In most cases the art forger6 is provided with an indispensable accessory in the person of a co-worker who helps to dispose of the artist’s questionable7 product advantageously. This may be done by one agent or by many, according to circumstances, but the spirit of the mission is always the same, to steep faking, namely, in another kind of fakery, no less illusive8 and delusive9, the deception10 that serves to misguide judgment11 through false information about some particular object of art, or to create a misleading suggestion around the work of art offered for sale. The trick might be termed “producing a faked atmosphere,” in plain words the creation of a false atmosphere of genuineness is an additional fakery to the success of a faked object of art or curio, and it is a most multiform species of imposture12 and a very dangerous adjunct to the already deceptive13 trade. So multifarious is the deception practised that an attempt to classify it in its diversity would probably fail to illustrate14 in full the metamorphoses of this supplement to the art of faking.
As this support to faking is chiefly concerned with the sale of objects of art, our investigation15 can be broadly divided208 according to the kind of sale, private or public, the latter generally taking the form of an auction.
In private sales the limit is not so much set by the seller’s conscience as his inventive powers, and his more or less fertile imagination. His method relies mainly on the power of suggestion brought about by false information or, as we have said, by the silent misleading glamour16 of a pseudo-environment. The former works principally with the decoy of invented documents calculated to lend certain objects an appearance of historical worth, or wrongly to magnify their artistic17 importance. It is not always the documents that are fitted to the faked art, sometimes the case is reversed and the artist creates work to fit a genuine document. The same is done with signatures, more especially in painting and sculpture.
There are all kinds of specialists in the world of faking who can imitate artists’ signatures, marks and so forth18, but, alas19, it is not said that to a genuine signature our versatile20 and imaginative artist cannot supply a genial21 piece of fraud the only genuine part of which is represented by the signature. This is often performed by painting over works that have been defaced, either partially22 or completely, and yet by some chance still bear the artist’s signature in one corner—generally the least abused spot of a painting whether on canvas or panel. The same trick is carried out with equal facility in sculpture. To illustrate what at first sight would seem more complex than fitting a painting to a signature, it is sufficient to recall the false Clodion group, sold in perfectly23 good faith by M. Maillet du Boullay to Mme. Boiss, also a dealer24, whose experience, like that of many others, had a noisy sequel in Court.
M. Maillet du Boullay had bought the clay group some years previously25. The subject, a satyr with a nymph, was of the kind that the French call un peu leste. For five years Mme. Boiss found no buyer. It was after this long period of actual possession that she discovered the clay statuette to be not by Clodion but in all probability the work of a noted209 faker of Clodions, Lebroc, and that a small bit bearing the signature and date, both by the hand of Clodion, had been cleverly inserted at the side of the group. The line of the join had been concealed27 by colour and patina28.
The purchase money, however, was not refunded29 as the Court accepted the theory advanced by M. Senard, acting30 for M. Boullay, that Mme. Boiss had after all enjoyed the possession of the group for five years and had perhaps put forward her claim because she had not been able to sell it on account of its objectionable character.
In the cases when the documents are the original ones and the work of art is not, the artist naturally creates his work in accordance with the indications given in the documents. The occurrence is not common, but it has nevertheless taken place. We have heard of a man ordering a portrait to be painted to fit a detailed31 description of one of his ancestors given in an old letter. The Florentine “Prioristi” and old diaries can well be used for the purposes of such suggestion. An old family chronicle recorded a marriage with some detail, sufficient at any rate to inspire an art counterfeiter32 to model a small bas-relief representing the scene. When the work was suitably coated with old patina, put into a sixteenth-century frame and an old worm-eaten board fastened to the back, the authentic4 document was carefully pasted on as proof of genuineness.
Possible combinations of this sort of scheme are endless and can be applied34 to almost every expression of curio-dealing.
What we have styled “faking the milieu,” in order to enhance the value of a genuine article or to give additional effect to a falsified one, trades upon the fact that a collector prefers to buy from a private house rather than a shop. This often appeals to him as convincing proof that the article is genuine, and it also appears to confer a higher value by comparison with the surroundings in a shop.
