Topic: Got a bad feeling about this, real or fake Paul Ysart?

[Nick77]

Hi Nick,

I am happy to forward you a copy of the message (sent on 02/06/2012 at 19.25) if you give me your email address.

Good luck with the negotiations.

SophieB

Hi Sophie

It seems I cannot send you a PM or email you can you perhaps use my email link to forward your email to me?

Thanks
Nick

[pooleandpaperweights]

Fake weights like this tend to do about £120 to £150 on ebay, when properly attributed.  I to saw the dropped cane in the pictures and decided not to bid.....

What did you pay for it at the auction?

More importantly, if you like it, and the fakes are great quality, then negotiate if you overpaid and keep it!

As for the maker of the fakes, there is a known story but for legal reasons you won't find anyone saying what it is and who made them on a public board like this!  I was once told the full story by a dealer at a fair, and it sounded pretty likely but completely without proof......

[chopin-liszt]

I know. 
But are the fake weights ever properly attributed - or simply attributed as a "genuine fake"?

[Nick77]

Well the good news is that after some discussion the auction house has agreed that on its return they will refund me in full. It's on its way back now.

[tropdevin]

***

Hi Nick

Good for them and good for you!

Alan

[daveweight]

Hi Nick,
There were two batches of paperweights made with fake PY canes. The first batch with the dropped Y appeared in 1988 and the second batch with the letters spaced apart came out in 1992.   As Kev H will confirm fluorescing has confirmed they are not made from the same glass as genuine PY weights.
With regard to the maker, whovever it was was certainly a skilled lampworker/glassmaker and the sad thing is many dealers were conned as they bought these weights believing them to be genuine PY weights.  I actually met one dealer the day after they bought a batch of 13 of these fakes and paid top price for them
Hope this helps clarify things
Dave 

[SophieB]

Hi Nick,

This is good news indeed.

SophieB

[RAINBOWGIRL]

I don't suppose there is a way of surgically extracting it to leave you with simply a very well executed weight, not pretending to be something else......
So; does anybody know who the highly skilled lampworker was? 

Well, the faker knows. By the way, did you sense the great maw of silence that greeted your question? This discussion has been on-going for years. Quality paperweights such as these fake Paul Ysart efforts don't get made in a vacuum. The maker had assistance. The problem is in actually naming the perpetrator. A false accusation might get you sued depending on how the revelation is written.

There's no doubt that everyone who is an expert on paperweights, especially paperweights from Scotland, has mentioned the name of the fake Ysart maker in private. There are only a handful of paperweight makers who could have made these weights. The name is certainly well-known to you and to all of us. The maker has talent and probably needed a quick bob during a fallow period in his life. Perhaps he needed money to maintain his studio. Did he commit a crime? Yes he did. Fraud is a crime.

The issue is discussed in the book Masterworks: The Paperweights Of Paul Ysart by Colin Mahoney. Ysart himself said that the fakes were not his work. It would be interesting to know who he suspected of being the culprit.

The person who made the paperweights is from Scotland and has been active in the glass paperweight field for decades. That's all we're ever allowed to say. But you can do the math as well as anyone else.

[chopin-liszt]

I was teasing a bit - I'm well aware who he is!

[Nick77]

Pleased to say that the refund receipt to my card from the auction house arrived in the post today, all monies refunded including my return postage to them.

On the subjsect of the maker I am not aware who it is but I have my suspicions, it certainly wasn't knocked out in China.