BOOK REVIEW: Antique Trader™ Guide to Fake & Forged Marks

Though this book has been out for a while (2002), it was new to me, so I decided to review it here in case you are considering it. When I received my copy of the Antique Trader™ Guide to Fake & Forged Marks by Mark Chervenka, I was pretty impressed with how much it covered. There were fully illustrated descriptions of many common forgeries detailing the maker’s marks.

It is amazing how sophisticated forgers have become over the years and it really illustrates that there’s no substitute for experience when it comes to knowing what’s authentic. I’ve said time and time again that you should try to examine and physically touch as many examples of your particular object of interest to gain a certain "feel" for it. When you’ve seen enough genuine pieces, you can spot a fake long before ever looking at the maker’s mark.

That being said, it’s still useful to learn the common forged marks. Sometimes you only see a photo of an object or it’s something that you’re not too familiar with and it’s great to be able to eliminate a piece as a forgery right off the bat.

The book doesn’t cover everything that is commonly forged (how could it!) but it covers the most frequently forged high-priced objects. Faked marks are shown side-by-side with originals to illustrate the difference. And there is quite a few photos too, over 1000 in all.

The many categories covered include china, porcelain, art glass, cut glass, pattern glass, pottery, silver, and toys. A very comprehensive guide indeed.

Overall, I loved this very informative book.

I did, however, have one gigantic problem with the book though: NOT ONE EXAMPLE OF A TIFFANY LAMP!

Let’s hope that the next edition of the book, which should be coming soon given the frequency of most Antique Trader guides editions, has one.