Earl Marshawn E.M. Washington (b.1962),
woodcut after Hale Woodruff, a WPA artist, signed 1937.
Woodblock forgery is probably as old as woodblock printing itself, and it is still going on. On April 2, Earl M. Washington, artist, and seller of woodblock prints, received a prison sentence of more than four years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. His former wife, Zsanett Nagy, who assisted him, was sentenced last January for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.
Between 2018 and 2021, Washington and Nagy sold woodblock prints they claimed were made in the 15th and 16th centuries to buyers in France, who in turn sold them to a collector in Germany. Nagy received the payments for the prints through PayPal, moved the money to her bank account, and withdrew the cash before the buyers found out they had bought counterfeit prints created by Washington himself. The French buyers paid nearly $85,000 for the prints.
Washington also sold fraudulent prints to buyers in Pennsylvania. One bought 130 woodblocks, believing they were hundreds of years old, for a total of over $118,000. Another bought prints that Washington claimed were made in the 1920s and 1930s by his great-grandfather, E.M. Washington. Again, the prints were his own work.
Earl Mershawn Washington (1962- ) Josephine Baker linocut, signed and bears
the date 1927 in pencil. Although he likely attributed it to his “great-grandfather,”
this work was created sometime in the 1980-90’s.
Washington and Nagy were tried in the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia division of the FBI’s Art Crime Team conducted the investigation with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the French Ministry of Justice, and the French National Gendarmerie. Washington was ordered to pay $203,240.90 in restitution and serve 52 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Nagy, who is Hungarian, was ordered to pay $107,159.25 in restitution and serve time plus two years of supervised release. She may also face deportation.
This isn’t the first time Washington has allegedly run such a scheme. An article published in Forbes magazine in September 2004, called “Catch Me If You Can,” tells how Washington sold woodcut prints to dealers through auction houses and on eBay, attributing them to his great-grandfather, Earl Mack Washington. Customers had begun to suspect that Washington had made the prints himself. There was no evidence other than his own claims that his great-grandfather was a printmaker or even existed. Former romantic partners alleged that Washington cut and printed the woodblocks himself or with the help of apprentices. One claimed to have bought his supplies and sold his work. Collectors suspected him of copying or counterfeiting the works of other printmakers like M.C. Escher and Rockwell Kent or forging signatures on prints he sold.
Washington’s prints still sell at galleries and auction houses, although listings make it clear the artist was born in 1962, even if the prints are dated to the 1930s. The Forbes article described his style as “reminiscent of German expressionist work, but often reflecting black American themes.” Brier Hill Gallery of Boston, Massachusetts, believes in the artistic merit of Washington’s prints, as long as you know what you’re getting and “don’t take them too seriously.”
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Last January, Flora Steel learned, with an assist from Antiques Roadshow, that the brooch she had bought decades ago for under $25 was a long-lost 19th-century piece by celebrated Victorian architect William Burges. The brooch went to Gildings auction house in Market Harborough, England, UK, to sell in an upcoming Jewellery & Watches auction. On March 19, the brooch sold for more than £11,000, or about $14,000 in US currency.
This is a familiar story for Gildings. The Antiques Roadshow episode where jewelry specialist Geoffrey Munn showed a sketch of Burges’ brooch designs originally aired in 2011. Munn also discussed how valuable the brooches would be if any were found: about £10,000 ($12,500). That year, two viewers independently realized that they owned brooches that matched the designs. Both sold their brooches through Gildings. One was sold to the Victoria and Albert Museum in a private sale. The other sold for £31,000 ($40,000) at auction.
William Burges (1827-1881) was an architect and designer in the Gothic Revival style. His admiration for medieval art and his travels throughout Europe and Turkey were major influences on his career. His first major commission was Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral in Cork, Ireland. Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch, both in Cardiff, Wales, are his best-known buildings. Like many architects, he also designed metalwork and decorative arts.
