Provenance, what is it worth?

Swordfish · 15th May 2012, 07:18 PM

In my thread: The Falchion or Malchus, the rarest medieval sword, I have established the somewhat provoking thesis, that in most cases a provenance is worth nothing. This is surely not correct in all cases, but is appropriate in many cases.
Now I want to confirm this thesis at some examples, which were sold at auction in the last years. Additional this demonstrates that many collectors can only be called stupid. It could happen to every collector that he once acquires a fake, but if the facts are clearly obvious, this can only be explained by lack of knowledge and stupidness.

1.
A gothic full armour in excellent condition, sold at galerie fischer 2008 for Euro 100.000 but very obviously a 19th century fake. Provenance Collection Max Kuppelmayr, former the armoury of Törringer zu Jettenbach. I had the opportunity to take a look at the sale catalogue of the Kuppelmayr collection, which was once in the posession of Hans Schedelmann, a very renowned expert in arms and armour. He has made comments to every item in the catalogue, nearly the half of the more expensive items were fakes.
No complete genuine Gothic armour is availiable for such a price, but the buyer in Mexico probably never saw it before he bought it.

2.
A Geman medieval Sallet, sold at Galerie Fischer 2009, lot 260, for Euro 20.000 inclusive premium. Provenance: The collection of the Duke of Brunswick, exhibited at the Tower of London 1952.This sallet looked very good to me on the photo, so I travelled to Lucene at the day of the auction. But after close examination I was very disappointed. The upper half of the sallet was genuine, but the lower half was replaced in the 19th century(not mentioned in the description). I refused to bid, but the sallet was sold to a telephone bidder, who probably never saw it in reality. The buyer recognised his mistake an sold the sallet again at Christie's November 2011, where it was described correctly. Nevertheless an even more crazy bidder paid Euro 39.000 incl premium for it.

3
A pavise, a primitive example, sold as a 19th century item at Christie's Dez. 2006 lot 104 for Euro 3000.
The same pavise with provenance: Count Hector Economos and William Randolph Hearst, failed to sell at Hermann Historica October 2007 with an estimate of Euro 20.000.
The same pavise with the same provenance sold at Galerie Fischer September 2011 for Euro 48.000. The provenance brought the dealer nearly 40.000 Euro, but genuine it is therefore not.

These examples demonstrate again, a good provenance may be helpful, but in no case replaces close examination of the items and sufficient own knowledge.

Thus much for today.

Best

15th May 2012, 07:18 PM	#1
Swordfish Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 129	Provenance, what is it worth? In my thread: The Falchion or Malchus, the rarest medieval sword, I have established the somewhat provoking thesis, that in most cases a provenance is worth nothing. This is surely not correct in all cases, but is appropriate in many cases. Now I want to confirm this thesis at some examples, which were sold at auction in the last years. Additional this demonstrates that many collectors can only be called stupid. It could happen to every collector that he once acquires a fake, but if the facts are clearly obvious, this can only be explained by lack of knowledge and stupidness. 1. A gothic full armour in excellent condition, sold at galerie fischer 2008 for Euro 100.000 but very obviously a 19th century fake. Provenance Collection Max Kuppelmayr, former the armoury of Törringer zu Jettenbach. I had the opportunity to take a look at the sale catalogue of the Kuppelmayr collection, which was once in the posession of Hans Schedelmann, a very renowned expert in arms and armour. He has made comments to every item in the catalogue, nearly the half of the more expensive items were fakes. No complete genuine Gothic armour is availiable for such a price, but the buyer in Mexico probably never saw it before he bought it. 2. A Geman medieval Sallet, sold at Galerie Fischer 2009, lot 260, for Euro 20.000 inclusive premium. Provenance: The collection of the Duke of Brunswick, exhibited at the Tower of London 1952.This sallet looked very good to me on the photo, so I travelled to Lucene at the day of the auction. But after close examination I was very disappointed. The upper half of the sallet was genuine, but the lower half was replaced in the 19th century(not mentioned in the description). I refused to bid, but the sallet was sold to a telephone bidder, who probably never saw it in reality. The buyer recognised his mistake an sold the sallet again at Christie's November 2011, where it was described correctly. Nevertheless an even more crazy bidder paid Euro 39.000 incl premium for it. 3 A pavise, a primitive example, sold as a 19th century item at Christie's Dez. 2006 lot 104 for Euro 3000. The same pavise with provenance: Count Hector Economos and William Randolph Hearst, failed to sell at Hermann Historica October 2007 with an estimate of Euro 20.000. The same pavise with the same provenance sold at Galerie Fischer September 2011 for Euro 48.000. The provenance brought the dealer nearly 40.000 Euro, but genuine it is therefore not. These examples demonstrate again, a good provenance may be helpful, but in no case replaces close examination of the items and sufficient own knowledge. Thus much for today. Best Attached Images Last edited by Swordfish; 15th May 2012 at 10:20 PM.