FAKE 19th C CHINESE EMBROIDERED ANTIQUES

By Nicole la Bay

NICOLE LA BAY STORE                                            NICOLE LA BAY ANTIQUE EMBROIDERIES

After 6 years on eBay and being a collector of antique Chinese embroideries myself, I've seen SEVERAL WAVES of FAKES!
And from fairly primitive, they've become very sophisticated.

This little guide should help you spot a few blatant tricks.

First, 19th Century may only mean the style, so always look in the items specifics window just above the listings,  to check the date. If it says 1940, chances are the item was done in the past year!

Fakes can be:

1. Recent reproductions.

2. 1930s reproductions.

3. New items made with 19th C fabrics.

Items reproduced are so far:  Robes, Rank badges, Bound feet shoes, Small purses, Vests and Hats.

1. ROBES

19th century silks are ALL fraying, and have many other blemishes, including age spots, so all silk robes that look fresh are new by definition. There are now excellent reproductions of embroidered Court robes that can be bought for $150 or so, and at that price are honestly an excellent bargain, as long as you know what they are.

2. RANK BADGES

Massively reproduced in China after WWII, mostly from the 70s on, and now sold in the $0.98 range! They can be embroidered in regular satin stitch, couched metallic, or forbidden stitch, and are very well made.

VERY IMPORTANT!

BEWARE that in the 30s, and this is something that is very little known, China exported fake rank badges to the US and the UK in various shapes.

I've observed them very carefully: often done on thick black cotton, they have very simplified birds and Greek borders. They use a fairly "wooly" satin stitch, birds are red, and all the same. Couched metallic badges exist with exactly the same birds.

They come in squares and small roundels.

2 badges attached together which are absolutely identical (and not one split front badge and one back badge) are 30s reproductions.  These pairs were sold as runners, as purses, or as trays. 

They're antiques in their own right, and really look old for many of them,  but they're not the original 19th Century badges.

Tip: Couched metallic threads in fakes are low quality, and age FASTER than 19th Century ones, so if you see the metallic part flaking, this isn't too good.

Back: Also, always try to have a look at the backing of the badge. The silk there should have aged with the piece, if it has survived, since it's extremely thin. It should NEVER be fresh.

3. BOUND FEET SHOES

The darkest spot. At any time on eBay there are about half a dozen pairs of genuine shoes including items in stores, AT MOST. All the rest is fake!

Old silk shoes are nearly all in BAD shape. Or it's miraculous. Only the cotton ones fare better. If the silk shoes look fresh, this means they've been overly restored, (meaning there is re-stitching in the frayed areas) or they're made with old fabrics that have been cut out.

Though fake shoes are all made in China, there are STILL genuine bound feet shoes sold on ebay Chinese sites, for whoever can recognize them! They're very costly and are alas mostly sold next to fakes.

The most recent bound feet shoes fakes are ADMIRABLE in my opinion But they're fakes. Meaning they have no value! So just purchase them for the beauty of the handicrafts.

Fakers want their shoes to look really appealing, and this is exactly where they're caught! Their product looks too good to be true.

Recently alas, I've seen a few of these Chinese fakes re-sold in the US, by buyers who had purchased them and found out about them.. So be aware that the fact they're from the US isn't a guarantee any more.

4. SMALL PURSES

Fake purses appeared in the past year. Made with cut out pieces of embroidery, or freshly embroidered today by the Miao minority. Fading, age stains and particularly VERY damaged borders should tell you if the item is genuine.

5. VESTS

Court robes exporters also carry new "Xia Pei" vests. Same thing, very well done, and very affordable.

I also saw more simple vests with cut outs of old Miao embroideries in a store located in Belgium, so beware.

6. HATS

I've seen new hats embroidered by the Miao in the same store, (which only carries (delightful, I must say) reproductions, so this shows what a full bloom cottage industry this has become), but not on eBay.

So, so far, one can say that all 19th Century Chinese hats on eBay are good..

NICOLE LA BAY STORE                              NICOLE LA BAY ANTIQUE EMBROIDERIES

(c) Nicole La Bay 2006