To humour this peculiar35 trait in the collector, environments have been faked as well as objects of art, and in the evil grand art we are illustrating36 they furnish to-day more210 often than not the proper dignity which aids highly profitable sales effected through private transaction.
When a work leaves the faker’s hands there are many ways in which to give birth to the false and illusive dignity designed to lend importance and an air of genuineness. One of the simplest methods is to provide the work with a respectable passport in the person of a patrician37, real or faked, according to opportunities. This decoy is prepared, of course, to swear that the object has been in his family for centuries. When the mansion38 is really old and the family of ancient lineage, success is practically assured. How a man of noble birth can lend his name to such deception can only be explained by a form of degeneracy which, unfortunately, is not extremely rare in our times. It is known to be practised with both genuine works and with forgeries39. In the former case it helps the command of an extravagant40 price, that would never be reached in a shop or through the hands of a dealer; in the latter, working through suggestion, it serves to dispel41 any lingering doubt from the buyer’s mind. When it appears difficult to bring off the deal, in the case of forgery42, the object is taken to the country by preference and placed in some old villa43 or mansion with the connivance44 of a genuine nobleman, who will receive a secret visit from the purchaser—all acts in the antiquarian world, it must be remembered, savour of mystery and secrecy—and play the dignified45 part of a member of a time-honoured family who collected works of art in years past. A sham46 nobleman may also give himself out as Count So-and-so and safely act the part for a day or even a few hours. It must be borne in mind that this course of working by suggestion is very dangerous to the purchaser; by its silent and convincing method art antiquaries of skill and veteran connoisseurs47 have been deceived.
Another application of this deceptive scheme, that relies on a favourable49 environment to help fraud, is the sending of counterfeit33 objects to remote country places supposed to be unexplored. This also is based upon a psychological peculiarity50 of some collectors, who still hope and believe that there211 are yet unsearched regions in the world of antiques, oases51 that have escaped the ever-vigilant52 eye of the trader. As a matter of fact if anything like neglected corners exist where one may hope for a “find,” they are in large cities, such as Paris or London, particularly the latter, where even Italian antiquaries go at times to hunt for what it would be hopeless to seek in their own country.
Be it understood, the above two ways of disposing in private of pretended genuine antiquities53 are likely to be combined. The nobleman who charitably houses the masterpiece that the amateur is after, completes the stage-like effect of the hatched environment, with sham documents, etc.
Among public sales it is, as we have said, the auction sale that offers the greatest possibilities to those who falsify an “atmosphere” to put the client on the wrong track so profitable to the faker. As may readily be seen, a false environment and any tampering54 with the elements that go to the formation of a right opinion as regards an objet d’art, invariably lead not only to the acquisition of the wrong thing but to the payment of an exorbitant55 price for its worthlessness.
Much that is amusing and that would bring home this point could be written on public sales. Enough to fill a bulky volume could be culled56 from what has taken place at the atrium auctionarium to the modern Hotel Drouot or the historical sale-room still extant and busy in London.
Cicero tells us that one of the first auctions57 to be held in Rome was the sale of property that Sulla had seized from proscribed58 Romans. He also tells us with his usual rhetorical emphasis that all Pompey’s property was put up to auction and disposed of to the highest bidder59 by “the præco’s lacerating voice.” This great sale included a large portion of Mithradates’ treasure, the catalogue of which cost thirty days’ work to the Roman officials who took the objects in charge. “At this sale,” adds Cicero with redoubled emphasis, “Rome forgot her state of slavery and freely broke into tears.” It may be, but Mark Antony, to be sure, took212 advantage of this supposed public emotion and had all the valuable lots knocked down to himself at ridiculously low figures. Some of them, it is said, were never paid for at all by this audacious triumvir.
