Cycleback’s The Vintage
Collector
Cycleback's THE VINTAGE COLLECTOR
by David Rudd
email: cycleback@cycleback.com
June 8th 2002 issue
** The Vintage Collector is an occasional
email/online newsletter. Questions,
comments and submissions are encouraged and welcome.
CONTENTS
* Random Drawing: Win an Autograph
* Q & A
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RANDOM DRAWING: WIN A KELLEN WINSLOW AUTOGRAPH
I remembered that when I first started this
newsletter I had random drawings and quizzes with the winner winning a
prize. This issue offers a free, random
drawing to win an autographed.
THE PRIZE: National Football League Hall of
Famer, Kellen Winslow, Autographed 1992 ProLine Portraits Trading Card. Sharp, full-bleed picture with a mint silver
ink signature. Winslow, who spent his
career with the San Diego Chargers, is regarded as one of the best all-time
tight ends.
HOW TO ENTER: To enter, simply email me that you
would like to enter. The winner will be
randomly (I know true randomness is not possible, get off my back) picked from
the emails. The winner will be notified
after the drawing. I'll wait three or
four days to allow for entries.
THE ONE CONDITION (There's always a catch, isn't
there): A minimum 30 people must
enter. Meaning, if there is not
interest in the drawing, I'll keep the autograph myself.
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Q & A
QUESTION: I inherited from my uncle one of the
original 1985 Andy Warhol Prints of Pete Rose.
I never lnew my uncle real well, and I think he gave it to me because
I'm the only other collector and sports fan in the family. It has the same design as Pete Rose's Topps
baseball card. I believe that that
these prints were made by Warhol to help for a fundraising drive for a museum
in Cincinnati. I'm fairly sure that the
print is original, but I have a few questions.
It is autographed by Andy Warhol and hand numbered out of 30 including
the letters 'TP.' You said before that
the total number of prints made is usually larger than the number written one
print, so I am wondering how to find out how made were made total. What does the 'TP' indicate? The print is also autographed by Rose. At least it appears to be. I compared to other Rose autographs I have
and it looks real. Is the Rose
autograph on this rare and raise the value, or did he sign all the prints? Sorry, for the long email. Any help would be appreciated.
ANSWER:
It appears to be a unique and valuable gift. I don't offer a final verdict without seeing items in person, but
from the scans you sent and the other information you provided, it appears that
your print is genuine. Make sure to
keep all the related papers/documentation.
As you noted, the prints were made, and authorized by Pete Rose, to
raise funds for the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The 'TP'
indicates that yours is a 'Trial Proof,' which was a proof, or test print, made
before the final printing. The trial
proofs differ from the final edition in coloring and often design. Each of the 30 trial proofs for this print
is unique. In other words, yours is a
one of a kind. There were a total of 50
prints made, including the 30 trial proofs.
From the literature and other information I
have, it does not appear that Rose formally signed the prints and I'm only
aware of yours and another that are signed by Rose. Which doesn't mean there aren't others out there. The other Rose signed print was owned by the
well known baseball collector Barry Halper.
Halper knew Rose and, apparently, had everything but the family dog
signed by Rose or Joe DiMaggio (Only a slight exaggeration).
As far as value goes, it probably raises the
value somewhat. Rose is an active
signer and his signature is common.
While the non-sport fine art collector may wish that it was left in the
original state, I'm sure may sports collectors would like the addition. .
QUESTION:
Do wire photos always have a stamp on the back? Also, how does the picture quality of wire
photos compare to regular photos? I ask
this because I've ever bought one before.
ANSWER: Most, but not all, wire photos have the
stamp of the news service (UPI, AP, ACME, other). Sometimes, the stamp disappeared due to aging. In some cases the stamp was never put
on. I recently bought a collection wire
photos from the Chicago Tribune and some were stamped, but many were not.
This means that it is not always possible to
tell whether or not a photo is a wire photo.
