The Grosvenor House Art and Antiques Fair promises that "every item, whatever its value, has been vetted for quality, condition and authenticity."
But when its patron, the Queen Mother, agreed to lend a pair of Chinese famille verte porcelain cache-pots, the vetters made an embarrassing discovery.The jardinieres were not the product of the Kangxi period (1662-1722), but dated from the late 19th century. Worse, they weren't Chinese but had been made in Paris.
The fair is one of the main events of the London season, a chance for collectors, dealers and the public to meet. The organizers said in a statement that the discovery made the jardinieres "even more interesting."
But another source said: "That means they are nasty little fakes."
The fair's statement continued: "Specialists are of the opinion that the vases date from the 19th century and were made by the celebrated Samson factory."
Samson, known as "Samson the Imitator," established a factory in Paris in 1845 devoted to producing replacements and exact copies of sought-after ceramics.
"There was a large amount of reproducing of works in the 19th century and a lot of collectors who looked for examples of earlier works," said a spokesman for Sotheby's.
"Samson was dispatched to produce copies. They weren't made fraudulently. Samson often used to incorporate an `S' in the mark to give a clue that the piece was not an original. But at some point the marks might have been removed, and then it becomes difficult to tell the original from the copy."
- Dan Glaister