OntarioArch
Sr. Member
A couple years ago, a well-known and much respected artifact dealer advised me to be particularly cautious when evaluating/purchasing Old Timer's collections here in Central New York: reproductions have been around for a long time! How true that has proven to be. Most recently, I found myself in the workshop of a large 70+ year old gentleman: gruff but polite, obviously no fool, proud of his 200 item NA artifact collection, and still physically imposing. He was 'considering' whether or not to begin selling some of his collection: most he had found as a child, some he traded for. After several frames of typical central New York points and blades, he brought out the good stuff.
Leaning over a well lighted workbench, I watched anxiously as he unwrapped an individually protected item: there it was, a popeyed birdstone in pristine condition. "Did you find this one, Sir?" "No, I traded for it." And as I inspected the holes in the bottom, I observed conspicuous, deep, descending spiral grooves inside each hole. Thinking about saying nothing, I instead opted for a diplomatic question: the conversation went like this:
Me: How do you suppose those spiral grooves were made inside the holes?
Large Old Timer : Dunno, what do you think?
Me: Can I give you my honest opinion? (translation: please don't pound me if I deliver bad news)
Large: sure.
Me: Native Americans would have used a flint drill, or maybe a hollow reed with sand as an abrasive, in either case the hole would have a generally smooth bore, as seen by the naked eye. I think those spiral grooves were made by a steel drill bit. (I then made a instantaneous calculation: how many steps to the exit and how long to start my car and shift it into Drive.)
Large: Guess they should have used some sandpaper to get in there and sand out those marks.
Me: Yup. (A curveball! He doesn't get it!)
Next came three of the largest Grey Ghosts I have ever seen. Had to be 14 inches long. Not a flea bite on any of them.
Large: I've been offered a lot of money for these.
Me: Yup.
I made a reasonable offer on two beautiful Lamoka beveled adzes he found as a youngster, authentic as they come, in great condition. He decided to keep them, I genuinely thanked him for sharing his collection, and patted his old doggy on the way out.
He got a lot of enjoyment from that reproduction birdstone and those Grey Ghosts, and I got to observe some high quality reproductions, adding to my database.
Who is to say it wasn't time well spent.
Leaning over a well lighted workbench, I watched anxiously as he unwrapped an individually protected item: there it was, a popeyed birdstone in pristine condition. "Did you find this one, Sir?" "No, I traded for it." And as I inspected the holes in the bottom, I observed conspicuous, deep, descending spiral grooves inside each hole. Thinking about saying nothing, I instead opted for a diplomatic question: the conversation went like this:
Me: How do you suppose those spiral grooves were made inside the holes?
Large Old Timer : Dunno, what do you think?
Me: Can I give you my honest opinion? (translation: please don't pound me if I deliver bad news)
Large: sure.
Me: Native Americans would have used a flint drill, or maybe a hollow reed with sand as an abrasive, in either case the hole would have a generally smooth bore, as seen by the naked eye. I think those spiral grooves were made by a steel drill bit. (I then made a instantaneous calculation: how many steps to the exit and how long to start my car and shift it into Drive.)
Large: Guess they should have used some sandpaper to get in there and sand out those marks.
Me: Yup. (A curveball! He doesn't get it!)
Next came three of the largest Grey Ghosts I have ever seen. Had to be 14 inches long. Not a flea bite on any of them.
Large: I've been offered a lot of money for these.
Me: Yup.
I made a reasonable offer on two beautiful Lamoka beveled adzes he found as a youngster, authentic as they come, in great condition. He decided to keep them, I genuinely thanked him for sharing his collection, and patted his old doggy on the way out.
He got a lot of enjoyment from that reproduction birdstone and those Grey Ghosts, and I got to observe some high quality reproductions, adding to my database.
Who is to say it wasn't time well spent.
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