I've had photos that I guessed were wire photos, but was not
positive. This fact may affect the
sell price, because collectors usually want to be sure what they are buying.
The image quality (focus, tone, etc) varies
widely in wire photos, both old and new.
Some are rough and some are perfect.
So you should take look at the quality on a case by case basis.
QUESTION: I read in an old magazine how museums
use equipment to see the writing behind a painting. Could this be done with T206 Nodgrass?
ANSWER: That can be and is done. I believe what you are talking about is
infrared reflectography which involves various kinds of equipment that view the
emission of infrared light from different materials. As different materials, like inks and paints and even things like
plants and animals, absorb and emit infrared light differently, they can look
different in tone (dark, medium, invisible) when viewed through an infrared
lens. Infrared light cannot be seen
with the human eyes, but the infrared viewing equipment coverts it to visible
range. Infrared light is on the
opposite end of the light spectrum from ultraviolet light (aka black light),
which is also invisible.
In simple words, the infrared viewer allows one
to see through some kinds of paint to view the artist's original pencil sketch
or outline. This works if the
background sketch is in pencil (which appears dark) and was on white or light
paper or canvas. The success also
depends on what kind and colors of paint were used. For example, black or blue
are harder to see though, but yellow and red are easy.
Similarly, the infrared viewer has proves
successful in some cases in seeing through the alteration on trading cards and
similar items. For those unfamiliar
with the T206 Nodgrass that the reader mentioned, the T206 was an early 1900s
baseball tobacco card set and the Nodgrass card is a scarce and fairly valuable
variation. On most of his cards, Fred
Snodgrass's name was spelled correctly, but in a few printing errors nearly all
of the first 'S' was left out.
In some cases, a forger has altered the normal
'Snodgrass' card by painting over the 'S.'
Luckily, as the lettering is black on white, and the overpainting is
white, it not difficult to see the 'S' through the overpainting.
Despite any possible scientific intimidation,
the infrared viewer is simple to use-- the normal handheld model is about as
easy as a black light. The problem is
that they and the related equipment are dang expensive (I had to get a second
job at McDonalds). Unless someone is a
real high roller, I don't recommend getting one.
For the vast majority of potentially altered
items, like the T206 Nodgrass card, inexpensive methods are effective. This includes using a black light and
eye-examination-checking gloss, color, opacity, etc.
In case the general subject interests you, the
below linked website, at Harvard, has a nice illustrated overview of the
different ways they examine paintings, including using the infrared viewer.
http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/Renaissance/
QUESTION: What is a glicee print? I've seen a lot of them recently. Do they have artistic value?
ANSWER: I thought I answered the question in the
newsletter before, but perhaps my minds been playing tricks on me. A glicee is a fancified computer print,
similar to a laser printer. They are
commonly used to reproduce artists' paintings, photographs and other original
art. They are often officially licensed
by the artist, including being artist signed and numbered and all that
jazz. I have seen a few in person, and
the reproduction quality seems to be good, with bright colors.
I'll pass on giving judgment on the artistic
value, as your opinion is probably as good as mine on that type of
subject. I do point out that a glicee
shouldn't be confused with an original (handmade) print or the original art
that the glicee reproduced.
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That's it
Cycleback's THE VINTAGE COLLECTOR
by David Rudd
issue: May 28 2002
** The Vintage Collector is an occasional
newsletter concerning the authentication and realated issues in the fine and
collectable arts. Comments, questions
and submissions are always welcome.
Q & A
QUESTION: I have noticed, and I'm sure that
others have noticed, that the exact same picture of Honus Wagner on the 1909
T206 (tobacco card) was used in other areas.
I saw the same picture of him used on an old board game from about 1906
I think, and also in a 1911 magazine.
How did this work out?
ANSWER: Basically, there were companies whose
business was, at least partially, to gather and distribute photographs to
whomever needed and would pay for them.