Another famous auction sale in Rome was that of Juba, king of Numidia, who left his treasure to Rome in the time of Tiberius. Caligula was his own auctioneer, and in this way disposed of furniture in his imperial palace that he considered out of fashion. His example was followed by Marcus Aurelius who sold in the public square dedicated60 to Trajan the jewels and other precious objects forming part of Hadrian’s private effects. In order to pay his troops, Pertinax put up to public auction all Commodus’ property, a most confused medley61 of imperial effects, an omnium gatherum ranging from the deceased emperor’s gorgeous robes to the gladitorial array he used in the circus, and from his court jester to his slaves. Perhaps the most remarkable62 part of the sale was Commodus’ original and interesting collection of coaches, an odd assemblage that should have been capable of stirring even Julius Cæsar’s blasé mind, who, it is said used to attend sales in quest of emotion. They afforded him a certain stimulation63, for Suetonius speaks of him as rather a rash and unwise bidder. Caligula’s coaches were of all kinds and shapes, there were some for summer with complex contrivances to shelter from the sun and cool the air by means of ventilators, and some for winter devised in such a way as to give protection from cold winds. Others were fitted with a device that would now be called a speedometer, a contrivance for measuring the distance covered by the vehicle.
The mania64 for sales went so far with the Romans that at the death of Pertinax, the empire itself was put up to auction and knocked down to the highest bidder, Didius Julianus.
Although not so complex as the modern houses of public sale, the Roman atrium auctionarium was not simplicity65 itself. The original auction sales of the Romans consisted of the disposal of war spoils to the highest bidder, in the open air on the battlefield or in a square of some conquered city.213 In order to indicate the spot where the sale was to take place a lance was driven into the ground. The name of sub hasta was therefore given to these rudimentary auction sales, which is the etymology66 of the Italian word asta, still used for auctions. The tabulæ auctionariæ, giving daily notice of the number and description of objects offered for sale, were in some way the forerunners67 of the modern catalogue, just as the præco must be considered as the ancestor of the auctioneer or, maybe, the crieur. There were also amanuenses who wrote down prices and purchaser’s name as each lot was sold.
Martial68 tells of a curious incident at an auction in which a girl slave was offered for sale. When the bidding failed to elicit69 a higher offer, Gellianus, the celebrated70 auctioneer, ended his eulogy71 of the beauty of the human merchandize by giving the young slave a couple of kisses. “What happened?” says Martial in conclusion. “A buyer who had just made a bid of 600 sesterces on the girl, immediately withdrew his offer.” Times are changed. It is no longer a question of selling slaves in our modern atrium auctionarium, but the auction room itself has nevertheless remained about the same, a great place of interest, an assemblage of types such as old Tongilius, Licinius and Paullus who, revived and modernized72, gather in our sale-rooms, elbowing the crowds of bidders73, among whom are shrewd, clever buyers, true, impassioned collectors, cool and self-possessed customers.
The auction room is no less freakish than in olden times. There may be, in fact, reason in the refusal to bid for young slaves that the buyer considers defiled75 by the kisses of the auctioneer, even if he were a Gellianus, the man à la mode; but we can find none, for instance, in what happened some years ago at the celebrated Castellani sale in Rome. On account of Castellani’s high reputation among collectors and the fine things offered, this sale gathered to Rome a cosmopolitan76 crowd of connoisseurs. While a fine Cafaggiolo vase was under the hammer, the employé who was exhibiting it to the public dropped it and it broke to pieces. At the moment214 of the accident the object had just been sold to the last bidder, who naturally enough, immediately declared his offer cancelled, as he had made a bid on a sound vase and not a heap of debris77. The auctioneer then proposed to put the fragments of the vase up to auction and a fresh start was made. Strange to say the second bidding reached a higher figure than the vase had fetched when offered to the public intact and in all its faultless beauty. But for the consideration that the second sale may have tempted78 some who regretted that they had let slip the chance to bid on the fine Cafaggiolo, one would be inclined to deduce that in the world of curios an object acquires more worth the more it is damaged.
It is true that while a broken china vase is practically worthless, a piece of faience does not lose value by being broken and put together again, if it does not actually rise in value, as in the case of the Castellani Cafaggiolo.
Though to an outsider, the auction room may doubtlessly appear very simple in mechanism80, it is rather a complex affair; its atmosphere has engendered81 any amount of side speculation82. This is the more marked in such sale-rooms as have, by reason of the importance of the sales held in them, in a way fertilized83, as it were, every kind of speculation. Rochefort, whose passion for bric-à-brac took him to the Hotel Drouot almost daily, has a good deal to say on this subject. In his amusing book on auction sales in the celebrated Parisian sale-room—a book, by the way, which is now almost out of print—the witty84 Frenchman deals at length with the odd characters and silent speculations85 that have, all unnoticed and unmolested, grafted86 themselves upon the popular institution of the Rue74 Drouot and other auction sale rooms.
