WEBVTT 00:00.560 --> 00:04.640 Artificial autographs, imposter urns, and bootleg bowls are just some of the skilled 00:04.640 --> 00:08.720 fakeries and forgeries that unsuspecting guests have brought to Antiques Roadshow over the years 00:09.040 --> 00:13.840 A guest on a 2005 episode of Antiques Roadshow on PBS was hoping that the large stone sculpture 00:13.840 --> 00:17.880 his parents kept as a poolside decoration was a piece of ancient Mesoamerican art 00:18.080 --> 00:25.280 The guests claimed that testing showed that it hadn't been made with the help of modern tools, but appraiser John Buxton only had to take one look at the piece to shoot down any hopes that 00:25.280 --> 00:29.560 it was an ancient and highly valuable example of Olmec art. Olmec art, produced in the Gulf 00:29.560 --> 00:35.320 coast region of Mexico between 1200 BC and 400 BC is highly regarded for its fine detail in use of 00:35.320 --> 00:40.060 jade, volcanic basalt, and skillfully crafted ceramics. The most famous examples of Olmec art 00:40.060 --> 00:44.980 are astoundingly large carved heads, many of which were crafted in San Lorenzo, in what is now the 00:44.980 --> 00:49.480 state of Veracruz. Unfortunately, when it came to style, this carving was little more than a dud 00:49.680 --> 00:53.760 And stylistically, this is not even close to what Olmec should be 00:53.840 --> 00:57.400 Buxton went on to say that the piece lacked the balance that an Olmec figure should have 00:57.400 --> 01:02.040 While he appraised the piece for up to $2,500 as decorative art, he delivered one more blow 01:02.040 --> 01:05.840 He told the owner that, if it had really been Olmec, it would have been worth hundreds of 01:05.840 --> 01:10.880 thousands of dollars. At first, things must have looked just fine during an episode of Antiques Roadshow filmed 01:10.880 --> 01:17.180 in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. Appraiser Wes Cowan told the guests that he had a small art piece that had been painted 01:17.180 --> 01:22.820 by folk artist Jacob Weber. For a random discovery in an antique shop, the little wooden box was potentially an incredible 01:22.820 --> 01:27.160 find — especially considering the man's grandfather had paid $1,000 for the piece 01:27.160 --> 01:32.520 appraised it for $10,000 to $15,000, but things took a turn for this particular box after the 01:32.520 --> 01:37.440 episode aired in early 2016. Another antiques dealer saw the piece and contacted Cowan 01:37.560 --> 01:41.180 telling him that the hinges were wrong, and other boxes by Weber had projecting bases 01:41.420 --> 01:45.580 not ones that were even with the sides. PBS published a correction, including the box's 01:45.580 --> 01:52.060 new value, a mere $100 to $150. To be fair, this outlandish, grotesque jug represents a case of 01:52.060 --> 01:56.140 mistaken identity more than outright fakery, but it remains one of the most interesting missteps 01:56.140 --> 02:01.420 made by an antiques roadshow appraiser. Seen in a January 2016 episode, the ceramic vessel sports a 02:01.420 --> 02:06.700 variety of twisted faces, a stitched-up shot-of-eye, and other distorted features. Appraiser Stephen L 02:06.700 --> 02:10.780 Fletcher said that he believed it was from the late 19th to early 20th century, and part of a 02:10.780 --> 02:15.180 grotesque-faced jug tradition from around the mid-Atlantic states. Fletcher appraised the jug 02:15.180 --> 02:21.580 at an incredible value. "...Somebody might well ask in the area between $30,000 and $50,000 for this. 02:21.580 --> 02:25.740 But soon after the episode aired, a viewer sent in a tip that the jug was actually made by her 02:25.740 --> 02:29.980 friend Betsy Sewell, who confirmed that she had made it while in high school in the 1970s 02:29.980 --> 02:34.540 The vessel's newly appraised value plummeted to $3,000 to $5,000. At least 02:34.540 --> 02:40.540 Fletcher remained highly complimentary toward Sewell's work. Surprisingly enough, Alvin Barr, the guest who brought the jug to the show 02:40.540 --> 02:49.660 was also relieved