIBET and JADE brings up over 3,500 listings – every single one is a fake. Try it yourself!

FACT #10 – BEWARE THE INTERNET-ONLY SCAMMERS.

Avoid buying “antiques” from any dealer that has a name that sounds like a Chinese restaurant! Basically, endless combinations of dragon, golden, lotus, Tibet, jade, lucky, etc. Also, any dealer with the word “museum” in its name is suspect. With very few exceptions, most of these dealers are internet only scam artists. Think about one thing – where can ANY dealer get real pieces to offer for sale? All legitimate dealers need a source for genunie antiques! Legitimate dealers find them in estate sales or they are a brick and mortar shop. If they find them in estate sales, the supply is naturally limited. They won’t have access to hundreds of pieces – just a couple here and there. Legitimate brick and mortar dealers can usually be identified by doing some internet sleuthing as they must have a life beyond eBay. Everyone else is just an internet only scammer.

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT SMUGGLING

Are some real antique pieces being smuggled out of China? Yes, undoubtedly. We’ve heard from some Jade collectors that sometimes villagers will rob graves, and, because their activities are illegal, they will secretly sell pieces to smugglers who get them out of the country clandestinely. We suspect that the majority of these looted pieces will end up in South East Asia in the hands of big money collectors and dealers – not the type of individuals who will post them cheaply on eBay. Even if smuggled pieces were being dumped on eBay, is this the kind of shady business you want to support?

Sad to say, there appear to be many western Jade collectors who are absolutely convinced that large quantities of authentic Hongshan Period (3,500-2,000BC) jades are making their way from China to eBay. They gobble up archaic looking jades from China based dealers in the vain hope that somehow, among all the fakes, they will find an authentic artifact. They purchase high precision electronic scales, hardness testing tools, and all sorts of equipment to assist in their authentication process. Then they post their results on internet forums and endlessly debate each other about tool marks, burial calcification patterns, etc. ad nauseum. Our opinion is that these well intentioned folks are simply wishful thinkers looking for a lottery win - but the game has already been fixed. They may be very knowledgeable about their subject matter (much more than we are – we know very little about Jade), but they seem to be totally oblivious to the legal and economic realities of the fake antiquities trade in China.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA – TREASURE TROVE OR SNAKE PIT?

Increasingly, sellers from Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, etc. are showing up on eBay and listing large quantities of “valuable” Chinese artifacts – mostly porcelain. Real? Well, all these countries DO have large ethnic Chinese populations, and Chinese trade was conducted with them for many centuries. Well publicized ancient Chinese shipwrecks were discovered and harvested through out South East Asia, and many countries do not have restrictive antique export laws… So, theoretically, they can be legitimate sources for Chinese antiques.

Now for the bad news. Scammers in these countries are firing up their local kilns and manufacturing fake Chinese ceramics by the boatloads. Usually copies of valuable Song era pieces. Some popular internet Asian art forums are being used as test grounds for their forgeries. The scammers post their fakes, and solicit feedback from knowledgeable westerners – looking for ways to improve their wares.

As recovered shipwreck cargo has verified, most genuine items from South East Asia are likely to be common export tableware – so called “kitchen Ming” or “kitchen Qing”. These were produced in huge quantities in south China’s Fujian province, and exported extensively.

Whether you should consider a South East Asian dealer as a reliable source is entirely up to your comfort in authenticating the piece. In our opinion, the vast majority of these dealers are scammers, and we would not consider purchasing anything from these countries unless it was part of a well publicized and VERIFIABLE shipwreck recovery.

SO WHAT SORTS OF REAL CHINESE ANTIQUES CAN YOU FIND ON EBAY?

You will mostly find late 19th century to early 20th century export quality items. These can be recognized because they are generally marked with a CHINA country of origin marking. They are not very high quality or particularly valuable, but they are authentic and a great place to begin your collecting.

Then you will find some rare, but damaged pieces. These are often overpriced, so be careful. A little natural shelf wear is expected and in fact is a good indicator of authenticity, but significant damage or restoration really hammers the true value of the piece - so be careful you don’t overvalue it in your mind. This damage devaluation depends a lot on the type of antique. Porcelain can loose up to 90% of it’s value with simple chips or hairline cracks. Rare Chinese cloisonne can tolerate a few minor chips without affecting value – same thing for lacquer and Canton Enamel. Each area of collection has it’s own standards.

Occasionally some of the larger legitimate dealers will have significant numbers of good quality pieces from major estate sales or private collections. These used to be commonly auctioned on eBay Live Auctions. But as of Jan 1 2009, this venue was no longer active. In our opinion, the quantity of higher end antique Chinese pieces on eBay has dropped dramatically as sellers shifted to alternative venues such as Artfact.com live auctions, and the percentage of fakes has increased.

HOW DO YOU AUTHENTICATE PIECES?

