How a Sneaky Furniture Expert Ripped Off the Rich and Tricked Versailles

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/07/how-a-sneaky-furniture-expert-tricked-versailles

by thisisit • 8 years ago

87 22 8 years ago

basicplus2• 8 years ago

he recognized in them the handiwork of Pallot’s gilder and carver.

“I often use the same people on restorations, and I’m intimate with their strengths and weaknesses,”

Hooreman says. He knew that one of them, for example, was fond of painting a coat of melted-down licorice on the surface of reproductions, to make new wood look old and dirty.

In 2012, Hooreman saw a pair of ployants—folding benches—that were for sale in the Aaron gallery showroom and were billed as the onetime property of Princess Louise Élisabeth, the eldest daughter of King Louis XV, and acted on a hunch.

“I licked the chair and voilà,” he says. “I could taste the fraud.”

imron2• 8 years ago

“I licked the chair and voilà,” he says. “I could taste the fraud.”

That's dedication. I don't even want to imagine the years of dirt and cruft he'd be licking if the chair was authentic.

setr• 8 years ago

I would imagine it was still cleaned up before putting up for sale, even if there weren't any repairs done

legohead• 8 years ago

I don't understand. Are you simply quoting the article?

empath75• 8 years ago

https://m.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=gIVgUjj6RxU

Orson Welles’ F is for Fake is essential viewing if you’re interested in forgery.

ChefboyOG• 8 years ago

I was literally just about to share this as well. Such an underrated movie.

Although, Elmyr has a little more of a superhero-esque aura around his forgeries than this guy.

Applejinx• 8 years ago

I find I just can't have any sympathy for Versailles.

La Marseillaise is 'the national identity' more than Versailles.

airstrike• 8 years ago

Why can’t you like both? Surely you can appreciate that the French monarchy had a non-zero impact in the French culture and identity that remains to this day

sp332• 8 years ago

Yes, in that they cut/chiseled the heads off all representations of monarchy in Versailles. It seems mainly to serve as a negative example.

realusername• 8 years ago

And so what? The building is a wonderful piece of history worth to preserve.

BrandoElFollito• 8 years ago

Sure, let's cut some throats and see some blood flowing. /s

I am a French republican at heart, proud of my country, and see our history as a complicated layer of events which all brought something in. As much Versailles as the Revolution, as the years of Christianity and the sweet laicity we have today.

gingerlime3• 8 years ago

I just watched Sour Grapes[0] on Netflix - an incredible story about wine forgery that has lots of parallels to this story.

[0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5728684/

at-fates-hands• 8 years ago

After reading some books on art forgeries and the underground art market, someone recommended I check out the wine industry and told me it was just as bad if not worse.

I'd point people to another great Vanity Fair article about wine fraud:

A Vintage Crime https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/07/wine-fraud-rudy-k...

gingerlime3• 8 years ago

This looks like the same guy / story :)

tyu100• 8 years ago

A great novel with furniture fraud at its core is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

98codes• 8 years ago

A similar documentary[0] around the art world blew my mind -- not only was one man fooling people into thinking his paintings were real, he was the one making them.

[0] http://artandcraftfilm.com/

gingerlime3• 8 years ago

would love to watch it, but looks like it's only available in the US for some reason :/

astrodust• 8 years ago

Any documentary that has one of the Koch brothers losing millions of dollars to fraud made possible by his greed gets a thumbs up from me.

jaggederest2• 8 years ago

I think it's very interesting that they don't use radiometric dating, like carbon dating, to establish the age of the parts of the chair on an absolute basis.

I suppose the forgeries could be constructed using extremely old wood, but even then, the glue or other parts would have to be relatively modern, and would provide a contrasting age.

evasote• 8 years ago

Carbon Dating is typically for things at least 500 years old. While that might be useful for furniture, it wouldn't apply here.

Glue is useful - an older chair would have used hide glue, made from real animals. If a modern, non-hide glue was used that's an immediate giveaway. However, modern furniture builders still use it quite a lot in high end work today

jaggederest2• 8 years ago

There's other types of radiometric dating, like looking at isotope ratios to see whether it was made before or after atmospheric nuclear testing, if there are parts that would be different (typically metal pieces)

How a Sneaky Furniture Expert Ripped Off the Rich and Tricked Versailles

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