SCAMS AND FAKES

[Matchlock]

Hi Fernando K,


The fact is well known that Frédéric Spitzer was one of the most prolific and reckless forgers of his time, which was France in the 1860's to 1880's.
He especially altered deliberately highly-decorated firearms of the 16th and 17th c., many of which are - among others - in the Wallace Collection London. All his 'alterations' were done so cruelly that I cannot refrain from calling him a madman.
E.g., he put fake pommels on the stocks of wheellock pistols and barrels from late-18th c. guns in stocks of the late 16th c.!

The pistol posted below is inv.no. A1135 in the Wallace Colln: it is fully authentic and dated 1554 - but the lemon butt was 'associated' from a completely different long wheellock pistol of ca. 1610 (!). Originally that grip would have terminated in either a fishtail or dagger-style shape!!!


Spitzer did this for pure fun, just because he could and nobody stopped him perpetrating such cultural outrage: he ruined genuine weapons without any need - imagine! Weaponry as a scholarship did virtually not yet exist at that time; not a single one of his contemporaries was able tell wrong from right.

And: oh yeah, I photographed some of his evil deeds, on display at the British Museum as well!


The original catalogs of his weapons and art 'collection' number to several (5 or 7) really huge folio volumes (45 cm high), all highly sought after by bibliophiles and immensely expensive (thousands of euro).


Btw, William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper zsar, did the same thing in the US at the time of the Great Depression. He employed an army of forgers to realize his fantasies - and they too went right on to the big museums.
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

Anton Konrad, whose name you mentioned, is known to have faked a great number of fine swords, mostly after originals in the Dresden Armory. He was a contemporary of Hearst's, and his 'products' too are, among others, in the Royal Armouries Leeds and the Wallace Colln. today. He sold many of his forgeries via the auction house Kahlert, who also regularly ordered pieces). Hans Schedelmann, a reputed arms 'scholar' and - Salzburg (Austria !) - 'professor' and 'man of integrity' (although he was hardly able to write one single grammatically correct sentence and had never been inside a university building) wrote very benevolent 'expertises' on Konrad's fakes for the auction house Galerie Fischer at Lucerne, Switzerland.
They were all just part of the Konrad system.
After the bubble bursted, Schedelmann of course tried to disassociate of everything - and was successful.
The road goes on forever ...

One of the most prolific forgers of all times has been active for more than 40 years now as a well known arms dealer in Swabia, Germany. Everybody here knows his name but Herr F. still carries on. About 50 per cent of everything he sells are cruel fakes. At the same time he is a publicly appointed and sworn expert!!! What cruel irony.
The road goes on forever ...



Best,
Michael

[Fernando K]

Matchlock Estimate:

One thing is the word, and quite another picture. This helps to understand the work of Spitzer. thank you very much

Affectionately. Fernando K

[Matchlock]

As always, it was a pleasure to be of some assistance, Fernando!

Best,
Michael

[Battara]

I restore things, based on the art, customs, and forms of the period and culture from which them come.

But these forgers are an entirely different matter. Criminal, so criminal. To be kind they should be locked up for their destruction!

[Jim McDougall]

Michael you are phenomenal!!!! No matter how esoteric you seem to come up with incredible details on these topics, and this data is fascinating. The only 'reproducer' I know about was Ernst Schmitt in Munich.
This kind of information is so essential to not only those collecting these early weapons, but those studying them so as to better understand the proper identification of tem.

Thank you so much! and I cannot avoid saying again how glad I am you are back with us

All the very best,
Jim

[Battara]

I agree with Jim. I had no idea there were fakes in the Wallace Collection and others. Helpful for research, thank you.

[Matchlock]

Thank you so much for your kind words, Battara and Jim (in alphabetical order)


Oh, the stories I could tell from backstage ...

Yes, at least about one third of all items in the Wallace Colln. are part fakes or complete forgeries! The staff started to realize a good deal of these facts since our first contacts back in the 1980's but a lot of work still remains to be done.
That affects almost all museums and private collections and all sorts of art and culture worldwide, though. The really bad thing as far as weapons are concerned is the fact that weaponry is not accepted as a serious scholarship by most museum people and that consequently weapons simply are not subject to research using scientific methods by either museums, courts, auction houses or private collectors - compared to paintings! The whole subject is still a matter of prima facie evidence, personal taste and skillful arguing.
Nothing will change in the near future. So: buyer beware - and better learn quickly! And never stop studying! Never get too self-assured.

There is one single institute in Milano, Italy, that boasts of employing scientific methods and of being able to date every single part of a weapon as exactly as down to one single year. E.g., the stock of a pistol would be 1783 while the barrel and parts of the lock can be dated to 1729 and the fittings are of mingled dates and from various sources and periods.

I cannot believe it. How would you possibly date organic substances like wood? The C-14 method is fine for prehistoric finds of tens of thousands or millions of of years but it has an inherent historical volatility of plus minus 500 years, so it is absolutely useless for firearms that have only existed for 700 years at best. Wrough iron, the renowned Rathgen-Forschungslabor in Berlin told me, can definitely not be dated scientifically!

Comparison wood on the basis of annual rings is much more exact but only exists for South German oak (!). So if it is about a walnut, maple or pearwood stock you are all at sea.
And what if a forger used a historic oak beam, 500 years old, that was part of a medieval house and transformed it into the crude stock of a haquebut, together with an original 500 year-old haquebut barrel?! Well, he would argue, the outer surface may have been overworked by 'somebody else' recently, but the oak tree was definitely logged in 1483. And these scammers do things like this!!!

Profound knowledge and decades of close studies are the only way not to get fooled too easily.
And always keep aware of the fact that such criminals do exist and they are both extremely active and witty!



Best,
Michael

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Thank you so much for your kind words, Battara and Jim (in alphabetical order)


Oh, the stories I could tell from backstage ...

Yes, at least about one third of all items in the Wallace Colln. are part fakes or complete forgeries! The staff started to realize a good deal of these facts since our first contacts back in the 1980's but a lot of work still remains to be done.

Best,
Michael

Michael

I absolutely do not believe that one third???? of the Wallace Collection is 100% False or contains faulty components. This can simply not be true!

I'll see the curator Tobias Capwell in february in London at the parklane A&A I will ask him.

​​Anton Konrad made only bladed weapons, swords and daggers, for which he used old blades and other old components, he skillfully "upgraded" the hilts with old techniques.
Iam unaware of any firearm from his hand.

The fakes arms he made are extemely difficult to distinguish from real, often one sees a difference between color and oxidation of the newer hilt and older blade.
at first it was thought that Konrad made the hilt/grip, too big, but research has shown that this was not the case.
The commission to make the falsifications he recieved from arms dealer Kahlert, Kahlert sold these weapons to private collectors and museums, direct and via auctionhauses as Sothebys London with a faked provenance.
The examples and inspiration Konrad took from the museum in Dresden, where he had been given free access to the arms ,this was arranged by Kahlert.
Occasionally I'll still see work from his hand at dealers , in collections and in museums.
For example, a medieval sword and silver hilted saxon rapier in the solingen klingen museum are displayed as work from his hand.

here are some other examples from the Hans Schedelmann publication.

best,
Jasper