SCAMS AND FAKES

[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

[cornelistromp]

some more