Fakes and Forgeries Seminars on Antique Silver: NYC and Williamsburg, VA A unique insight into the faking and forgering of antique silver and gold; aimed specially for collectors, silver specialists, auctioneers, independent dealers, insurance valuers; Goldsmiths' Company
News-Antique.com - Sep 18,2007 - “FAKES AND FORGERIES”
SILVER SEMINARS
HOSTED BY ASSAY OFFICE LONDON AND THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF GOLDSMITHS TO TAKE PLACE IN
NEW YORK NY, RICHMOND VA AND WILLIAMSBURG VA, USA
SINCE ITS FORMATION by Royal Charter in 1327, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths has played an integral part in the regulation of the silver trade. Today, The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office London continues to be the world’s authoritative body for authenticating antique silver and, in addition, plays an important support and educational role.
Under this remit Assay Office London has, for more than a decade, organised seminars on detecting fakes and forgeries in antique silver. For the first time, Assay Office London is presenting its educational programmes in the United States. Two full-day seminars will be offered in the USA this autumn. The first will be offered in association with the Bard Graduate Center and Christie’s in New York City on October 23 2007. The second will be held on October 25 2007 in association with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg VA. Dr Robert Organ, Deputy Warden of The Goldsmiths’ Company and Head of Assay Office London, said: “To take the Fakes and Forgeries seminar on the road is one of Assay Office London’s new initiatives. By better informing both international collectors of silver and also the wider trade in the regulation of antique silver and ancient hallmarks, we hope to increase interest and trust in this specialised market. America has many important collections of English silver and we want to encourage this valuable collecting tradition.”
The seminars are specifically for silver specialists, auctioneers, independent dealers and insurance valuers, as well as private collectors and are designed to provide them with an invaluable opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the identification of fake and forged antique silver.
The full-day seminars comprise a morning session which explores the English Hallmarking system, the regulatory role of The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and Assay Office London and the use of scientific methods in the authentication of antique plate. In addition, lectures with perspectives on detecting fakes in the field of antique silver and jewellery will be delivered by Timothy Schroder, former Head of Christie’s Silver Department, and Charles Truman, general editor of ‘Sotheby’s Concise Encyclopaedia of Silver’.
In the afternoon, a “hands-on” session, led by silver specialists, offers participants the opportunity to examine articles from the infamous Assay Office London’s Rogues’ Museum of Fakes, the largest known collection of fake English silver. Among the fakes to be examined are common examples such as spoons converted into forks, transposed marks and articles made from base metal. In addition, pieces that continue to perplex experts will be discussed to ensure that all levels of expertise benefit from this unique exercise. Questions such as how to identify an illegal cast duplicate of an authentic original, how an expert decides on an object’s authenticity and legality will all be addressed during the seminar.
Included in the seminar programme is an evening lecture by Alastair Dickenson of the