Once you have found something that looks interesting, the next step is to try to authenticate it.

Step #1 – Check out the dealer first! Start by checking all negative feedback for the seller, specifically looking for complaints of fakes and forgeries.
There are external websites that allow you to look at any seller’s old and removed eBay feedback – find them through Google. Even a couple of suspicious negatives in a sea of positive reviews are big red flags. Not proof, but warnings to look carefully. Even positive feedback can contain hidden warnings – like “not as old as advertised”, “different from photograph”, “shipped from China” “honorable seller, quick refund” etc – these scream FAKE. If you are more familiar with certain types of antiques, say for instance cloisonne, then carefully look at any cloisonne pieces sold by this dealer. Do they look legitimate to you? If they don’t, forget this dealer and move on. In our opinion, the dealers that sell fakes generally sell nothing but fakes – so it’s a one rotten apple spoils the barrel type of argument.

Step #2 – Compare to known good examples. The internet has many sources for helping you authenticate pieces. Start by looking at other eBay listings for similar items. Then look at eBay completed auctions and try to identify if the piece is a mass-produced copy. Do a Google image search describing the piece, and look at any museum examples that might pop up. Do a Google product search and find out what similar pieces are being sold by antique dealers, or importers of modern curios. Sign up for free accounts on Artfact.com and Sothebys.com, and search their completed auctions to find similar pieces. If you are going to do this often, sign up for an account on Gotheborg.com. Scan the Asianart.com forum for postings about similar objects. Try to acquire a library of good reference books and auction catalogs with lots of photos and descriptions. Some auction houses, like I.M. Chait, allow you to search their completed auction listings. Same thing for Liveauctioneers.

Step#3 – Beware of the red flags! Look out for unusually heavy pieces, as this may mean molded resin. Look out for air bubbles (signs that a piece was molded) in pieces that are supposed to be carved. Look for tiny knife nicks on carved items – there should be some. Ask the seller for better photos of areas that are damaged, or should show signs of shelf wear – like foot rims and bases. Mint condition often means made yesterday! Be suspicious of heavy corrosion on metalware pieces like bronzes and cloisonne – these are usually signs of chemical distressing, not real age. Large reign marks are often suspicious – many genuine pieces were unmarked. Look out for suspiciously dirty pieces – dirt does not necessarily mean age – especially for pieces that are easy to keep clean, like porcelain. Speaking about porcelain, good luck! It takes YEARS to become modestly proficient in authenticating Chinese porcelain. You will have to learn all about Chinese history, shapes, enamel colors, painting styles and techniques, glazes, kiln techniques, foot rims, marks and calligraphy, etc. Old wood darkens with age – learn how to recognize true aging from artificial coatings.Understand that real silver pieces are almost always hallmarked, and these marks are extensively cataloged to aid in authentication. Knowing just a little bit about each of these areas will help a lot.

A SPECIAL WARNING ABOUT IVORY

As of Jan 1, 2009 trading of IVORY was no longer allowed on eBay, but we leave this in just for reference.

Interested in ivory? Wow. What a cesspool of potential problems. In addition to there being many fake ivories to contend with, ivory is a highly regulated commodity that can land you in huge trouble with local law enforcement if you do not understand and comply with the international CITES regulations, and local laws. If you are unfamiliar with the CITES regulations, you have no business even THINKING about buying any antique ivory artifact. There is a very good eBay UK guide to ivory by member argento_glitter that discusses the legal pitfalls of trading in this controlled commodity – start there. The bottom line is that all ivory transactions need to conform to the world-wide endangered species laws, and all items need to be genuinely old (pre 1949) and accompanied with proper CITES conformity paperwork which includes valid provenance proving the article is pre-ban.

WHAT ABOUT THE HIGH QUALITY FORGERIES?
There is big money in fencing high end master forgeries. These pieces are exquisite, and even experts are often fooled. These forgeries have made their way into the best of dealers, museums, noteworthy collections and the high end auction circuit – so there is no reason to believe eBay is immune. These are the pieces that are most troublesome to serious collectors, because skilled forgers go to painstaking lengths to create their dark art. Buying one of these means loosing thousands of dollars to what is essentially criminal fraud – not something many of us can afford to do.

Thinking about buying an expensive, very rare high-end piece from one of those high profile “boutique” Asian Art dealers on eBay? Not for the timid, and certainly not for the novice. Try to find out as much as you can about the dealer. Find out if they have a street address that’s an actual storefront – or are they running this as an internet only business. Ask them where they get their pieces from, and if the piece has any valid provenance. Google the dealer name along with the keywords “fake” and “forgery” just to see what dirt comes up. Since some of the most active collectors with the biggest money live in China and Taiwan – look through the dealer’s feedback to see if they have ever sold pieces to these legitimate Chinese buyers. If not, why not? Verify the dealer’s no-questions-asked return policy and get the piece authenticated, from multiple sources, as soon as you get your hands on it. Then authenticate it again.