It's much like Associated Press gathering and distributing news stories
to paying subscribers (in fact, Associated Press also distributed photographs),
or a local talent agent providing musical to weddings and proms. A company would have on file pictures of
Honus Wagner they commissioned from famous photographers like Charles Conlon
and Carl Horner. If a board game,
newspaper or tobacco company needed a photograph of Wagner or Ty Cobb for their
upcoming product, they would go to the photograph distributing company. I'm sure that the photograph distributor had
a wide variety of Wagner images from which to choose, but as the particular
image of Wagner became well known, that's the one a company's marketers wanted.
You will find that other baseball card images
are often used over on a variety of products.
Mickey Mantle's batting portrait on his 1951 Bowman Rookie Card and Ted
Williams' portrait on his 1954 Bowman are two examples.
QUESTION: You wrote that with intaglio prints
that you can sometimes feel the ink with your fingers. Is this the common in practice or not?
ANSWER: I would guess that about half or
slightly more than half of the intaglio prints (engraving, etching, drypoint,
photogravure, etc) I examine I can distinctly feel the ink by running by finger
tips across the print. The better the
condition of the paper (lack of creasing, wrinkling, roughness) the more likely
you will be able to feel it. I find
this test helpful in identifying these prints.
Make sure you wash your hands before checking a
print this way, especially if it's a $50,000 Rembrandt etching and you've just
eaten fried chicken. I haven't been
allowed back in Seattle Arts Museum since that incident.
QUESTION: Hi David. I have your book on authentication and collect most baseball
memorabilia. I would like to buy a
1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie Card, but am keenly aware that there are a
lot of counterfeits out there. My plan
is this: I already own several hundred
of the 86-7 Fleers, though no Jordan. I
also have a black light that I got from my brother. My plan is that when I get a prospective Michael Jordan I will
compare its black light fluorescence with the cards I already have, hoping that
a fake would be different. I just want
to check with you to see if this sounds reasonable.
ANSWER: Sounds like a good plan to me. Realize that there can be some variations in
fluorescence within a trading card issue, but if you have a good number of the
86-87 Fleer cards you probably won't have a problem. Also, I am assuming you would also compare stuff like card gloss,
cardstock thickness, etc. If all
basketball collectors were as prudent as you, the Jordan counterfeit would
probably not be a problem.
QUESTION: David, how does writing on the back of
photographs effect the value? I'm want
to buy a small bunch of 1920ish photos and most have writing on the back. I know that writing is not a good thing on
cards.
ANSWER:
As far as writing on the back goes, photographs are different than
trading cards. With most trading cards,
any writing or marks on the back will significantly lower the value. With most photographs with blank backs, neat
and relevant handwriting that doesn't effect the front image, will have rarely
lower the value significantly and sometimes will raise it.
If the writing is the photographer's, it will
probably raise the value. For
collectors of original wire photos, crop marks and production notes will often
raise the value, as the collector finds it interesting and it shows that photo
was 'official.' If an old family photo
has the vital information: date, location, who's who and what's what-- that is
a good thing. I know that many
collectors have come across an obscure carte de visite or tintype and wished
the original owner had written this type information on the back.
For a fancy display photograph that has a ornate
design on the back, like a cabinet card with the studio's design on back,
writing should not aesthetically effect the design, but, again, a small note
written neatly in pencil in one corner probably won't adversely affect the
value.
For real photo postcards, opinions differ. Some collectors like the backs (or fronts,
when notes were written on a blank front panel) to be blank while others prefer
a postally used postcard with interesting writing.
For real photo trading cards, like the 1880s Old
Judge tobacco cards or 1948 Topps Magic Photos (little self developing
photographic cards, issued by the famous bubblegum maker), writing on the back
will lower the value. Most of these
photos are collected by trading card collectors, so the trading card rules
apply.
In short, 80% percent of the vintage photographs
I handle have some form of handwriting on the back. This writing is more often than not useful and, as long as it
doesn't effect the aesthetics of the photograph, it does not lower the value.
QUESTION: I bought on eBay a black light and
just started testing it out. I notice
that the three 1909-11 T206 cards I have a fluorescence. It's light, sort of very light brown in
color. Is this okay?
