Fake blades from India and China

Ian · 17th April 2016, 12:49 AM

Marius:

I think we need to be careful about what we call a "fake." This implies that a person is deliberately trying to pass something off as being older/more valuable than it really is. However, there are many Indian arms that are offered for sale that are of obviously recent manufacture and are not being touted as antiques. These could become fakes if they were presented as something they are not.

I think what you are trying to describe are the signs of recent manufacture versus the appearance of an item made more than a hundred years ago. There are general clues, of course, and perhaps some that are specific to tulwars that you are using as an example.

To distinguish new from old one needs to look at the materials used and how the item was made.

Does it include materials that were not around a hundred years ago?

Has it been made with technologies that were not invented at that time or were not widely available?

Is the artistic style of decoration correct? Are inscriptions consistent with older manufacture and linguistic styles?

Is there a reliable provenance or any photographic evidence to support the age of the item?

And so on. You have also raised the issue of someone deliberately creating an object to appear older than it is. This is an important source of uncertainty in dating older or not so old objects. Even the experts can be fooled. However, there is really no substitute for knowledge and experience--handling many of the items in question that have been reliably provenanced is an excellent way to learn. But that type of experience falls to very few of us. So we have forums like this instead, where a little knowledge here and a little there can amount to quite a lot of expertise. I have found the search function of this site can reveal a lot of important information posted by people who know far more than I do.

Ian.

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17th April 2016, 12:49 AM	#2
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,361	Marius: I think we need to be careful about what we call a "fake." This implies that a person is deliberately trying to pass something off as being older/more valuable than it really is. However, there are many Indian arms that are offered for sale that are of obviously recent manufacture and are not being touted as antiques. These could become fakes if they were presented as something they are not. I think what you are trying to describe are the signs of recent manufacture versus the appearance of an item made more than a hundred years ago. There are general clues, of course, and perhaps some that are specific to tulwars that you are using as an example. To distinguish new from old one needs to look at the materials used and how the item was made. Does it include materials that were not around a hundred years ago? Has it been made with technologies that were not invented at that time or were not widely available? Is the artistic style of decoration correct? Are inscriptions consistent with older manufacture and linguistic styles? Is there a reliable provenance or any photographic evidence to support the age of the item? And so on. You have also raised the issue of someone deliberately creating an object to appear older than it is. This is an important source of uncertainty in dating older or not so old objects. Even the experts can be fooled. However, there is really no substitute for knowledge and experience--handling many of the items in question that have been reliably provenanced is an excellent way to learn. But that type of experience falls to very few of us. So we have forums like this instead, where a little knowledge here and a little there can amount to quite a lot of expertise. I have found the search function of this site can reveal a lot of important information posted by people who know far more than I do. Ian.