Thanks, David... just going by the photos in the listing, I would have been hard-pressed to
not take a chance on this piece if the price was right...
I guess in this case, forewarned is
not to be fore armed?
I have seen the same thing at regional (auction) houses here, with newly made pieces having mountings switched in an attempt to hide the forged aging. Sadly, repro houses (e.g. a certain cutlery house that can be found in the home of the Braves) are more-or-less facilitating this, muddying the waters even worse by flooding the market with newly made (and reasonably authentic) "blank canvasses" on which forgers attempt to work their black magic.
Best,
Chris