Modernesia is up to more shady business.
Malihini won this (item 220726421824):
Modernesia is selling this (item 250768441357)
It's obviously the same chair that has been refinished. There are now different screws in the back. The thing that is most disturbing is the new label. I've noticed in the past that Modernesia has listed chairs with wrong labels for the time period. You have to love the story about how it looks so new because it was mostly used as display. What a crook!
At least it isn't
brand new. The current Herman Miller (and Vitra ?) production includes an easily-identified variation on the original design -- a feature I haven't seen discussed other than in a previous message from SDR -- namely that the central spine lamination now is of consistent thickness and number of plies throughout.
The original design of this piece included tapered plies, and the thickness of the piece thus varied, becoming thinner where it transitioned from the horizontal portion (as installed) to the vertical. This would presumably have affected the springiness of the back portion of the spine -- as well as making a subtle difference in the appearance of the chair.
Has anyone noticed this feature, and/or seen any mention of it, anywhere ?
I'm shocked, shocked to find shady dealers on Ebay!
Ebay is FAMOUS for counterfeit goods and deceitful sellers... And of course antique dealers in general are stereotypically dishonest. Surely this isn't the first time anyone here has seen a willfully misrepresented item.
It's fun to look at the results of Asawa's detective work, but really, no one should be surprised to learn that this sort of thing goes on.
SDR
Yes, please do report stuff like this to Ebay when you see it, and let the seller know that you know what he's up to (calmly, with facts---no value judgments are necessary).
Ebay does let a lot of thing slide but they do take action now and then. I've been buying and selling on Ebay since 1998 and I'm quite that it would be a far worse place if they didn't allow members to report shady dealings.
No sense in reporting...
Ebay won't do a thing about it.
It's very difficult to prove its a fake, despite the fact that many of us know it is. Ebay wont waste their time with something like this. They regularly overlook bigger more widespread scams and will only respond when faced with legal action from someone with financial resources to make the threat credible.
Vintage Eames chairs aren't s...
Vintage Eames chairs aren't something I know much about it, so this may be a stupid question, but how do we know for sure the chair sold on Ebay on Jan. 17 is the same chair, refinished and with a fake sticker, that is for sale now as an Evans production chair? Also, how can you tell the sticker is fake from the photo? I don't doubt either of these things, I would just like to be educated on the subject.
gene
It's not hard to see that the chair is the same in both auctions. Just look at the details. The grain in the wood is identical, the line in the veneer on the bottom, the wear on the seat and back...
It's clearly the exact same chair, only there is now no damage to the finish on the back and the shockmount looks brand new as do the slotted screws that hold the back on.
As for the label, I've seen quite a number of early Eames chairs and if that is not a new label, it is without a doubt the most pristine example ever. The fact that it was not on the chair in January makes it very hard to believe that it's in such good shape because the chair was mostly "displayed" in the house.
Wood grain alone
is enough to distinguish two otherwise identical pieces of furniture. It is literally impossible for two different pieces of solid or veneer to have the same grain pattern in every detail.
Veneers are slices of wood; a flitch is a set of veneers cut successively from a given bole, and when used properly will provide a uniformity of color and grain appearance to the parts of a piece or set of pieces of furniture. But no two pieces of that flitch will be identical, because of the cylindrical nature of the tree. And flitches cut from two different boles will be easily and readily distinguished -- even in photographs.
Exactly SDR
Well put.
My curiosity piqued, I wrote the seller a couple of days ago. Here is the correspondence we had through eBay:
Me:
The finish on your LCW looks kinda' shiny for Evans production. Are you certain that it's not been refurbished?
Thanks.
Modernesia:
There's no signs of an added clear coat from my inspection, I've just cleaned it with Murphy's and wiped it with Lemon oil polish.
Thanks for your interest and good luck!
Me:
Thanks for the reply. What about the screws that hold the backrest? Shouldn't they be phillips head screws, not slotted? Are they original also?
Modernesia:
All the screws/nuts are the Zinc originals and are free from any damage aside from a little screwdriver markings on the heads. I have seen both slotted and phillips head style screws used on early Eames/Evans chairs even within the 5-2-5 screw pattern, but most often the slotted variety on the back support.
Me:
I've had a half dozen LCWs over the years (most of them Evans production) and I've seen many more. Every one had phillips head screws unless someone replaced the shockmount and the new mount had the more coarse threads and the finely threaded original screws would not work. It's strange also that this chair had phillips head screws when you bought it last month, but not as strange as the label that has since been applied to the bottom. Can you explain how this might have happened? Here is a link to the chair from the auction last month. It's clearly the same exact chair. You can tell by the grain, the wear and coloring on the seat, even the striations in the veneer on the bottom. But in January there was no Evans label on the underside. How could that be? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=220726...
Modernesia:
You are entitled to your opinion but the screws are original Zinc fine thread. The listing pictures and descriptions are quite detailed and should suffice in showing the state/condition of the chair, if you are not comfortable with that then please don't bid.
Me:
That's fair, but you did not answer my question. That exact chair sold on eBay last month. It had phillips head screws, damage to the finish on the back, an old shockmount, and no label. Now you are selling that same chair with slotted screws, no damage to the finish, a new shockmount. and a pristine label. The first seller said that they were including a new replacement shockmount with the chair. If you restored the chair, that is fine. But that is not what the description states. Can you please explain the discrepancies?
They have yet to reply.
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