when its value dropped, telling the Bulletin, "...I hated it when it was $30,000 to $50,000. Because who wants $30,000 to $50,000 lying around 02:49.660 --> 02:55.100 their house?" Blockfront cabinets are linked to Boston Furniture Craftsman beginning in the mid-1700s 02:55.100 --> 02:59.180 who created the curving forms of the furniture as a way to appeal to the taste of upper-class 02:59.180 --> 03:04.140 clientele. The style not only required solid pieces of wood, but also extra time and a high 03:04.140 --> 03:09.180 level of skill. A guest who appeared on Antiques Roadshow in 2013 believed they had just such a 03:09.180 --> 03:13.580 piece of finely crafted furniture, but appraiser Leslie Kino had to break the difficult truth 03:13.700 --> 03:18.360 The chest was a fake. While the initial shape and fixture seemed right, Kino pointed out a series 03:18.360 --> 03:22.940 of increasingly suspicious flaws. The dovetail joints and other segments of the interior were 03:22.940 --> 03:37.264 to mimic the oxidation that would be seen on genuinely old wood The same effect was spotted along the bottom of the cabinet and whoever had made the fake had used poplar as a secondary wood Real Boston furniture makers would have used white pine instead Kino said that a real block front chest would have brought 03:37.264 --> 03:43.964 in up to $75,000 for an especially nice one. The fake? Just $3,000 to $5,000. At least it was 03:43.964 --> 03:48.284 enough for the guests to break even. John Buxton seems to have encountered quite a few fakes in his 03:48.284 --> 03:53.224 time on Antiques Roadshow. On a 2016 episode, he spoke with a guest who hoped that the small vessel 03:53.224 --> 03:57.304 he brought in was from the pre-Columbian history of the Tirona people. The guest even brought along 03:57.304 --> 04:01.284 documents purporting to authenticate the ceramic bowl, which included four finely made animal 04:01.284 --> 04:05.404 figures on the rim and a human figure in the vessel itself. While Buxton was complimentary 04:05.404 --> 04:09.684 toward the artistry of the bowl, he wasn't so keen on its historic pedigree. The figures were 04:09.684 --> 04:13.224 a bit odd for the established artistic tradition of the Tirona, for one 04:13.404 --> 04:20.724 The other thing, you hear I tap that? When you hear that, it's a very high ring 04:20.724 --> 04:24.724 Buxton noted that the high pitch of the noise would be difficult to achieve if the piece had 04:24.724 --> 04:29.004 been fired authentically in a low-temperature, old-school pit kiln. The condition of the clay 04:29.004 --> 04:32.884 instead hinted that it had been fired in a modern, much hotter electric kiln 04:33.064 --> 04:38.164 with an appraised value of just $300 at the most. The poor guest was out a hefty chunk of money from 04:38.164 --> 04:44.164 his original $1,800 purchase. The May 2021 episode of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow at Stoner Park 04:44.164 --> 04:48.724 included an intriguing silver box. Though it was small and relatively plain, it contained an 04:48.724 --> 04:53.424 inscription that read, The Gift of Stella to Dean Swift. As appraiser Mark Allum clarified 04:53.664 --> 04:59.164 the Swift in question was 18th-century writer Jonathan Swift, author of the 1726-story Gulliver's 04:59.164 --> 05:03.604 Travels. Swift was close friends with Esther Johnson, the daughter of a housekeeper who later 05:03.604 --> 05:08.564 came to be called Stella, and who was purported to be Swift's muse, and perhaps even his secret 05:08.564 --> 05:13.444 wife. That makes for an interesting backstory that could boost the value of the box, if only 05:13.444 --> 05:18.224 it were genuine. As Allum pointed out, the box was made out of a material known as Sheffield plate 05:18.224 --> 05:24.384 which first hit the scene in 1743. Stella had died in 1728, making the inscription impossible 05:24.664 --> 05:31.824 A closer inspection revealed that the inscription was stamped, not engraved. The guest took the news that it was only worth about 40 pounds at most pretty well 