As for the types of frequenters, they are of all kinds and the most nondescript character. First comes the collector in all his most interesting and amusing personifications. Rochefort divides the amateurs hanging about auction rooms into three distinct classes, which he subdivides87 into genres88 and sous-genres, to use the writer’s own terms.
215 According to Rochefort’s classification, the first class consists, broadly speaking, of persons who pay more for an object than it is worth; the second is composed of collectors who generally buy a thing for what it is worth; the third and last comprises those who pay less for a thing than it is worth. Rochefort aptly observes that the three divisions resemble the classes of a school, the students passing from the lowest to each of the more advanced classes.
The collectors of the first group, all freshmen89 without exception, are separated by Rochefort into sincere art lovers and mere90 poseurs91. Speaking of the sincerity93 of collectors and premising that sincerity does not always imply an intelligent knowledge of art, Rochefort wittily94 remarks: “There are people who with the greatest self-confidence buy a daub for a Titian.”
“Suffice it to say,” adds the writer, “that at the sale of M. Patureau’s collection, a Virgin95 of the Flemish school, possibly a Eckhout or Govært Flinck, was sold for a Murillo at the price of 45,500 francs.” In this foolish acquisition insincerity is out of the question, poseurs, snobs96 and the like rarely carry their foppishly garbed97 insincerity to the length of paying such high prices for mere parade.
In reference to real connoisseurs, to quote Rochefort again, who was certainly most well informed on the subject, he says that they are so rare that it is scarcely worth while to speak of them.
The most genuine living exponent98 of the species is already a fake among faking: becoming, namely, the owner of expensive curios not for art’s sake but chiefly in order to be able to ask his friends: “By the way, have you seen my collection?” or “the last masterpiece I have bought,” etc.
The poseur92, however, in his flippant and manifold attitudes, may be certain that schemes of deception are multiform and always a match for any incarnation of this type. He is the prey99, and there are all kinds of snares100 waiting for him, just as there are many ways of catching101 birds.
A collector who does not belong to the general class of216 collectors is the private dealer, who all too often joins forces with the “black band” of the sale-rooms.
Among the buyers at the Hotel Drouot, there are to be found, says Rochefort, all manner of originals. Take for instance the maquilleur, who is a regular godsend to restorers of paintings. The maquilleur is a purchaser of paintings who can never bring himself to leave a canvas in the state he bought it. If it is the portrait of an old woman, he is sure to take the work to a restorer to see if the wrinkles can possibly be smoothed out, if it is a landscape he invariably has changes to suggest. When the canvas has been duly maquillé he often takes it back to the auction room to try his chances with some novice102. By the side of this character is the “cleaner,” the man who insists upon cleaning every painting that falls into his hands. On coming into his possession the work may be as bright and fresh as the varnish103 of a newly painted motor-car, it makes no difference, he will clean it all the same.
“Cleaning spells death to pictures, just as spinach104 spells death to butter,” wisely says the French writer in conclusion, laying down a humorous aphorism105 implying that to clean paintings practically means to ruin them.
The very antithesis106 of the cleaner is the defiler107 of pictures. Diametrically opposed to the former, who worships soap, dye and other cleansing108 materials, he no sooner becomes the owner of a painting than he proceeds, as he says, to confer the proper age upon the work, by a coat of dirt, the would-be patina of age, which he ennobles and honours with various names: harmonizing, toning, etc.
Curious as it may sound, from among all the queer legion of auction room questionables, this member is less dangerous to art than many others, especially his pendant, the cleaner. This is readily understood when one considers that a skilled hand may remove any artificial patina, which is frequently separated from the pigment109 of the painting by a hard layer of old varnish, without any serious damage to the work of art, while the cleaning of an old painting proves more or less217 ruinous to its artistic qualities. In fact, the use of strong chemical means either to remove aged79 dirt or centennial varnish brings away some of the colour as well. The damage done by cleaning with spirits, or other strong methods, is exceedingly great to some of the Dutch paintings, finished to a great extent by veiling with delicate layers of transparent110 pigment diluted111 in varnish. Venetian works, the colours of which do not always withstand the dissolvent properties of reagents, suffer irreparably from cleaning.
