Not Holmegaard - again

Browsing around Kingston Antique Centre today Paul pointed out to me a cabinet stuffed full of coloured/opal cased glass vases labelled up as Holmegaard Carnaby range and with high price tags - everyone of the vases in the cabinet were, as far as we could tell without being able to handle them, modern Far Eastern lookeylikes. None of them were in known HG Carnaby shapes so the dealer really has made a pretty basic error - perhaps he's been on eBay and seen all the spurious attributions.

I pointed it out to the centre manager who wasn't really interested and I don't think she believed me anyway. I tried to impress on her that to put a price tag of £150 on a cheap modern imitation from the Far East and qualify the price tag by suggesting it's made by a quality Danish glassworks and being sold in what is supposedly a reputable antique centre was not on.

I don't suppose anything will change but it really does bug me!

LOL nooooooo but if you saw a load of fake Poole being flogged for high prices in an antique centre wouldn't you say anything Dan?

Shy? Dunno the meaning of the word

However, there was only one person in the centre - the manager - and it wasn't her stock. I probably wouldn't have said anything directly to the dealer had he been there.

Actually I probably would have! However, it's academic cos he wasn't there.

OK I'm a troublemaker

There's a similar mass of Chinese cased glass misattributed to HG in one of the antiques centres near me - the owners don't care as long as the cabinet rentals are paid on time, as far as I can tell.

These centres carry a responsiblity (as do us website owners) to ensure that the information we offer is correct. It is quite understandable that the uneducated (glasswise) masses trust these centres and our websites to be correct - heaven knows how many eBayers have seen this heap of mass produced Far Eastern glass and believe the attributions then go on to perpetuate the myth. It has a detrimental effect on the market generally too.

Dan! Stop being naughty - you wouldn't like me if I was different - you know you wouldn't!

The really frustrating bit about seeing this Chinese glass go for big money on eBay is that last week I listed a genuine and labeled Carnaby vase, and it only sold for £31.

It's at times like that I think "Sod you all, you deserve what you get" to the eBay glass-buying public at large!

Nic, give me a shout next time it looks like that's going to happen again and I'll gladly put a bid in - I'd be more than happy to own anything you sell. I don't watch that much stuff on eBay so unfortunately I missed it but, had I been watching it, I can assure you it wouldn't have gone so cheaply.

Well, I'm not *too* bitter - there were a couple of teeny-tiny scratches to the vase, hence why it got eBayed rather than put in my shop, and it only cost me a few pounds to start with (a very lucky purchase!).

But still definitely worth more than a Chinese lookalike, and a bit more than £31.