Fake cups on Ebay?

[Saladin]

I've read with interest some old threads here about identifying fakes on ebay. Since I buy stuff there I obviously have to be careful sometimes too. For this reason I was curious to see these pop up on ebay this morning. What do you guys think? THey are certainly from Mashiko but to me something doesn't look quite right. http://cgi.ebay.com/B607-Japanese-MASHI ... 43a65c6ce1

p.s. I really hope this doesn't offend anyone.

[fire_snake]

When it comes to antiques, vintage, and alleged work by "National Treasure" artists, I'd only trust reputable vendors who deal mainly through their own sites.

I.e., Stephane Erler, Robert Yellin, David Callens . . .

These are individuals with a reputation to maintain - a continued presence that won't take too well to misrepresentation and fraud.

Quite frankly, unless you know the seller, steer clear of eBay antiques.

[tingjunkie]

I hope they are fakes, 'cause those cups is ugly.


...in my humble opinion.

[Saladin]

When it comes to antiques, vintage, and alleged work by "National Treasure" artists, I'd only trust reputable vendors who deal mainly through their own sites.

I.e., Stephane Erler, Robert Yellin, David Callens . . .

These are individuals with a reputation to maintain - a continued presence that won't take too well to misrepresentation and fraud.

Quite frankly, unless you know the seller, steer clear of eBay antiques.

Well, interestingly this seller usually sells very high-quality things, and has sold for instance, some very beautiful works by another LNT Shimaoka Tatsuzo. I've seen a lot of bad pots trying to pass as the work of Hamada however, and some good ones that must have been made by him. It's possible that he was fooled by these cups too. To me these cups look almost nothing like Hamada's yunomi, but I'm wrong about all sorts of things.

[Chip]

I am certain that this seller has legit offerings. I am also as certain that they do not in some cases.

I generally buy something from this seller because I like it versus the claim that it is about 30 years old, etc. The age selection almost seems arbitrary given the sheer number of items bearing this age by this seller.

I have picked up some great items from this seller, including an awesome gyokuro set made by Choun. I am 100% of its authenticity, though not as much so on the age claimed by the seller.

[Drax]

I generally buy something from this seller because I like it versus the claim that it is about 30 years old, etc.

+1

I purchased a gorgeous Bizen mizusashi from this vendor. The claim was that it was ~100 years old, but that factored very little into my reasons for buying it... it was exactly what I was looking for!

[Chip]

I generally buy something from this seller because I like it versus the claim that it is about 30 years old, etc.

+1

I purchased a gorgeous Bizen mizusashi from this vendor. The claim was that it was ~100 years old, but that factored very little into my reasons for buying it... it was exactly what I was looking for!

Exactly.

Interesting that you bring up Bizen. All the Bizen that this seller has, including several pieces I have purchased and quite like, Mago might not agree that they are actual Bizen.

But I like the "Bizen" I purchsed and am satisfied with the purchase. And I guess I hope they are Bizen. If not, oh well.

[Robert Fornell]

I've read with interest some old threads here about identifying fakes on ebay. Since I buy stuff there I obviously have to be careful sometimes too. For this reason I was curious to see these pop up on ebay this morning. What do you guys think? THey are certainly from Mashiko but to me something doesn't look quite right. http://cgi.ebay.com/B607-Japanese-MASHI ... 43a65c6ce1

p.s. I really hope this doesn't offend anyone.

No way Jose...... maybe "kiln" work out of his kiln but that is very unlikely as well given the pieces and the box look new. The clay looks like it's straight from the Kumiai or potters co-op where I sourced clay while working there. Hamada's dirt had much more character...

Definitely not from the mans hand.

Best,
R

[AdamMY]

Involving this Sell I will say that I caught him in a little bit of a lie on one of his posts. Never approached him about it, but when he posted a piece by Yamane Seigan, he claimed it was X years old ( I think 30). I happened to know several places that had timelines of Yamane Seigans Life, and lets just say that the X years ago would have placed the piece as being made by him prior him becoming a Professional potter.

While I am not saying this makes it impossible for the piece to be that old and made by him, I am just saying it is much more likely that one of those (likely the age claim) was a lie.

[iannon]

I generally buy something from this seller because I like it versus the claim that it is about 30 years old, etc.

+1

I purchased a gorgeous Bizen mizusashi from this vendor. The claim was that it was ~100 years old, but that factored very little into my reasons for buying it... it was exactly what I was looking for!

Exactly.

Interesting that you bring up Bizen. All the Bizen that this seller has, including several pieces I have purchased and quite like, Mago might not agree that they are actual Bizen.

But I like the "Bizen" I purchsed and am satisfied with the purchase. And I guess I hope they are Bizen. If not, oh well.

Same with me..Ive picked up a couple of pieces i really liked from here. Age i didnt care about. I also picked up a bizen houhin. I did have someone else look at it actually while trying to identify the mark and he did identify it as a bizen pice at least. either way..the price was right and i love it

[Saladin]

Thanks everyone for their information and experiences. I wasn't planning on buying these confused cups but it is a good example of how one must be educated about what they are buying. I've received some stellar pots from this seller , and other times I've chuckled about some of the descriptions and age of things. Here is another confused pot to look at. Yikes, buyer beware!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tea-Bowl-TastuZo-Sh ... 1c1ad2e275

[Chasm]

I've been very happy with my purchases from this seller, but I purchased them solely for their looks and functionality, not for any vendor claims.

I've made a practice for some time of not buying any item new unless there's a reason a used one won't do as well. This predates my current tea habit, so my teaware probably looks like a mad hodgepodge, but I like it.

[David R.]

A friend who is into porcelain told me that a lot of the imari items sold there were chinese copies. I guess prices indicated that much.

Never managed to get what I wanted there within my price range. I'd be happy to, but won't put too much money either.

I've heard the man behind this store is a good fellow.