According to the author of Les Petits Mystères de l’Hôtel des Ventes it is by no means impossible that the manipulations of these two art fiends may bring it about that a work be bought and cleaned by the cleaner, then put on sale again and bought by a defiler, to reappear at the auction room covered with fresh but soiled and old-looking patina.
These two characters, like the maquilleur, are chiefly hobbyists and rarely associate. There are other oddities, such as restorers, providers of documents, simple intriguers and unscrupulous business men who club together. One of their common schemes is to create pseudo-collections, supposed to have belonged to some noted26 person. Such collections are often composed only a few days before the auction sale and labelled as the property of Conte X. or Baron112 D., or styled anonymously113, as having belonged to a “well-known collector,” or more often uncompromising initials designate the pseudo-owner of the works of art put up to auction.
The profits to be gained by commending one’s own goods and running down those in competition with them is accountable for other strange professions that flourish in the stuffy114 atmosphere of auction rooms. The competition between genuine collections belonging to genuine collectors and these faked ones impels115 the schemer to extol116 the importance of the latter, which has doubled and disciplined the activities of many strange helpers and queer professions.
One of the most important personages of this unnumbered company of frauds is the ereinteur. He is, as the French218 word indicates, a man whose part in the business is to hang about auction rooms, and run down works from which he has nothing to gain, or, impersonating the character of a disinterested117 outsider, to praise works the sale of which will bring him profit, whether directly or indirectly118. This defamer or praiser of works of art according to orders, puts himself in the way of possible clients, makes their acquaintance, and cleverly manages to influence their opinion as though incidentally. He may pass himself off as a simple art lover, a dealer, or any other suitable character. It must be added that the ereinteur is not always so venal119 as to sell his praises or defamation120, he is not always what might be called professional. There exist a number of people who slander121 merely for its own sake, urged either by jealousy122, evil disposition123 or a tendency to gossip.
At important auction sales this over-courteous personage is far more dangerous than the man who does his work systematically124 and as a profession, likely to be spotted125 by the public.
One of these art slanderers came very near inflicting126 a deadly blow to the successful sale of a Donatello bronze put up to auction in London at a well-known art sale-room. On the day the objects were on view, the work—which by the way belonged to an Italian antiquary who enjoys the reputation of being one of the best of connoisseurs—was much admired by English art lovers and possible buyers. A French art writer and connoisseur48 posed before the bronze and remarked that it was a clever fake, possibly an imitation of the eighteenth century. The comment passed from mouth to mouth, and as the French critic was known to understand the Italian Renaissance127, those present expressed doubts as to its authenticity. To counteract128 this unexpected check the antiquary hurriedly threw himself into a cab and visited the most serious frequenters of the auction room during the few hours preceding the sale and thus had time to convince them. A new atmosphere soon prevailed and the Donatello reached the record price of £6000. It was afterwards discovered219 that the French critic had had a quarrel with the Italian antiquary, hence the spiteful comment.
Some of these misrepresenters are not content with going about the sale-room in search of opportunities to injure by running down a work or praising rubbish to the disadvantage of good things. They pass judgment, favourable or the reverse, at the very moment a certain object is offered for sale, an act which, strictly129 speaking, is against the law—but the hidden practices of auction room intriguers are more or less baffling to protective laws, like all the worthy130 members of the “black band,” whose chief purpose in attending auction sales is to promote what is called the “knock-out.” This is a scheme of combined forces to hamper131 the natural course of bidding and to oblige the unwary to renounce132 competition or to pay an exaggerated price.
In its simplest and most schematic form the knock-out works as follows. A certain number of dealers133, go-betweens or other promiscuous134 plotters, band together in a secret society for the purpose of discouraging buyers not belonging to their set. Though secret because of the law, the society is in fact notorious among many of the regular frequenters of auction rooms as being both imperious and obnoxious135.
This is not only carried on in Paris but in other cities too, where auction sale parasites136 manage to evade137 regulations and escape the vigilant eye of the law.
