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Fake Tiffany marks?

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Author	Topic: Fake Tiffany marks?
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 03-25-2003 08:23 PM I recently ran across a seller who had listed several pieces of "Tiffany" silver. Almost all are nice or very nice old pieces (except for one of the ladles), and bear "Tiffany & Co Sterling" marks with serifs, which makes the marks look old. However, none of the pieces is in a pattern I've ever seen before by Tiffany, and in some cases, I've seen the pattern marked by other makers. There are no other marks other than the aforementioned ones. Is somebody just marking old silver with Tiffany marks? Or were these pieces retailed by Tiffany? If the latter, why wouldn't the makers' marks be present (as is the case with Tiffany-retailed Shiebler and Gorham pieces, for instance)? And some of these pieces seem unlikely candidates for Tiffany retail. There are several images, so I'll have to break it down into a couple posts. ---------- This first is in a pattern I'm sure I've seen marked by Whiting or Towle. ---------- Next is a ladle I didn't find very appealing--at least it doesn't look as finely made as other Tiffany flatware. The Tiffany marks weren't pictured by the seller, but presumably they're the same. ---------- Next is a pickle motif pickle fork. The engraving at the base of the handle seems particularly uncharacteristic of Tiffany (I've seen that same engraving on lower end spoons and such from the time). Again no marks pictured. IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 03-25-2003 08:24 PM This is another ladle, with a naturalistic branch style handle. ---------- A bust style ladle. It looks like something Gorham could have made and Tiffany retailed, but no Gorham marks are present. IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 03-25-2003 08:26 PM Finally, another ladle. This is a design that was made by Frank Smith-- as it happens, a signed Smith version just ended on eBay, so I have pictures of both the "Tiffany" one and the Smith one. And the Smith version... IP: Logged
Brent Posts: 1507 Registered: May 99	posted 03-25-2003 10:08 PM Looks like someone has a fake Tiffany stamp and is putting it on all sorts of pieces. Some of the pieces are probably genuine, and he is buffing out the original marks and adding his own. The first two ladles look like modern productions through and through, though. Oh well, another damn set of fakes to watch out for! I wonder if it is the same guy who was selling the Southern mote spoons? Brent IP: Logged
William Hood Posts: 271 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 03-26-2003 09:15 AM I agree that these "Tiffany & Co." pieces have "doctored" or fake markings. Tiffany did not make these patterns. If Tiffany retailed them, they in all probability would have had the maker's name in addition to the Tiffany stamp. On the Frank Smith ladle marked for Tiffany, the area of the handle where "STERLING" now appears looks scooped out, as if a silversmith had removed the old Frank Smith trademark/STERLING marks and replaced them with STERLING alone. IP: Logged
Kimo Posts: 1627 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 03-26-2003 04:26 PM On Tiffany glass these days the mark is always the very last thing you look at to determine whether it is Tiffany and even then you don't put any trust in it. Most glass you find these days with Tiffany marks are either modern forgeries or period pieces by other makers (often old Bohemian pieces) with fake markings. The only way to determine whether a glass item is really Tiffany is to have seen and handled many authentic pieces and know the patterns. It looks like Tiffany silver is heading into this sad territory as well. That's what big premiums will do. IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 03-26-2003 05:34 PM It is sad. It looks to me as though an unscrupulous dealer acquired somebody's collection and set about doctoring the silver. Clearly he didn't know much about silver, as none of the patterns is a Tiffany design, and some pieces were quite handsome and valuable enough in their own right (such as the bust ladle and the applied grape ladle), while others are inferior and would never fool a Tiffany collector. I wonder where the faker got the Tiffany stamps, by the lettering they seem to be old ones. IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 03-26-2003 05:51 PM The punches wouldn't be that difficult to duplicate -- the type face is probably available or could be run up on the computer in about an hour given a halfway descent scan. With that and a capable photo-engraver, Bob's your uncle. It would not (perhaps!) fool an expert, but as you say, that does not seem to be the market aimed at. IP: Logged

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