ANSWER: Little paper material, even antique
paper material, has no fluorescence, which would mean it would be black under a
black light. The T206s have a fluoresce
like you describe and, if I recall correctly, the yellow ink can fluoresce
yellow. Old photographs and paper
material will often have a tannish fluorescence.
QUESTION: I recently started collecting cards
from before World War II, especially from the 1930s. I bought some cards some cards that at first I didn't notice that
there was some spots of glue and paper loss on the back. It was dumb of me not to look when I bought
them, but they are beat up anyway.
When I was looking at eBay I noticed that other
cards have similar back damage. Is this
type of damage normal? How did it
happen and how does it affect the value?
ANSWER: In the old days it was common to paste
trading cards, photos, postcards, etc, into scrapbooks. When the cards were removed, most often in
modern times for resale, the backs will have paper loss, glue or album paper residue. This type of back damage is common for cards
dating back to the late 1800s. The
damage definitely lowers the value, especially if the card is in otherwise high
grade. It will effect the value less,
and may be barely noticeable, if the card has not text or graphics on the back,
like an 1880s Old Judge or 1930s Goudey Premiums.
QUESTION: Which are the best professional sports
card graders and the worse?
ANSWER: I'm not into the graded card scene, and
have little personal experience with them.
Readers are more than welcome to foreword their opinions on this
matter. Popular opinion says that the
'Big Three' are PSA (Professional Sports Authenticators), SGC (Sportscard
Guarantee) and Beckett (BGS, BVG). I
don't hesitate to say that NASA (for those unfamiliar with trading cards, that
name is not a joke) and PRO are the worst, neither being legitimate
ventures. And presumably all the rest
fall somewhere in between, in reputation if not practice.
There is a new company called Global
Authentication Inc (GAI), which was formed by prominent defectors from
PSA. Though I think their name is
rather silly (professional graders tend to choose names that make them sound
like internet venture capital firms), some of their cards were in a MastroNet
auction which means someone must think they are good. I've heard some card collectors grumble about GAI's lenient
grading, but card collectors like to grumble about grading issues (I've been
heard to grumble on occasion).
While Beckett is well regarded in the hobby--
and I think highly of them as an overall good company-- they have a relatively
new BCCG (Beckett Collector's Club Grading) designation which I don't think
much of. It appears that BCCG is a
softening of the grading standards in order to help mass-marketers like
Shop-at-Home mass market their wares to gullible beginners.
QUESTION: You wrote that a plate mark sometimes
appears on relief prints. Under what
situations will this appear?
ANSWER: Plate marks (indentations surrounding
the printed graphic) are uncommon on relief prints, and when it does appear,
it's usually in the fine arts. They are
very rarely seen on collectable/commercial relief prints.
QUESTION: I have some M116s Sporting Life
baseball cards and was looking them up in the Standard Catalog of Baseball
Cards. It says that they are hand
colored. How can I tell if mine are
hand colored, because I'm not sure they are.
ANSWER: The cards were not hand colored. I suspect that that description in the
catalog was used to describe the cards' appearance, and not to be taken
literally.
QUESTION: In fine art prints, how often will the
colors and inks used change for a print.
I mean within a specific edition, as opposed to between editions.
ANSWER: It is not rare for colors/inks to differ
within an edition. In some cases the
artist has a premeditated design to create a unique color combination for each
print. Andy Warhol was famous for doing this on his screen prints. In other cases, the colors and tones vary
more subtly, as the artist makes minor adjustments throughout the printing
process. In much of fine art printing,
the colors are mixed by hand, much like a painter mixing paints on a
palette. It is not abnormal for the
artist or printer to say "This needs a bit more blue" after a print
comes off the press, or "I'm going to try something different this
time." Also, if the artist
accidentally runs out of a batch of ink and has to mix some more it's nearing
impossible to match exactly the original colors.
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That's it, thanks for reading