Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: azelismia on May 26, 2008, 02:47:47 AM
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Has Legras been reproduced? If so what are the hallmarks of it? are there any pages that talk about it?
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well I just found one at least. I've never seen a reproduction legras that I was aware of. I'd love to see more examples.
http://www.dsml.org/products/italian-bright-poppies-vase-italy
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That one is not a reproduction but an original by another Legras.
Best pointers for the fake cameo, including LeGras can be found in Fakes & Reproductions, Chervenka 2001, isbn 0873492366 although he only covers those made since the late 90's. I don't think there was much, if any, Legras faked earlier. If there was it probably remains undetected. There was a lot of Gallé faked in Japan in the 70s-80s but that is all traded as genuine now. The more modern fakes are more easily recognised using the above book.
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"There was a lot of Gallé faked in Japan in the 70s-80s but that is all traded as genuine now."
!!! I never would have guessed Japan was into the repro industry, it seems to all get blamed on China or Romania. Are the Japanese Galle fakes so hard to tell from the originals, or is it just ignorance that they exist?
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I've handled a lot of Cameo glass over the years -so I'm moderately comfortable around what is and is not fake -But you always have to be ready for whaever is coming next.....
At the moment I'd say the following.
The Standard reproduction Galle Cameo is pretty easy to spot -once you've handled enough and provided you stick to less outlandish pieces. As for the Japanese 70-80 pieces I've seen a lot that are very spottable-but I suppose there could be others getting missed. As with many fakes the best Japanese fakes I've seen were very big ticket items (£10,000+) -so safe for most pockets
Good Reproduction Daum Cameo is a little harder to spot -that can be scary -traditional shapes, colours and patterns are safe, but Daum were so diverse -its possible to get caught out if you are too bold!
Schneider Cameo fakes are better quality than the Galle, but still quite detectable -I still see these being passed off as correct.
Not seen much in the way of faked Legras. -not going to be big enough money -if they've gone that far they can just put a better name on it!
Much harder to detect is 'renaming' as I call it -ie someone takes an original Delatte cameo vase say worth £400 removes the Delatte cameo signature and adds a Galle signature. It's now apparantly 'original Galle' worth £1500. Even these are spottable with little practice -Cameo ones are easiest, but I've seen some so called first period (1890s) Enamelled Galle pieces priced at £10,000+ which I'm pretty sure were really £1,000 Baccarat pieces -but correctly dated.
Simple rule is: only buy if you are 100% sure or you can 100% trust the seller.
On a lighter note. I once bought a nice signed Legras, took it home, washed it, and to my horror the added signature came off. Distraught I gave it a second more careful wash -to see what I'd really bought- and revealed another correct Legras signature elswhere on the piece! phew!
cheers
Mike