Rick Spector of Stairway to the Stars directed me to an interesting article on the Maine Antique Digest website about art dealers who have plead guilty to a scheme involving their passing off art with manufactured origins, fictitious artist names and identities, and fraudulent certificates of authenticity (COAs). [Read more…]
As has been noted in past features (see Market Watch | “stonark” / “*stoneark*” (Corner Collectibles)), eBay seller *stoneark* (recently changed from stonark) has paired Letters of Authenticity and Certificates of Authenticity from auction houses and a variety of other sources. I have been unable to verify the existence of most of these firms and individuals, which has raised a number of questions as to provenance. [Read more…]
Since publishing the latest “stonark“-related article last night (see eBay’s “stonark” and “liieviione”: Comparing Joe King Signatures, LOAs), the eBay seller has today changed their eBay member username from stonark to *stoneark*: [Read more…]
As has been noted in past features (see eBay’s “stonark” (AKA “Corner Collectibles”), Version 2.0), eBay seller “stonark” has paired Letters of Authenticity and Certificates of Authenticity from auction houses and a variety of other sources. I have been unable to verify the existence of most of these firms and individuals, though one of those sources – Joe King – does seem to have been an actual person who worked in wardrobe as a costumer. [Read more…]
I recently came across a blog post about an “original prop Luke lightsaber” from Star Wars on display at the National Firearms Museum at the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. [Read more…]
The account of “kellysheroesmilitaria” has been suspended on eBay, showing a status of “No longer a registered user” and “Not a registered user” (also known as “NARU”). [Read more…]
When Elstree Props listed their business for sale on eBay in November 2007 (see Elstree Props Retiring, Offering Business For Sale), I posed the following question with regard to the “100% unconditional guarantee”: [Read more…]
There is a feature in today’s Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk) about the value of James Bond/007 memorabilia, and the impact of the new film, Quantum of Solace. As is typical with mainstream media reports on (in this case, in part only) original props and costumes, the focus is on monetary value, though there is a caveat with regards to provenance. [Read more…]