By this system the way is opened to any member of the society to “cure” an outsider of ambition or hope to buy advantageously at a sale. If X., a new-comer, offers for some object its value, or even a trifle more, he will nevertheless lose the object or be forced to bid to a foolish figure, as one of the conspirators138 will bid against him and if he happens to be obstinate139 he will pay dearly, but if by mischance the object is left to his opponent after the fever of bidding has inflated140 the price, the society makes good the loss sustained by its member.
Dividing the money losses among the members of the society, considerably141 lessens142 the loss of the bidder who has220 run the price up to an extravagant figure, in order to “punish” some one they consider an invader143.
The division of “damages” is generally effected as follows: After the sale all the objects bought by the partners are put up to auction a second time among the members of the society. At this second sale the goods are likely to be disposed of at their real commercial value. If, as is sometimes the case, the total returns of this second sale are inferior to those of the auction room, the difference, paid to keep in force the rule of “punishing,” is jointly144 borne by the co-operators, and thus the cost of this “chastisement” game amounts to a small tax that each partner of the “black band” very willingly pays. The “black band,” as it is called in Paris, is so powerful that many not belonging to the society often consent to deal with the members. Sometimes they ask one of them to buy on their behalf. There may, of course, be a trifling145 commission to pay, a certain percentage, but in the end it comes considerably cheaper. Such transactions are naturally against the disposition of the laws on auction sales, and are invariably made without the consent or knowledge of the directors of the sale-room, and it must be understood that if discovered there may be repression146 and an unexpected and brusque recall to the strict observance of the law. Hence the fluctuating success of such societies, which, however, notwithstanding the trammels of regulations, appear to prosper147.
One way of faking reputations, as it might be called, by which an object is sold at a higher price than it would reach under ordinary conditions, is to list it in the catalogue of a forthcoming sale of some noted collection. The “faked reputation” here consists in the fact that the name and reputation of the collector who had formed the collection bestows148 lustre149 upon the object inserted in the sale. This illegal proceeding150, which well-known and reputable sale-rooms will not countenance151, has occasioned endless lawsuits152 with the usual uncertain results, as the illegitimacy of the object is not always easy to prove.
221 Another method of faking the reputation of a certain work of art is the following. Suppose a dealer possesses a very mediocre153 picture of little value and wishes to have documentary proof that the work has cost him a good price, instead of a low sum, he has only to send the painting to the auction room and ask his comrades to run the bidding up to a certain figure, then by buying in his own property and paying the percentage due to the auctioneer he withdraws the picture with the receipt, the document he desired. By this trick, when an opportunity presents itself to sell the work, he is able to produce what looks like a convincing proof of his honesty and square dealing. “You see, sir, I am going to be very candid154 and sincere with you. Here, let me show you what I myself paid for this painting,” he will say, and show the receipt of the public auction sale.
Not infrequently the responsibility of the attribution is left to the owner of the work of art, by which means objets d’art are often christened with names of a most fantastic paternity. This is easily done; take for instance a canvas that might or might not be righteously baptized “School of Leonardo.” The work is presented by the owner to be sold by auction and declared as a Leonardo da Vinci, and in the catalogue it will naturally be put down to Leonardo. When the owner goes to buy in his own canvas, he has, of course, no interest to run the price up to a fancy figure, his sole aim is to be able to show to some future buyer a catalogue with the attribution printed—and, curiously155 enough, printed attributions would appear to carry undisputed weight! It is nevertheless a bait only for greenhorns, with whom its effect rarely fails.
To prevent objects put up to auction from being knocked down at an unreasonably156 low figure it is an accepted system to place a reserve price upon them, to write down when consigning157 the goods, namely, a certain sum representing the lowest figure at which the object may be sold. The auctioneer keeps this price in pectore, on his private list, that is to say. When the article is put up for sale it is either222 offered straight away for the price quoted or the latter is led up to by by-bidding. If this proves to be impossible, the object is bought in and the owner has merely a slight percentage to pay on the last bid and can withdraw his property. Thus while an auction sale always presents hazards, the reserve price is a guarantee against the risks of flagging moments. The room may chance to be deserted158 of its best public through unforeseen circumstances, enthusiasm may suddenly cool unaccountably, and for these and other reasons a reserve price is therefore a legitimate159 defence.
