Check the link, looks pretty fake to me:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Numbered-495-Gustav-Stickley-Crafts...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Stonecat,

I agree with you. The hammering is crude and not what I have become accustomed to when restoring Stickley or Stickley Bros copper. Handmade stamps can be acquired if you search carefully at antique stores of used tool shops.

Caveat Emptor

It is important to shop quality and not name or look.

Fred

Based on the Fraud Alert message I posted in the 'Defining' section, I emailed David Rudd at Dalton's and he agreed that it's unlikely to be a Gus piece but suggested that the seller may in fact not know any better. Unfortunately this is all too common, where sellers and dealers, jump to a conclusion about who made something (similar to all the Stickley furniture out there ) and the stuff gets sold to a naive buyer. The price seems to be going up on this one, from when I first posted, and unfortunately someone will get hurt in the wallet a bit. In addition, there isn't actually a model number noted for this piece in the catalog reprint I have, so the seller is being fairly misleading in this regard.

This one looks genuine...good heavy stock, just low end stuff and made to sell for low end prices at the time. The GOOD Stickley came out of Eastern Europe/Russia and was made by real metal masters who worked in large utilitarian pieces for centuries. Pieces like this were given to the young apprentices to make. The pieces that are really 'troubled' are the large flat copper chargers marked with the classic Roycroft mark. The "Mark" -- you can have any mark you want made by a laser engraver. Just bring him a photo, or preferably an original piece. It can be scanned and duplicated so finely that no 'expert' can tell the difference.

More counterfeit Stickley.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Gustav-Stickley-Hammered-Copper-V...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yes probably fake. Look at the sellers feedback - he just bought the pair and the previous seller didn't say anything about Gus. In this case, the new seller may just not know any better and he assumes its a real mark. Interestingly I'm sure this pair of vases has been on eBay before. Many months ago we talked about a guy with a bunch of bad furniture marks as well as bad Gus marks and I'm sure he had these up, but they got pulled off within a couple days. There is a real Gus vase in this style and I think Rago/Craftsman Auctions sold one a while back - I'll try to find a picture. I think these ones might be from one of the Mexican outfits - I'll surf to check, I think I've seen this online.

..in a quick search I couldn't find the Gus vase but here's a Stickley Brothers thats sort of close..

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/s/lot-946879.html?q=stic...raftsmanauctions&t=a

..and here's an "import" available on-line..

http://www.finecraftsimports.com/products/copper_vase.asp?pid=50202-11

The vases offered on ebay are no doubt fakes. They have taken Mexican pieces made in Michoacan and had a stamp made to stamp them with.

Bad Karma.

Fred

Hello Fred,

I totally agree, the form is a dead giveaway as a Mexican product even without the counterfeit stamp.

Here is another set of candleholders that are questionable. Has an L&JG Fayetteville label claiming to be Gus. These may have been made for Stickley to use in their L&JG showroom for display or as an accessory. BUT GUS, NO

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pair-Gustav-Stickley-Arts-Crafts-Br...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just to clarify - The mark is technically 'Stickley Associated Cabinet Makers' which was legally L&JG Stickley Inc. but it was the version of the company that included Gus after he went bankrupt in 1915 and joined his brothers as a Vice President. The mark has Gus' old joiners compass on it plus LJGs hand clamp and it notes both Syracuse (Gus' shop) and Fayetteville (LJGs shop), and both 'Craftsman' (Gus) and 'Handcraft' (LJG).

This sticker is however probably fake. This would be so easy to make on a computer. There have also been a bunch of these in decal form sold on eBay claimed to be unused originals and not too long ago there was a glass paperweight with one of these on the inside. Its quite remarkable how the fraud just keeps rolling along.

Hi Stonecat,

Thanks for the additional Info. I have to agree with the rash of fraud that has been taking place. There was a chrome and hammered copper vase that was listed last week as being Roycroft with a fake stamp mark. Someone contacted the seller about it, and they were honest enough to pull the listing when they directed them to the Roycroft site marks page.


http://cgi.ebay.com/Tall-ROYCROFT-Arts-Crafts-Hammered-...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yes I saw that one as well. The guys in the Yahoo Roycroft group had a good laugh over that one and Fred (same Fred on this forum) claimed to actually have a collection in several sizes - to which I suggested he pick up this piece for display;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-REFINISHED-MISSION-OAK-3-SH...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

..a bad bookshelf with a bogus LJG mark, and as the seller notes when it was previously listed as an original he/she got emails about the fake mark / fake piece so it got relisted - you can guess where one of those emails came from