VICTORIAN Silver Figural Napkin Rings 101 - Reproductions, Fakes, Etc...

How can you tell if that Figural Napkin Ring you are looking at is truely Authentic!  Ebay is a great place to find pieces to fill out your collection, but you have to be careful.  I have unknowingly purchased fakes and reproductions on Ebay, much to my shagrin.  Below I will give you a few tips for spotting the fakes and avoiding paying too much for something that isn't authentic.  

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A LISTING

PICTURES

There should be LOTS of them, from all angles, close-ups, repairs & pictures of the marks.  Since you cannot see or handle the item personally, the pictures should help you feel as if you are able to give it the same close inspection that you would be able to do if looking at it in person.  These are valuable objects with the potential to bring high bids.  There is no excuse for a seller penny pinching on the listing fees.  If adequate pictures are not provided...ask for more!

INFORMATION AGREEMENT

The information in the Title, Sub-title and Description should all agree with each other.  Beware of a listing that says STERLING in the title but is listed as silverplate in the description or Details box.  The Seller is not being honest in their listing.  Little descrepancies like that should be a red flag.  Contact the seller and ask them to clarify the information before bidding.

STERLING OR SILVERPLATE?  

All Victorian Figural Napkin Rings are SILVERPLATED!  They are NOT Sterling.  Anyone listing it as sterling either innocently doesn't know better, or, does know better and is trying to scam others who don't.  Write them and inform them that it is silverplate.  If they are honest, they will revise their listing.  Most people really don't know the difference or are just unfamiliar with the article they are listing.  They are usually happy of any information you can offer them to make their listing more accurate.  If they don't revise it...stay away from that seller.

REPRODUCTIONS

There are some legitimate reproductions that have been reissued recently by the companies that made the orginals.  Reed & Barton has a new line that came out in 2004, I believe.  They have the same subject matter as the originals, but they did us a favor by making them look completely different.  The napkin ring portion is thin and heavily ornamented with applied details or is in the actual form of leaves, flowers, etc...  They also look chunkier.  They lack the delicate, sculptural look of the originals.  Most of these are listed properly as NEW or NIB.  International Silver issued some reproductions back in 2000.  Remember that International Silver encompasses the works of the many different companies that comprised its formation in 1878...Meriden, Derby, Rogers, etc...  These are harder to spot because they are the same in detail as the originals, though the silver looks newer.  The only way to tell them apart is that the new ones are marked on the bottom as reproductions.  For someone who can't afford the originals, these are a nice alternative.  If you see a figural napkin ring that has shiny new looking silver, it has either been replated or is a reproduction.  If the listing isn't clear, contact the seller and try to find out more information.

VICTORIAN LOOK-A-LIKES

This category is different than reproductions.  I consider a reproduction to be a piece that is either re-issued by the original company that made it or one that has been authorized by the original company.  There are a lot of figural napkin rings out there that do not follow that criteria.  These are new napkin rings made to mimic the Victorian Style.  Some are actually pretty nice.  Most are of very poor quality.  They are sloppy and clunky looking compared to the real thing.  They are not marked in any way.  They are thick.  The details are more crudely done.  To make up for the lack of details the makers add TEXTURE to the piece to make it LOOK like there is more detail than there really is.  This is hard to describe, but the entire surface has a kind-of BUMPY texture, like an orange-peel.  On original figural napkin rings, There is a general smoothness to all the elements.  Any texture is from the details in the sculptures...the hair on a goat, feathers on a bird, straw in a hat, etc...  Again, when in doubt, contact the seller for a better description or more pictures.

There are some very nice NEW figural napkin rings that I found on the web.  They are by an artist who is making his own versions of them, not to deceive, but because he loves them as an art form and wants to emulate it.  They are as beautiful as the originals, look authentic in all of their details, but they are new...new silver, new shapes and designs, new in every way.  None of them are copies of the originals.  The problem is that I have seen some of them for sale (not by the artist) on eBay as original Victorian pieces.  The only way to know if they are Victorian is by how they are marked, the new silver or by comparing with pictures in reference books.

REPAIRS

Any repairs to a piece should be noted in the description and there should be pictures of the repair, if possible.  This is another reason why pictures are so important.  These things are over 100 years old.  Over time they may get dented, scratched or broken.  Pieces can become separated and have replacements attached to fix them up.  Original pieces have neat seams and soldered joints.  They are almost undetectable.  Messy or sloppy soldering is a sure sign of a repair.  Mis-matched pieces (rings, figures, bases) can also be a sign of repairs.  This is harder to spot if you don't have a reference book or if it is an unfamiliar piece.

FAKES

Sadly, there are some pieces that are deliberately faked in order to decieve.  The seller may, or may not know that it is a fake.  Fakes are difficult to spot, unless you have a reference book.  They can be expertly done using pieces from various original napkin rings.  They are expertly resoldered creating a piece that LOOKS authentic, but isn't.  There are some that are easier, like the FAKE Kate Greenaway figures coming over from Japan and China.  They are usually of the little boy or a little girl standing with a napkin ring behind them.  You can usually spot them because they are hollow underneath the figure and therefore have no mark.  They are also sorely lacking in detail, i.e. a smooth bonnet with no bow instead of the straw textured bonnet with a bow on the real one. 

Well, I hope that is helpful to you.  Thank you for looking at my Blog.  Write me a note and let me know what you think, if have any information or tips to add, or found this helpful.  Be smart, ask questions, insist on good pictures and happy bidding.

Diane