On-Line Fakes

By Michael G. Johnson

In 2004, the Birmingham City Museum & Art Gallery in Birmingham, England held an exhibition “A Warrior I Have Been”, being primarily the Plains Indian collection of Richard Green. In conjunction with the exhibition, Written Heritage, Inc., of Folsom, Louisiana, produced an excellent book serving as a catalogue with many photographs of the objects from the collection on display.

 Recently, several of the online American Indian and antique auction houses have pictured a number of cleverly reproduced copies of beaded items which appeared in the exhibition catalogue as ‘lots’ of apparently genuine old Plains Indian objects. At least this is the inference since there is no mention of the items as “reproduction” or “Indian style” or other descriptions which would alert the buyer that these lots were not necessarily old or Indian-made. In other words, these objects are being described and sold dishonestly  - no doubt as “buyer beware”. 

 Several objects have been inspired by the image on the front cover (right)—a Teton Sioux beaded pipe bag with a mounted warrior—and all of these appear to have been produced by the same maker. Another example is the Northern Plains pipe bag on p.158 of A Warrior I Have Been (right) with beaded panel in overlay technique in geometric designs composed of small squares. Another is copy of a Southern Plains pipe bag on p.153 of A Warrior I Have Been, with simple geometric designs in lane-stitch beadwork and earth pigment staining. Finally, a copy of a Sioux pipe bag on p.154 of A Warrior I Have Been  with a simple stripe design.

Of course buyers should arm themselves with sufficient knowledge to be able to distinguish genuine old Indian material from fakes where there is an obvious attempt to deceive.

 There has always been a ready market for the sale of reproductions, and one well-known auction house always clearly separates them from Indian-made items. Auction houses and dealers cannot simply dismiss their responsibilities merely as “sold as is”. The Antique Tribal Art Dealers’ Association (ATADA) is aiming for authenticity and integrity in their business, but clearly there is much room for improvement.

 The message must be to buyers to be very cautious when purchasing American Indian material online, particularly popular Plains Indian material, and to remind dealers that misleading descriptions are in contravention of the Indian Arts & Crafts Act of 1990. The Act can be accessed at http://www.doi.gov/iacb/act.html.

Photos below:

Left: Detail of a beaded bag, recycled from a Teton Sioux tobacco bag, circa, 1890 in the Richard Green Collection, Birmingham, England. This original piece was collected by Mr. Green and is in his possession.