Greetings Friends,
A moment of your time, if you please.
Recently and many times in the past, items have been put up for sale on eBay or through other outlets, claiming to be "prototypes" or "one-of-a-kind" works by specific artists. An issue just transpired with work of mine that was posted here, and actually this comes immediately on the heels of another issue with a different seller describing items that were indeed my work, as "prototype sculptures" when in fact they were simply production resin castings of my Garage Kit work form the past.
Whenever a merchant attempts to boost value of an item by making claims of rarity and using the artist's name, they need to have some sort of authentication to document the lineage. If you ever watch
Antique's Roadshow, you will know that claims of authenticity are all well and good, but when a person brings an item to be appraised and they have an actual accounted legacy through documents, the value becomes objective rather than subjective... such as a beat-to-hell old chair that looks like it just came out of dumpster can be worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars if the right person sat in it, and the owner can prove that with a letter or better still a picture of the famous person sitting in the chair. Without the documentation the chair might be worth no more than a few bucks.
Anyone can make a claim, but unless they can prove what they say, they would be best off keeping their descriptions limited to their actual knowledge. What some people may not realize, is that by crediting a figure incorrectly or deceitfully, they can in turn harm the professional reputation of the artist. I mean not only putting the atrist's name on something the artist would be horrified to be called his just as an artist, but also bogus claims can damage the artist's reputation with clients or potential clients, which can quickly fall into the category of legal liabilty for the one making bogus claims.
I'm writing this because of several incidents involving myself personally, but this is a general commentary that pertains to all artists in the business.
I offer some free advice here-
To anyone that is attmepting to sell any rare statue or sculpture, investigate the claims you will make before making statements. If you can't prove what you say, things can get messy for everyone invloved.
To anyone that might be tempted to bid on an item of which you are unsure of the claims, investigate the claims also. Many of us in the statue biz are right here, and you can PM us, or even start a thread somewhere on the board. Now that Danny and Drew have taken the step to give many of us our own Sub-forums here, it is easy and simple to ask a question.
Thanks much for your time, and always remember that for many of us this is not a hobby, but is how we pay our bills, so anything stated without full knowledge and proof can have long lasting and serious ramifications for our reputations.
Peace out(As Sammy Wilson would say)
William Paquet