05:31.984 --> 05:37.804 saying she was glad for the opportunity anyhow. The guest who brought what appeared to be a buffalo robe to Antiques Roadshow said she 05:37.804 --> 05:45.284 had purchased it from a handyman who had helped redecorate her mountain home. The robe had allegedly been sitting in storage for three decades and cost the guest $300 05:45.864 --> 05:50.324 Appraiser John Buxton said that the art form of the painted buffalo skin was an important part to 05:50.324 --> 05:55.104 Plains Indian culture, who used preserved buffalo skins as canvases to make decorative pieces and 05:55.104 --> 05:59.804 also create records of important events. However, Buxton started to note several issues with the 05:59.804 --> 06:04.184 piece in front of him. It had what first looked to be an authentic design, including a series of 06:04.184 --> 06:08.144 holes on the edge that would have been made by stakes people set to stretch the skin during the 06:08.144 --> 06:12.424 tanning process. However, the repairs he spotted on the robe were stitched with cotton thread 06:12.424 --> 06:17.384 not authentic sinew sourced from the buffalo. The hide also appeared to have been tanned using more 06:17.384 --> 06:21.424 modern techniques instead of traditional brain tanning. As a decorative piece, it was appraised 06:21.424 --> 06:26.564 at $1,000 to $2,000, so at least the guest was able to easily make back her initial investment 06:26.884 --> 06:31.744 On the BBC version of Antiques Roadshow, appraiser Ronnie Archer Morgan was intrigued by what first 06:31.744 --> 06:40.404 appeared to be a guardian figure made by a Koda craftsperson. They influence the greatest modern artists of all time. They are very, very sought after 06:40.404 --> 06:44.484 The figures were originally crafted to embody the power and spirit of the ancestors, and 06:44.484 --> 06:48.644 were originally found in association with family remains stored in baskets or bark containers 06:48.644 --> 07:07.808 beneath the figure. Then Archer Morgan breaks the bad news While the art piece was very nice it wasn quite the correct size and it was likely made in 1980 a far cry from authentic pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries However it wasn all doom and gloom Archer Morgan gave the figure a value of 150 pounds which represented a pretty good deal considering 07:07.808 --> 07:11.368 the guest originally paid just one and a half pounds for the figure. And given the fraught 07:11.368 --> 07:17.888 history of artwork and objects that had been taken from African people without permission, it may be just as well that this wasn't genuine after all 07:17.888 --> 07:22.348 The vase that appeared on a 2011 episode of Antiques Roadshow may not have seemed like much 07:22.348 --> 07:31.468 but the clean lines and dark green glaze of the piece indicated that it might have been a valuable Tico vase. The Tico Pottery Company produced decorative pieces between 1902 and 1929 07:31.808 --> 07:35.988 and became known for matte glazes and green hues, sometimes applied to pieces that towered 07:35.988 --> 07:42.788 more than seven feet. But was this much smaller vase the real deal? So, give me the news 07:43.228 --> 07:50.308 All right. It's not good. According to appraiser Suzanne Perro, it wasn't. The glaze wasn't the right shade of Tico Green 07:50.308 --> 07:54.628 and she also noted that it was a bit too heavy and sported red clay and ridges that weren't 07:54.628 --> 07:59.688 characteristic of genuine Tycho pieces. She noted that real Tycho vessels were typically cast and 07:59.688 --> 08:04.088 not thrown on a pottery wheel, a more hands-on technique that may explain the unusual ridges 08:04.268 --> 08:09.628 Perrault estimated it was made recently and was worth about $200. The buyer had paid over $1,400 08:10.428 --> 08:14.948 Beetlemania is a regular presence on Antiques Roadshow, so it was no surprise when two sisters 08:14.948 --> 08:19.428 appeared with their collection of Beatles photos and papers on a 2021 episode of the British Antiques 08:19.428 --> 08:23.648 Roadshow, but