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Daily Archives: January 14, 2011

God has given us our talents, not to copy the talents of others, but rather to use our brains and imagination

Posted at 8:19 pm by 1909ventilo, on January 14, 2011

God has given us our talents, not to copy the talents of others, but rather to use our brains and imagination in order to obtain the revelation of true beauty. Louis Comfort Tiffany

The Entrance Hall of the White House in 1882, showing the newly installed Tiffany glass screens.

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Even Sotheby’s makes mistakes!

Posted at 8:16 pm by 1909ventilo, on January 14, 2011

Mr Philip Chasen writes an awesome blog here is an entry from his blog dated December 16, 2010

Even Sotheby’s makes mistakes

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Philip Chasen

Rare Tiffany Studios Laburnum table lamp, Sotheby’s lot 227

Sotheby’s New York will hold their sale of Important Tiffany today, December 16, 2010. There are only 33 lots in the sale — but most of them are important and high quality. The offerings range from original oil paintings by Louis Comfort Tiffany to glass to lamps, like a Laburnum, lot 227.

Reproduction Tiffany Studios vase, Sotheby’s lot 202

You would think their experts would be able to spot a fake Tiffany vase when they saw one, but lot 202, sneaked past them and into their catalog. It’s listed as “A Superb Monumental Floriform Vase”, circa 1900, Favrile glass, engraved L.C. Tiffany-Favrile W2977, 16 5/8″ high. Provenance — Private Collection, Paris. $15,000-20,000. The only problem is that it’s not by Tiffany Studios, but a modern reproduction. Upon receipt of the catalog, I immediately doubted the authenticity of the vase, but waited to make a final judgment until I could see it in person. There was no doubt in person. The cup part of the vase was good quality, but the foot was all wrong. It’s a decoration Tiffany did not do. The signature was an obvious fake, of which, unfortunately, I don’t have a photo. I can only assume that the European consignor was an important client with other valuable objects, so the vase did not get the proper scrutiny it deserved. It’s rare for reproductions to get past their experts.

(P.S. – Thursday afternoon, December 16, 2010, 1:55 PM. I just found out that Sotheby’s withdrew the above lot, #202, before sale time. I don’t know if someone read my blog and informed them or if they found out another way, but luckily it was not put up for sale. It saved the potential buyer a lot of grief.)

http://blog.chasenantiques.com/2010/12/16/even-sothebys-make-mistakes/