Guarantees of authenticity are great – but make sure you really understand what “authentication” hoops the dealer will force you to jump through before they will accept any returns. Unless you live in a major city, getting access and cooperation from Asian Art specialists from the Major Auction Houses, or major Museum curators is not going to be easy. Even then, it’s not going to be trivial to get them to write an official opinion. Remember, TL (Thermoluminescence) age testing from Oxford Laboratories costs at least $500 – if you need to do it, you need to eat the cost of the test.

We’re not pointing fingers at anyone, but sadly, there’s just too much fraud in this business to trust or rely on anyone. When the stakes get higher, you have to increase your due diligence.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU BID?

If you are absolutely wild about a particular piece and must have it at any cost, bid 3 times more than you think you will ever need.

But we prefer to acquire pieces at a wise price – a price that will allow us to get our money back, or occasionally make a modest profit, when we decide to sell them again. The thing about collecting Chinese antiques is that what you find appealing when you first start collecting is not what you will want after a few years. As you learn more and more, and see higher quality examples in the market, your taste will probably improve and you will gravitate towards those higher quality pieces. You will likely want to flip parts of your collection to re-invest in better pieces – and the secret is always to buy right in the first place.

As a rule of thumb, most authentic antique Chinese pieces on eBay will end up being a bargain – even after heavy bidding. But bear in mind that if prices start to approach major auction house prices, it’s time to stop bidding. Remember – when you buy a piece off eBay, you are buying something essentially without provenance. Provenance means provable history of ownership. (Forget about Certificates of Authenticity – they are not worth the paper they are printed on). Even if the item is authentic and rare, you will probably never be able to re-sell it through a major auction house or dealer, because they won’t even look at pieces without provenance. The major auction houses have been stung and embarrassed by clever fakes, so they are loathe accept pieces without provenance. That means some day you will have to re-sell it on eBay or through a minor auction house, and you will never get its real value with these venues. We stop bidding when a piece approaches 1/3 of a Sotheby’s type level – but that’s your call.

The question of “to snipe or not to snipe” comes up. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. If we find a really rare piece that we want badly, we often bid big up front, and just wait to see if we get it or not. It kills you when you loose a bid by $10, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere or you will end up making poor bidding decisions. More than once, we’ve had items mysteriously “withdrawn” – probably because the seller made an off-eBay deal – so getting a bid registered at least provides the seller with notice that someone is watching them. Probably doesn’t change a thing, but makes us feel better!

If we are bidding on a less valuable piece, we often snipe. Live by the snipe, die by the snipe: sometimes we get a fantastic deal, many more times we lose – but there’s always another piece on eBay just around the corner. Oh, and by the way, no serious bidder is going to fall for the trick of putting multiple high bids on a piece just to intimidate and discourage potential bidders. When we see 3 or 4 consecutive high bids on a piece from the same high bidder, that tells us THE BIDDER IS BLUFFING, and that doesn’t stop us one second. The true serious bidders often bid only once – and they bid high – seriously high.

Finding the hidden jewels can be very exciting. Sometimes you run across a valuable piece that has been totally mis-identified and mis-classified by a seller who didn’t have a clue what they had. Hot damn! But guess what? With 800 Million eBay users, you are NOT going to be the only one to find it! The serious collectors are always looking in unrelated categories, checking for mis-spellings, looking for generic descriptions, etc.
There may be fewer bidders, but valuable pieces still tend to draw the serious bidding action, no matter how messed up the listing is.
“ABANDON ALL HOPE – YE WHO ENTER HERE” ???

The odds are heavily stacked against you – and it’s going to get worse. The heydays of finding inexpensive rare Asian antiques on eBay are now behind us, never to return. But there are still some cool treasures out there – if you are smart enough to recognize them, wise enough to bid appropriately, and lucky enough to win. If you want to invest in quality decorative Asian art but are not prepared to battle this tsunami of fraud, consider collecting Japanese pieces as an alternative. Once you’ve recognized how to identify fake Chinese copies (it’s really not that hard to recognize fakes because the artistic quality is NEVER as good as the Japanese originals), your chances of finding authentic Japanese pieces are much, much better. Plus, dealing with the Japan based dealers is generally much safer. Generally, but not always… Good treasure hunting!
We hope that you learned something that will save you from wasting your money on junk. If you understand the basic rules we have just outlined, you are now more informed than thousands of naive eBay buyers who fall for this fraud weekly.

HERE’S A QUICK QUIZ TO SEE IF YOU GRADUATE!

How many Chinese Dehua blanc de chine porcelain statues are now being listed on eBay? The answer should be something over 100.
Now, how many are authentic antiques? None? Maybe one… maybe… Excellent!
Now, what about the Song Dynasty Geyao piece in our avatar? Bought it here on eBay. Real or Fake?