unfortunately, one signed picture of the Fab Four proved troublesome 08:23.648 --> 08:27.488 Expert John Foster noted that an odd stiffness to the signatures didn't make sense 08:27.488 --> 08:31.088 The young superstars had signed their names countless times at that point in their careers 08:31.088 --> 08:34.628 The signatures were more likely made by one of the band's employees, who were known to 08:34.628 --> 08:38.448 sign memorabilia in an attempt to ease the overwhelming demands set by fans 08:38.448 --> 08:42.128 Compared to more fluid signatures that were confirmed to come from the band members, the 08:42.128 --> 08:47.808 difference between those and the fake was all the more obvious. Thankfully, the fake signatures weren't the only thing they brought 08:47.808 --> 08:51.848 Her father, a stuntman, had left them an impressive collection of Beatles and Vimera that still 08:51.848 --> 08:57.648 held some welcome surprises. The back of a call sheet from the 1965 film Help contained what appeared to be genuine 08:57.648 --> 09:04.628 signatures of all four band members. With this discovery, Foster appraised the whole collection at a very respectable 5,000 pounds 09:04.628 --> 09:08.248 If appraiser Andy McConnell had been holding a real Islamic glass cup, it would have been 09:08.248 --> 09:15.528 one of the most exciting finds in the history of Antiques Roadshow. Islamic glassmakers rightfully earned high praise for their work, creating finely wrought 09:15.528 --> 09:19.628 colorful glass pieces beginning around the 7th century in Egypt and nearby parts of Asia 09:19.808 --> 09:23.508 With its carved text and figures, the vessel certainly looked worn enough to have been around 09:23.508 --> 09:27.788 for 1,000 years. Unfortunately, McConnell said that the engraved marks were made with acid 09:27.788 --> 09:32.628 a much more modern glassmaking technique. If the shape of a fish and Arabic text had really been 09:32.628 --> 09:36.908 ground into the glass centuries ago, artisans would have left behind tool marks. McConnell 09:36.908 --> 09:41.928 generously gave the piece a value of 800 quid, which was the price the guest actually paid for it 09:41.928 --> 09:50.168 perhaps mitigating some of his obvious disappointment at having to tell the guest in front of a crowd that it was far from genuine. He also left the door open for mistakes 09:50.168 --> 09:53.848 saying the man should consult with experts at the British Museum just in case 09:53.848 --> 10:01.368 And if I'm wrong, come back and kick me. Please! You don't have to be a professional antiques appraiser to know that Tiffany Glass is big 10:01.368 --> 10:09.688 business. American designer Louis Comfort Tiffany built his artistic reputation on intricate glassworks, establishing a studio full of fellow creatives that made Tiffany 10:09.688 --> 10:15.988 a legendary name in the world of design. So when a guest brought a signature opalescent glass vase and paperweight to Antiques Roadshow 10:15.988 --> 10:20.548 in Richmond, Virginia, it wasn't unreasonable to think that she had something truly special 10:20.548 --> 10:36.972 But appraiser Barbara Deesroth quickly moved to deflate any unrealistic hopes They trying to be glass by Lewis Comfort Tiffany made at the turn of the century In fact they not Though the pieces were signed the signatures appeared to be fake and were deemed too clunky 10:36.972 --> 10:43.192 by Diesroth to be genuine. The paperweight, which Tiffany never made in the style seen on the show, was worth $30 10:43.192 --> 10:49.732 The vase was about $200 in value. By the 19th century, the French Sivre Porcelain Factory had established itself as a major 10:49.732 --> 10:54.192 manufacturer of trendy porcelain pieces that landed in well-heeled homes across the continent 10:54.532 --> 10:58.932 and they remain a popular porcelain manufacturer to this day. Collectors are especially interested 10:58.932 --> 11:04.032 in antique examples from this company, like its elaborate service sets. So it's no surprise that 11:04.032 --> 11:08.892 so many factories