Guide to Spotting Fakes

Hampton Antiques are passionate about fighting fakes! Some dealers would charge you for this information, but we are so passionate about exposing the counterfeit trade that we want everyone interested in antiques to have access to this information free of charge. So we have dedicated this section to keeping you informed about the many fakes on the market, and to educate you in such a way that you don't get caught out.

We all like a bargain and there are some out there, but unfortunately, along with them, are many fakes and reproductions. Our answer to all of you thinking you may be able to purchase a bargain is be very careful and cautious. It's very easy to fall into the trap of trying to buy something cheaper, but you have to ask yourself the question: when a true piece should retail at several thousand pounds and you buy it for a few hundred, is this too good to be true? Usually it is! Our advice is to buy from a reputable Antique Dealer, ideally a specialist dealer, and preferably one registered with a recognised trade assocation such as BADA, LAPADA & CADA.

Think you bought a real bargain from ebay, an antiques fair, or even an auction house? Think again…… Get educated, read our guide and stop these people from making money out of you. This guide has been compiled by a group of highly experienced dealers, with 75 years of collective experience, who really know their stuff. As for Hampton Antiques, not only do we buy and sell, we also work on antiques and have been doing so for twenty years, so we literally know them inside-out! Read on and become educated… not conned!

INLAID FURNITURE & BOXES

First of all, any skilled person can adapt and re-inlay a boring, plain-looking piece of furniture or wooden box to make it appear much more interesting.

There are many companies out there selling hundreds of different brand-new inlays such as Shells, Fans, Urns and Prince of Wales feathers, which are just a few examples, as shown here:

These are sold to the Trade for restoration or for simply inlaying modern pieces of furniture. However, unscrupulous , or uneducated & inexperienced, Antique Dealers are selling original plain Georgian or Victorian furniture & boxes which have new inlays - to make them look more appealing to the eye, to appear to be older, and therefore more expensive, than they truly are - unfortunately and shockingly, we have seen many examples of these at certain prestigious fairs across the country!

EXAMPLES OF REPRODUCTION TEA CADDIES

REPRODUCTION TORTOISESHELL

Reproduction Faux Tortoiseshell Tea Caddies being sold as antique - these are completely brand new. Take notice of the locks, hinges, interior and thickness of the carcass.

WE DO NOT SELL THESE!

EXAMPLE OF A NEW HOUSE TEA CADDY

VICTORIAN & GEORGIAN STYLE TEA CADDIES

All these images are of caddies currently being sold in the UK. Most are being imported and are 100% reproduction.

TORTOISESHELL - COMMON REPRODUCTIONS

There are many Reproduction Tortoiseshell on the market and can be very good ones, making it very easy to fool the un-educated eye.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

1. Most commonly-reproduced shapes: the first one is a small single Tea Caddy with a bow front, bevelled edge, plinth & ivory bun feet. They also usually have a shaped ivory escutcheon, and the colour underneath the Tortoiseshell is very orangey - this is common in all reproductions.

   Another common one is a typical Regency shape: slightly bombe shape which steps in at the top and has a dome top. This style is now also being sold with a Shagreen (pale green shark-skin) veneer.

   

   The least common shape is again typical Regency, but this one has a Pagoda top, is waisted with a plinth and has ivory feet. They are inlaid with a floral mother of pearl design and are by far the best reproductions on the market.

2. Hinges: they should be mortice stop hinges, which go straight into the carcass and when opened the lid will not fall straight back, you should not be able to see any screws at all. The ones being used on all the repros are made of brass and are nothing like the originals! Examples of these can be seen below.

These caddies all have an aluminium foil lining. If you were to remove this, you would find the boxes are made out of ply-wood! We know this because unfortunately we were ourselves fooled by them when they first came on to the market.

IVORY:

There doesn't seem to be many on the market but examples we have seen have been made with Piano keys which stand out and are obvious. The others again are very good but they all have a very fake foil lining and always have a false lock which means they cannot ever be locked.

With all Tortoiseshell and Ivory it takes a very skilled person to work with these products and the craftsmen making the originals in their time were at the top of their trade. Most of these caddies were made into complicated shapes and are made with thin carcasses, showing their craftsmanship at its very best. Therefore the locks and hinges had to be different - unlike the other box hinges and locks, these were a lot more delicate and thin. The Boxes are also inlaid with fine silver wire or pewter and edged in Ivory,Tortoiseshell or Horn.

We do not sell reproduction caddies.

HINGES & LOCKS

The lock in all the pictures with a round hole in the centre is a modern replacement - this style is used on many reproduction boxes and tea caddies due to its small size.

Other locks shown in the pictures are all genuine, and the silver lock is from a tortoiseshell tea caddy, as you can see this is a small lock and very thin - it measures:
Length 3cm / 1" x Thickness 3mm / 1/8th

The triangular hinges shown are again from a Tortoiseshell Tea Caddy and bear no resemblance to the hinges being used on all the fake caddies. The triangular part of the hinge is morticed into the caddy edge and glued rather than the usual screw.

FAKE FRUIT TEA CADDIES

Fruit Tea Caddies are extremely rare and very expensive, so it's no surprise that the market is now flooded with reproductions.

Unfortunately, some of these are very good & difficult to spot by the un-trained eye. Also, pictures alone don't always tell the whole story. Sometimes it's only until you have the object in your hand that you can spot the tell-tale signs (which is how a lot of ebayers and auction houses get away with selling them!).

Here is a selection of fruit caddies showing their interiors, Q: which of the four images is from a genuine 18th century tea caddy?

A: The 3rd picture is the original Tea Caddy and is 90% lead lined.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

1. Originals must have steel / iron hinges, lock plate and escutcheon. The hinges are not always screwed - they are secured with steel pins/nails, the same as the lock and the escutcheon. The lock is always morticed into the caddy, so you should not be able to see the lock on the inside-edge unless the wood has worn away. If that’s the case, because it’s a mortice lock, there will be no back on the lock and you will be able to see the hole where the key goes straight through. The locks in these caddies are different to all other boxes, they do not have a lock pin for you to locate the key into - instead the key has its own pin which goes straight through the lock & out the back until it stops on the back-plate. To find a caddy that has its original key is quite rare, the keys are solid steel and have no hollow in the end unlike most keys.
2. When the caddies were turned, they would have had holes in the top and bottom so that they could be spun on the lathe. These should show on the inside and possibly the outside. However: there is not always one in the top. You will always find them in the base of the caddy and these should be plugged, but with age these are sometimes missing. We believe this does not detract from the piece or affect its value, but you should be able to see a wooden thread.
3. The base of the Caddy should be slightly inverted, not completely flat and should generally have a leather-type paper to the base.
4. On the inside rim of the Caddy, you should be able to see three or four pin holes which match the top to the bottom. These are for hollowing out the Caddy before being turned into shape. By putting pins around the rims and pushing the piece back together, the rest of the Caddy could be turned into the shape of a fruit.
5. The interior very rarely has all its original lead lining. In most cases, you should be able to see slight traces of the lead. The reproductions we see generally all have lining, usually by way of a silver paper or tin foil, and some are even being lined in segments. Worryingly, some examples we are seeing are so good that unless you have the object in your hand it's very difficult to tell it's a fake. Even more worrying is that examples of these have been seen at vetted fairs and major auction rooms (and obviously that very well known online auction site!)

Keep checking for regular updates! (Last updated: July 2010)