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I was browsing through eBay France this morning and spotted a re-strike of the Barbedienne bronze I bought last week. I thought it might be nice to make some comparisons between the real item and the modern re-strike. Sometimes it is difficult to determine if you are dealing with an original from the appropriate time period of the original casting and a quality modern recast. There are some specifics you should be aware of and the only way to acquaint yourself with the specifics of the original is research. It only takes one costly mistake to ruin your day when you have shelled out a respectable amount of your paycheck for a fake or posthumous re-strike. It is wise to take some time to learn the trade and know that, especially in bronzes, opportunists will go to extreme lengths to separate you from your hard earned cash with fakes and re-strikes.
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When I see a listing on eBay with certain key words designed to get your attention by a seller who obviously has no real clue what they are doing outside their "trade" (antiquing and not dealing in original art works) (i.e. "rare"...this is a favorite word used by antiques dealers who know just enough to be dangerous). I usually just skip that seller and look elsewhere. You will find yourself dealing with someone with whom dollar signs are the bottom line first and foremost. The first thing I look for is the photograph, and then the listing title, and then the accompanying price. That first impression will always tell you plenty about the value of that listing. Only then do you proceed to the description. You must teach yourself how to recognize the hand of quality craftsmanship. My sister and I once ventured into a shop and we both were astonished at the asking price on items we knew full well could be had for much less elsewhere. Another customer overheard our conversation and laughed. His comment pretty much summed it up precisely: "
This guy loves his antiques so much he wants to keep them." What a keen observation. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at an item, then at the asking price, and exclaimed to myself: "
Yeah, right. In your dreams, Jack!" It all boils down to what the market will bear as far as price/value is concerned. If the seller is not in tune with the true market and the true market value of the drawing or painting or bronze, then his price will reflect his ignorance in both directions, up and down. I don't always think I can extract a bargain from a seller but I am keenly aware of what that object is worth to me and what price I think the market will bear, and coincidentally, what I might be able to sell it for if and when I get ready to let it go. I have made some killings on occasion and just barely recovered my investment in others. On other occasions in re-selling, I have lost my shirt. Every collector must be aware of the possibility of getting snookered but your best defense is
education, pure and simple.
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Taking At Closer Look At Bronzes:
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As a result of the huge demand, bronze "editions" experienced at boom during the second half of the 19th century. A sculptor would sell a certain number of models along with reproduction rights to an editor. In the beginning of the boom the editor would have the castings made by a foundry but some smart cookie soon discovered that he could eliminate the middle man and just offer the castings directly to the public from the foundry. Ferdinand Barbedienne was one of those entrepreneurs who signed one of the first contracts for reproduction directly from the artist. Today we are trained to look for the artist's signature and that sometimes determines value but when this all started it was the subject matter itself that was important. Catalogues actually listed works by subject matter and not by authorship. The importance of the sculptors name was minimal.
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What Criteria Is Used to Determine the Value of a Bronze?------------------------------------
A bronze must primarily be judged first and foremost by its plastic (giving form or shape to a substance) art qualities and second on the quality of manufacture. The "eye must speak" to you and the "eye" (your eye as a collector) must be trained to speak the language of what kind of artworks you have decided to collect. A bronze in any collection is not evaluated by its function in its environment, but for itself, as a stand alone object. In most cases, not always, especially on an online listing, you can hold it, turn it over, feel the texture of it, weigh it, and examine it from all sides. Doing this, even in photographs posted on a listing, there are certain essential elements of "quality" and "craftsmanship" which give the object its value, as much as an aesthetic object, and as a commercial investment. Let's take a look at what exactly those qualities are that you should be looking for.
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Chiseling:------------------------------------
Chiseling is precise, forceful, but without curtness. It depends upon the style of subject in which the details are either rendered with great precision or are obliterated by the shaping of the object. On first sight, you should ask yourself:
"How are the details of the bronze rendered?" Take a look at the two works below. Ignore the dust on the original (bronze on the right) and compare the chiseling and the quality of the casting. The bronze on the left is a modern re-cast. Look closely at the musculature of both figures. The original is crisp and the musculature is smooth and finely done (ignore any dust and slight corrosion at the seams). The musculature on the re-cast is crude in places and you can see little defects. The overall texture of the re-cast is noticeably rougher in places. The surface on the original is well cast and refined, free from the pitting you can see on the re-cast.
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Patina:-------------------------------------
Original patina is very important for real collecting connoisseurs. From the inception of a bronze casting, the patina undergoes the continued test of time. Fine, translucent, revealing the quality of the alloy beneath, the patina continues to live and give "life" to the bronze itself. It will always have many and subtle nuances. Tonalities varied widely in the 19th century, to include black, brown, or green patinas, metallic patina, and very valuable gold gilded or silvered patinas which are rather rare and greatly sought after by collectors. Looking at the re-strike and the original below, it doesn't take a genius to see the difference in the quality of the patina. The patina on the original is still alive and filled with nuance, especially in the musculature of the subject's back. The re-strike is pretty much uniform in color and lacks the nuance of the patina on the original work.
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Casting: ----------------------------------------
The quality of the casting always implies the skill on the part of the casters and the foundry. Quality of the casting is simply a sign of the overall quality. Pay attention to the chiseling and of the bearing of the overall work. In the re-strike above, the Barbedienne medallion on the top surface of the lower right hand quadrant is missing. The re-strike also lacks the incised foundry number of the original (lower right hand corner of the back edge). The re-strike includes the Barbedienne signature of the original but is missing the other attributes of the Barbedienne foundry.
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Other Materials:----------------------------------------
Certain sculptors incorporated marble, ivory, quartz, and in some cases, semi-precious stones with their bronze works. Usually these works command a higher price.
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Signature of the Sculptor:---------------------------------------
In judging value you should pay more attention to the overall condition of the piece and not grant an excessive importance to the signature. Most collectors are buying a beautiful bronze and not a signature. Before 1820, signatures of sculptors rarely appeared on bronzes; only the founders' seal appeared. Signatures of the artist became general practice after 1850.
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Name of the Founder:---------------------------------------
The foundry mark appears as a seal, or again, as a signature traced like that of the sculptor. (see the above illustrations, the original contains both, the signature and the foundery medalion). Foundry marks can precisely trace the date of the casting if one knows the succession of founders to whom certain artists awarded the castings. Please note: state of preservation, accidents, overly-pronounced wear and tear on the surface of the patina, repairs, missing parts, and additions which do to conform to the original model will obviously depreciate the value of a bronze to some extent. These are but a few features that the collector must be aware, but will be a starting point for the beginning collector who wants to start a collection of quality bronzes.