Strange to say, even this honest and recognized safeguard has been turned to cunning abuse. The principle of the reserve price, at least, has brought into being that questionable personage nicknamed in English auction rooms Peter Funk, a most undesirable160 “faker of situations.”
The fact that the reserve price given to the auctioneer is often disclosed to interested collectors, and that it may be divulged161 by auction-room clerks and so become known, induced collectors with objets de virtu on sale to send friends or agents secretly, in order to run up the bidding to a certain figure. The name long since given to this complacent162, secret partner shamming163 the art buyer is Peter Funk.
“Funkism,” if one may be allowed to coin a neologism, certainly has its right to existence and originated in the legitimate desire to protect objects from falling at ridiculous prices in depressed164 moments of the sale, but it has now become a regular curse, especially at first-class auctions, where by reason of the great interests at stake, the system can be worked to its full magnitude and no expense spared. As an example—and one that to our knowledge worked greatly to the advantage of the seller and not at all to that of the buyer, from whom “funkism” robs all chance of the “fair play” which should be the dominant165 note in auctions—we may quote the sale of an Italian collection at Christie’s at which, certainly without the knowledge or even suspicion of the auctioneers, Peter Funk played havoc166 under every223 form and guise167. To make sure that the keen-eyed collectors should not discover the pseudo-collectors, the latter were all imported from the Continent and given strict injunctions to buy at the stated price, to bid without comment and to indulge in none but commonplaces in conversation with the public, the dealer employing them knowing how impossible it is for a non-collector or a feigned168 art lover to say three words about a work of art, without giving himself away. A good appearance, natural bidding without emphasis or theatrical169 pose, an occasional “yes” or “may-be” or “hem” when questioned, and a whole string of uncompromising banalities, these are the stock-in-trade of an improvised170 Peter Funk, who may not be so capable as the professional one but has the advantage of being less easily detected.
A clever Peter Funk knows the right moment to run up a price, judging from his competitor’s enthusiasm up to what sum he can safely bid before abandoning the game, and by counting on his opponent’s rashness and impulsiveness171 runs him up to bids which he afterwards regrets. Risky172 as it is, rarely does an object remain in the hands of Peter Funk, and if it does, the owner will supply him with the money and withdraw the article, paying the auctioneer’s dues, a comparatively modest percentage.
These combined forces in the auction room secretly working as a sequence of traps caused a well-known French collector to propose as an inscription173 to be put over the door of one of these dangerous dens174: “Ici il y a des pièges à loups.”
It is not meant by this that all auction rooms are infested175 by brigands176, who leave no chance for fair-play, and that all who ever enter them come out regretting the attempt to buy by a system that appeals to the public for its square dealing. Not at all, the best artistic investments are often made at public sales, but rarely, alas, by the inexperienced novice who has but a limited knowledge of art, and is besides wholly unfamiliar177 with the ways of auction rooms.
224 This double form of ignorance needs the warning that there are traps, so that coolness and wisdom may enter the brain of the enthusiastic beginner, two necessary items in gaining experience at a reasonable price.