applied fake civ remarks to inferior pieces. The guest on a Season 7 episode 11:08.892 --> 11:13.552 of Antiques Roadshow filmed in Kansas City presented just such a box, as well as an urn 11:13.552 --> 11:17.552 that was purportedly made at the Ludwigsberg Porcelain Factory, another producer of fine 11:17.552 --> 11:22.192 pottery based in Germany during the 1700s. But when appraiser David Lackey took a look at both 11:22.192 --> 11:26.652 pieces, he found some serious issues. Though both pieces were pictured and described in an auction 11:26.652 --> 11:31.372 catalog and were very finely painted, they weren't genuine, according to Lackey. The manufacturer's 11:31.372 --> 11:35.352 marks were the main tell, as they just weren't right. Even with the fake marks, the guest was 11:35.352 --> 11:41.872 told he could get anywhere from $2,500 to $3,750 for the set. The guest who presented a presumed 11:41.872 --> 11:46.972 Chalkway dance mask on a 2018 episode came into possession of the piece after a series of trades 11:46.972 --> 11:52.372 back and forth amongst aficionados of African art. A friend of mine from Fairview Heights bought it 11:52.372 --> 11:58.572 He paid like $3,900 for it." The Chakwe people are well known for the mastery of many different art forms, including wood 11:58.572 --> 12:04.112 mask cartons. Traditionally, masks used in rituals and dances are made with distinct forms that often include 12:04.112 --> 12:08.572 markings engraved on the mask's cheeks and forehead, and fiber elements such as raffia 12:08.572 --> 12:12.672 But back on Antiques Roadshow, appraiser John Buxton found some serious issues 12:12.672 --> 12:20.292 When Buxton turned the mask around, he found that the holes where the raffia might have been affixed were oddly free of wear, which was unusual for a mask that should have been used 12:20.292 --> 12:24.912 during an energetic dance. The interior of the mask also didn't have the marks one would expect 12:24.912 --> 12:29.372 from something that came into contact with a sweaty human face. Buxton ultimately concluded 12:29.372 --> 12:33.292 that it was an intentional fake, making it worth just $200 to $300 12:33.852 --> 12:39.032 So this is really made to fool you. Compared to the six figures that a real Chalkway mask could get on the art market 12:39.252 --> 12:45.792 it was likely a genuine disappointment to the guest. Pottery from ancient China can easily become the centerpiece of someone's collection 12:45.872 --> 12:50.512 But the vases presented on a 2001 episode of Antiques Roadshow filmed in Miami weren't 12:50.512 --> 12:54.272 what they appeared to be. Appraiser James Callahan said that at least one of the vases 12:54.272 --> 13:00.032 had the look of a Tong Dynasty vessel. Spanning 618 to 907 AD, the Tong Dynasty saw ceramic 13:00.032 --> 13:04.992 artists innovate the use of glazes, bringing new colors to China's pottery. Over on Antiques Roadshow 13:04.992 --> 13:09.792 however, the vessels were pretty suspect. The buyer revealed that she bought them at a market in China 13:09.792 --> 13:18.032 He did tell us that they had just recently been excavated. Well, in actuality, they weren't. They were brand new 13:18.032 --> 13:22.432 Callahan took a small tool and gently scraped the top of one piece, leaving behind a mark 13:22.432 --> 13:26.272 If the vase in question were made of hard jade, that scratch would never have been made 13:26.272 --> 13:30.032 meaning the vessel was likely made out of a softer soapstone or similar rock 13:30.032 --> 13:34.272 The piece also included components made from aluminum, a material that wasn't put into common 13:34.272 --> 13:39.232 usage until well into the 19th century. The other, smaller vase was at least made out of ceramic 13:39.232 --> 13:43.232 Though the tong-style metal piece that had been applied to it was not gold, but a cheaper 13:43.232 --> 13:47.312 anodized metal. While she didn't specify how much she and her husband had paid for the pieces 13:47.312 --> 13:53.232 hopefully it wasn't much. Callahan gave them a value of just $10 to $20 each