August, 1911 
highly honorable modern artists painted in the style of 
masters of the past. For example Vernon loyally composed 
subjects that Diaz might have signed. It will be readily 
understood that in this case all that is required is a change 
in the signature, and the value of the canvas is doubled or 
tripled in the eyes of the credulous amateur. 
When we come to prints, engravings, and drawings, the 
list of fraudulent processes is long and varied. We shall 
here consider only the most typical. One trick of the trade 
is to print over an old proof some remark engraved upon 
a copper plate, in order to produce 
a “rare” specimen not previously 
catalogued. Another artifice con- 
sists in taking an old plate, and 
nlling up the lettering of the title 
with Spanish white, producing im- 
pressions “avant la lettre,’ which 
sell for their weight in gold. Or 
again, the craftsman re-etches an 
old plate, which is then used for 
making impressions on old paper. 
This is finally given a suitable ap- 
pearance of age by treatment 
with a decoction of coftee-grounds 
or other suitable material. 
As for the manufacture of ‘“‘old”’ 
enamels, the difficulty in describing 
the processes available is to make a 
selection from among the numberless imitations produced 
in Paris. The simple restoration of enamels is carried 
out with the aid of ordinary shellac. The buyer can 
very readily detect this kind of fraud by plunging the article 
in alcohol, which will dissolve off the ‘‘restored”’ parts. To 
imitate translucent enamels, gold leaf is pasted upon a 
metal backing, and when this is dry, it can be painted upon 
without fear of the colors flowing. The thin gold base, 
while imparting a brilliant appearance to the painting, 
imitates to perfection 
the characteristic 
transparency which 
the famous enamel 
painters of Limoges 
knew so well how to 
produce. Terra cotta 
work is forged with 
even greater ease than 
enamel. On the other 
hand pottery betrays 
very readily any 
fraudulent practices. 
In the first place 
copies prepared by 
molding over the orig- 
inal invariably differ 
from the latter, for in 
the burning the clay 
shrinks by about one- 
twelfth of its volume. 
Hence expert counter- 
feiters resort to other 
means for reproducing 
ancient masterpieces of this character. Take for example 
those exquisite Greek statuettes discovered some thirty or 
forty years ago in the ruins of Tanagra. Upon a wire 
frame work the sculptor models with fine plaster the figure 
to be reproduced, such as a castanet player, a satyr or a 
bacchant. He then applies over this model by means of a 
brush a mixture of powdered red brick and yellow ochre 
dissolved in a solution of gum arabic. A few spots of gild- 
ing scattered here and there complete the evolution of the 
statuette, which now presents the characteristic appearance 
Treating bronzes with acidulated water 
before burying them in the earth 
to age them 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Rebinding a rare edition in a cover bearing the royal 
coat of arms of Louis XIV 
399 
of the Tanagra specimens. The bazaars of Florence, 
Rome, Venice, Naples and other Italian cities teem with 
terra cotta ‘‘antiques” of this kind, which are sold to the un- 
suspecting stranger as recent finds from archeological ex- 
plorations. 
Of pottery and china, innumerable faked specimens are 
abroad. Ceramic ware of all times and places has been imi- 
tated, from common majolica of metallic luster to Bernard 
Pallissy plates and fine Sevres porcelain. In order to im- 
part to the forged products the appearance of the real 
article they are buried in manure, 
which causes cracks to spread over 
their surface. The edges of plates 
are deftly notched, and oil is run 
into the recently broken surface in 
order to take away its fresh ap- 
pearance. Old vases with simple 
ornamentation are “improved” by 
the. addition of elaborate designs. 
The faience of Moutiers, Nevers 
and Marseilles is copied with great 
ease. More difficult to imitate is 
the so-called ‘“‘Vieux Sevres,” a 
special porcelain, the manufacture 
of which has been almost com- 
pletely abandoned. The mix of 
these artificial porcelains is com- 
posed of alkaline frits and carbon- 
ate of lime. The glaze is very rich in lead, easily scratched 
by steel, and fuses at a high temperature. But this soft 
porcelain fetches a much higher price than the ordinary 
hard porcelain, made almost exclusively of kaolin and potash 
and imitated by ceramic artists of smaller caliber. 
Manuscripts and books are forged very extensively. It 
requires, however, a certain erudition to correctly copy 
ancient writing, to imitate the illuminations, to apply the 
colors and the gold with a sure touch, to age the vellum and 
parchment, while yet 
preserving their trans- 
parency unimpaired. 
In the case of books, 
the market price of a 
work may sometimes 
be considerably  en- 
hanced by merely re- 
printing the title page. 
This is a favorite trick 
of certain unscrupu- 
lous second-hand book- 
sellers in dealing with 
the so highly esteemed 
works of the Romantic 
period. Again, there 
is nothing easier than 
to rebind a work of 
the seventeenth or 
eighteenth century in 
an old morocco cover 
which has served as 
the binding for some 
royal almanac, and 
to then sell the volume as proceeding from some famous 
library. 
To imitate worm-eaten, old furniture, crafty cabinet- 
makers will buy at a high figure old wood from demolished 
houses and sculpture from this chairs, brackets and the like, 
which they endue with patina with unparalleled skill. 
To cover bronzes and medals with verdigris, they are 
first plunged into acidulated water and then buried under- 
ground for some time. In a few months the articles are 
well qualified to figure in show-cases of antiquarians. 
Burying articles after treating them 
with acid to produce a coat 
of verdigris 