Real! We scored big. You can too! OK, you Graduate!

Do you know what you are selling? Because your customer might not.

Roger S. — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:27:36 +0000

I am noticing a trend where just about “everyone and anyone” is now selling so called “Chinese antique furniture” (or some variation of this) and misrepresenting it as any number of different things. Items made just yesterday (antique reproductions) are falsely labeled as genuine antiques and the real antiques are often completely misclassified. I recently saw an antique Tibetan sideboard cabinet labeled as coming from Mongolia. Sometimes, this is just the result of the importer not having access to good product history and background information (and thus the purpose of this specialists blog). But in other instances its pure marketing and the low-end/mass-produced is being promoted as high end/hand-made. There is an interesting article in the New York Times about this entitled “Look-Alikes Draw Lawyers’ Stares” and one quote from this article seems to really sum it up in a nutshell:

At a time when awareness of good design is spreading, industry insiders suggest that the number of lower-priced imitations, or knockoffs, of classic designs is also on the rise. As a result manufacturers are renewing efforts to curb the practice.

Lets look at this perfect example of a China Burl Wood Cabinet from a major online retailer’s Worldstock Handcrafted product line:

Apparently this piece is:

Cabinet hand-finished and hand-carved by a family of Chinese artisans
Cabinet features antique hardware
Handcrafted in the Guangdong region of mainland China
Represents three generations of Chinese woodworking craftsmanship
Kiln-dried mahogany with hand-rubbed lacquer protects the wood for a long-lasting finish

All for just $249.00 ? Wow!

How can this be possible? Actually, its not – its all just a slight of hand. But what brings this seemingly unrelated into focus, is when your retail customer walks into your store or shop and tells you he likes a certain piece, but feels it’s too expensive because he saw the same thing down the street for one-third of the price. Giving customer discounts (along with good service) is sometimes in order and closing a sale is the end goal, BUT first you must get on the same page and make sure you are both discussing roughly the same product. Otherwise you are “comparing apples to oranges.” Otherwise, how can you compete against this amazing bargain? Lets do a quick Google to see just what DOES a burl wood cabinet look like (and what do they really sell for)?

This wonderful Chinese Black Lacquered Armoire decorated with burl wood is from Linden Dynasty. There is no price (the item was sold) but I am guessing it went for at least around $1200 based on other cabinets on their site.

Here is a large 2 door Cabinet in Burl Wood selling for £1,250.00 from http://www.shimu.co.uk in the UK.

So we are comparing apples to oranges here after all and you get exactly what you pay for. There is no such thing as getting a great quality product at rock-bottom pricing. In fact, scrolling down to the bottom of the page we see that at least one buyer was able to see the difference (unfortunately AFTER he paid for it). Here’s what he had to say:

“The description of this product is false. It is not made of wood and antique hardware but of press board and laminate, with cheap reproduction hardware. I was shocked and disappointed by the blatant misrepresentation of its quality, as well as by the price in comparison to what the product is. Save yourself the hassle of having to repackage and return the cabinet as I have. “

It is no different buying product in the east as selling it in the west: junk is junk. No matter how much you pay for it, it’s still junk.

How to recognize Chinese antique ceramics from fakes:

Roger S. — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:21:10 +0000

Another excellent youtube find. [[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=742wDih0ySI]] He also has another good video as well: Chinese Antique Porcelain Study with Samples [[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzGws3ezEDE]] This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques [...]

A Chinese twist on the popular TV show Antiques Roadshow.”

Roger S. — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:54:06 +0000

There is a great show on on BTV (Beijing TV) called “Collection” which I happened to stumble upon late one evening while flipping though the Chinese channels. Normally I avoid the Chinese channels like the plague since about 90% of the time they are eiter a) boring b) lame c) boring and d) lame and boring. But collection caught my eye as right at the minute my clicker landed on that particular channel, they were smashing up a ming dynasty porcelain vase!

“What? What? What? Huh? Why? How?”

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3695420

Which is exactly what I was thinking too. Basically it turns out to be a “Chinese Antiques Roadshow” with a bit of a twist. People bring in items which they honestly believe to be of value and/or genuine for assessment and appraisal. Experts then assess the value and authenticity of the piece. Now this is where the twist comes in. At a certain point in the show the piece is formally valued by the panel of experts and is done in front of an audience and the other contestants. If the piece is real, its smiles, “oh my god!” and all is well and good. BUT if the piece is assessed to be a fake, out comes the golden mallet (I kid you not) and the piece is smashed and destroyed right there on the spot in front of everyone.

Classic! Check out the video on ABC News or read more about it here on Danwei
(If you know how to use a machine translator (like Google translate), check out the shows homepage on BTV. )