While it wasn’t as dramatically high a price, Steel’s brooch also sold higher than Munn’s original estimate, but not as dramatically high as the one that sold in 2011. $14,000 is still plenty of money, which Steel plans to divide among donations to a breast cancer research fund, giving to her son and travel for herself.
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It measures approximately 5.25 inches square 4.25 inches tall.
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By Pamela Wiggins Siegel
Kramer of New York is one of those names dealers run across pretty frequently when sourcing costume jewelry. That usually means a company saw a good amount of success back when the jewelry was newly made. Nevertheless, it’s not a brand most fervent collectors get overly excited about. It might be on the uptick, though, since I’ve noticed pieces lingering in online shops being snatched up these days, indicating a growing base of fans out there in jewelry land.
My personal opinion of Kramer jewelry? It’s always been pretty high. Some of the lines this company marketed in the 1950s are over-the-top gorgeous, and many are undervalued today compared to rhinestone pieces sold by other companies. I was recently chatting about Kramer with a jewelry friend I’ve known for years, and we ran into some friendly differences of opinion about the company. While that’s fresh in my mind, I thought it would be a good time to feature Kramer and share some of that conjecture with you after a brief look at the company’s history.
Kramer necklace with iridescent Aurora Borealis rhinestones, 1950s, $175-$225.
As noted by jewelry historian Julia C. Carroll in her book Costume Jewelry 101, Louis Kramer established Kramer Jewelry Creations, Inc. in New York in 1943. His brothers Morris and Harry also joined the firm, but Louis Kramer appears to have been the driving force behind the business. The company they ran together also did business as Kramer of New York, a name more well known by collectors since pieces are marked in that way or simply Kramer.
The company used the slogan “The Diamond Look by Kramer” in magazine ads for rhinestone jewelry dating to the 1950s. The designs featured in these ads are some of the most desirable Kramer pieces among avid jewelry collectors. “The Golden Look by Kramer” was used with gold-plated jewelry devoid of stones during the same period, but those pieces aren’t in high demand even though they’re nicely made.
The Diamond Look by Kramer vintage advertisement.
Kramer also collaborated with Christian Dior in the 1950s to market jewelry signed either by Christian Dior or Kramer by Dior. Those pieces are also highly valued. By the early 1960s, Frank Hess, who had worked designing for Miriam Haskell for many years, had joined Kramer to create a line of jewelry marked Amourelle.
According to Carroll, not much more is known about Kramer other than the company closed around 1980. One question has remained over time, however. Did Kramer produce the jewelry it marketed for decades, or was it made by other manufacturing firms known in the industry as jobbers?
Kramer rhinestone bracelet with matching earrings, 1950s, $150-$200.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard people say that Kramer used jobbers rather than manufacturing jewelry. That seemed like it could be true since the styles and manufacturing techniques varied so widely in jewelry bearing one of their marks. The business didn’t stick with a look that defines most of the pieces branded Kramer or Kramer of New York in the way that Miriam Haskell did, for example. This was at the core of my discussion with an old friend recently, and she relayed that another jewelry historian we both know found in her research that Kramer employed around 200 workers at one time. That piqued my curiosity, so I decided to do some digging to see what else I could find.
Kramer frosted leaf articulated brooch, 1950s, $75-$125.
As it turns out, beyond relayed word of mouth, there is some evidence that Kramer did manufacture jewelry. A 1952 edition of the “Defense Production Record” noted this in regard to Kramer Jewelry Co. of New York, N.Y.: “Request for permission to use present inventory of white metal alloy in the manufacture of costume jewelry granted when Board concluded relief necessary to alleviate exceptional financial hardship and also to provide employment for workers in this industry.” They were authorized, between April 1, 1952, and Sept. 30, 1952, to use 2,750 pounds of white metal alloy in their inventory. This certainly points to manufacturing going on at Kramer since white metal is a primary component in plated costume jewelry.