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dealing
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auction
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authenticity
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transformations
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| n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换 | |
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6
forger
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| v.伪造；n.（钱、文件等的）伪造者 | |
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7
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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8
illusive
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| adj.迷惑人的，错觉的 | |
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9
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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10
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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11
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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12
imposture
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| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
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13
deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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14
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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15
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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16
glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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17
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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18
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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19
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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20
versatile
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| adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的 | |
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21
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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22
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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23
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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24
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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25
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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26
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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27
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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28
patina
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| n.铜器上的绿锈，年久而产生的光泽 | |
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29
refunded
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| v.归还，退还( refund的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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31
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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32
counterfeiter
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| n.伪造者 | |
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33
counterfeit
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|
| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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34
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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35
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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36
illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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37
patrician
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|
| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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38
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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39
forgeries
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| 伪造( forgery的名词复数 )； 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
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40
extravagant
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|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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41
dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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42
forgery
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|
| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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43
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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44
connivance
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|
| n.纵容；默许 | |
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45
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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46
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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47
connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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48
connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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49
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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50
peculiarity
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|
| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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51
oases
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|
| n.（沙漠中的）绿洲( oasis的名词复数 )；（困苦中）令人快慰的地方（或时刻）；乐土；乐事 | |
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52
vigilant
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|
| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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53
antiquities
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|
| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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54
tampering
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|
| v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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55
exorbitant
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|
| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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56
culled
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| v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
auctions
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| n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 ) | |
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58
proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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60
dedicated
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|
| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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61
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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62
remarkable
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|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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63
stimulation
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|
| n.刺激，激励，鼓舞 | |
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64
mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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65
simplicity
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|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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66
etymology
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|
| n.语源；字源学 | |
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67
forerunners
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|
| n.先驱( forerunner的名词复数 )；开路人；先兆；前兆 | |
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68
martial
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|
| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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69
elicit
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|
| v.引出,抽出,引起 | |
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70
celebrated
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|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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71
eulogy
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|
| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
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72
modernized
|
|
| 使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法 | |
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73
bidders
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|
| n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 ) | |
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74
rue
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|
| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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75
defiled
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|
| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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76
cosmopolitan
|
|
| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
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77
debris
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|
| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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78
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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79
aged
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|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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80
mechanism
|
|
| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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81
engendered
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|
| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
speculation
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|
| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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83
Fertilized
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|
| v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
witty
|
|
| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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85
speculations
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|
| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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86
grafted
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|
| 移植( graft的过去式和过去分词 )； 嫁接； 使（思想、制度等）成为（…的一部份）； 植根 | |
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87
subdivides
|
|
| 再分，细分( subdivide的第三人称单数 ) | |
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88
genres
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| （文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 ) | |
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89
freshmen
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|
| n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 ) | |
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90
mere
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|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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91
poseurs
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| n.装腔作势的人( poseur的名词复数 ) | |
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92
poseur
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| n.装模作样的人 | |
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93
sincerity
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|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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94
wittily
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| 机智地，机敏地 | |
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95
virgin
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|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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96
snobs
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| （谄上傲下的）势利小人( snob的名词复数 )； 自高自大者，自命不凡者 | |
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97
garbed
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| v.（尤指某类人穿的特定）服装，衣服，制服( garb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98
exponent
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|
| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
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99
prey
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|
| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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100
snares
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|
| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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101
catching
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|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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102
novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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103
varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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104
spinach
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| n.菠菜 | |
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105
aphorism
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|
| n.格言，警语 | |
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106
antithesis
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|
| n.对立；相对 | |
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107
defiler
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| n.弄脏者，亵渎者 | |
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108
cleansing
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|
| n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
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109
pigment
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|
| n.天然色素，干粉颜料 | |
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110
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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111
diluted
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| 无力的，冲淡的 | |
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112
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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113
anonymously
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| ad.用匿名的方式 | |
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114
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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115
impels
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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116
extol
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| v.赞美，颂扬 | |
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117
disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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118
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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119
venal
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| adj.唯利是图的，贪脏枉法的 | |
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120
defamation
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| n.诽谤；中伤 | |
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121
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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122
jealousy
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|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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123
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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124
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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125
spotted
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|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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126
inflicting
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|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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127
renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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128
counteract
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|
| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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129
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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130
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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131
hamper
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| vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
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132
renounce
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|
| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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133
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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134
promiscuous
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| adj.杂乱的，随便的 | |
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135
obnoxious
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|
| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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136
parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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137
evade
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|
| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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138
conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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139
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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140
inflated
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| adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
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141
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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142
lessens
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| 变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物） | |
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143
invader
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| n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者 | |
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144
jointly
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| ad.联合地，共同地 | |
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145
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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146
repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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147
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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148
bestows
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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149
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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150
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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151
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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152
lawsuits
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| n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 ) | |
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153
mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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154
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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155
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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156
unreasonably
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| adv. 不合理地 | |
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157
consigning
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的现在分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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158
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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159
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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160
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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161
divulged
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| v.吐露，泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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162
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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163
shamming
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| 假装，冒充( sham的现在分词 ) | |
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164
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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165
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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166
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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167
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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168
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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169
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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170
improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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171
impulsiveness
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| n.冲动 | |
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172
risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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173
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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174
dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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175
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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176
brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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177
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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