I also found proof of a number of patents obtained by Louis Kramer during the mid-to late-1950s for jewelry, including brooch and necklace designs. This points to Kramer protecting his designs in the same way that Boucher and Trifari did back in the day, but does that mean his business was manufacturing them? Given the documentation supporting a lawsuit filed by Kramer against Capri Jewelry, Inc. in 1956 for “copyright infringement and unfair competition,” it certainly seems so. Kramer is listed as engaging in “the designing, manufacturing and selling of costume Jewelry of creative designs.” On the other hand, Capri is described as being in “the business of selling costume jewelry to retailers. It does not manufacture its own jewelry.”
Kramer “Alexandria Collection” earrings with color-changing Alexandrite stones – 1953.
In my mind, these resources do indicate that Kramer produced jewelry. Does that mean they never contracted other businesses to make jewelry for them or that they used jobbers more frequently after the 1950s? Those facts are yet to be discovered by jewelry researchers. For now, though, I think we can conclude that they did employ a fairly large staff of workers who were producing jewelry in New York during the 1950s.
One of the things I’ve always been attracted to is specialty stones in costume jewelry—that is, stones beyond the average round rhinestone. Kramer used several types of stones molded to look like leaves in designs that have always been my favorites. Some look more like art glass with an iridescent finish, and others are frosted glass stones.
Kramer bracelet with leaf stones, 1950s, $125-$175.
Dangling elements always catch my eye, too. Kramer was very good at taking ordinary designs and adding dangling beads to make them more special. Some are clear faceted beads, while others have round beads that add amazing pops of color. Other stones, like Swarovski’s Alexandrite color changers, which vary from lavender to light blue depending on the light source, also decorate some of my favorite Kramer designs.
So, even though Kramer isn’t a brand that collectors eagerly clamor to own beyond the most exceptional lines, in my opinion, their Diamond Look still shines brightly after all these years.
Photos courtesy of Jay B. Siegel
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The dimensions are 34 in h x 26 in w x 3 in d.
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Sometimes, even auction houses need a second opinion. Nesbits Auctioneers & Appraisers in the U.K. estimated a pair of blue and white Chinese porcelain vases at a value of about £100, or about $125 in U.S. currency, ahead of their March 6 auction. The vases attracted a bidding frenzy and ultimately sold for £351,000—or nearly $450,000!
The vases came to the auction house under familiar circumstances: A vendor in Portsmouth was cleaning out his mother’s home and found them in the attic. Like many of the most famous Chinese porcelain pieces, they are blue and white. The design features bats, a symbol of good luck, and peaches, which stand for immortality.
The vases were marked for the Qianlong dynasty, which lasted from 1736 to 1795, but appraisers knew that wasn’t a guarantee they were that old. Chinese artisans have made copies of older porcelains for hundreds of years, including copying the original marks. Collectors and experts often call such marks “apocryphal.” These copies were not intended to be fakes, and many are old enough to be antiques. However, this also means that authentic pieces can be misidentified as copies. There are plenty of stories of valuable Chinese porcelain discovered at thrift stores or in family homes. Appraisers need to carefully consider other clues, like the provenance, condition of the piece, colors, and quality of the design, in order to determine its age.
Nesbits listed the vases online as dating to the 20th century with apocryphal marks. They were soon contacted by professional collectors and porcelain experts who thought otherwise. Many of these experts went to the auction house to view the vases in person. Those who couldn’t do so looked at pictures taken under ultraviolet light, which can show signs of restoration. They came to a consensus: The marks were not apocryphal. The vases were authentic Qianlong porcelain.
After 20 minutes of bidding, the vases went to a Chinese buyer. The price set a house record for Nesbits, whose previous highest sale was £48,000 for a Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze statue of a bodhisattva.
And what about the vendor who found the vases in his mother’s attic? According to Dan Tricker, a salesroom manager at Nesbits, he had to decide earlier this year between home renovations and a holiday. Now he doesn’t have to choose, and he plans to take multiple holidays.
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