Reproductions: are informed sales ethical?

[OntarioArch]

I vote no.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/191352_reproduction-native-american-artifact-sale/

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[Garscale]

Nothing unethical about it. It's fine to have a different opinion but ethics dont apply here. They disclosed that the items are reproduction. May not be for you but they are doing nothing wrong.

 

[galenrog]

I know several people who make arrowheads, spear heads, blades, and other items from obsidian, chert, and flint. Several are acclaimed craftsmen in the knapping world. One is a Dane who makes beautiful Clovis replicas from flint found in Denmark. Why should they be forbidden to sell their crafts, so long as they are honest about the origins? I am also familiar with a small group in Iceland that makes a good living making and selling replica Viking Era tools, weapons, and other items.

What your motivation is for your dislike of honest commerce, I will not venture a guess.

Time for more coffee.

 

[pepperj]

Some just don't care if it's the real deal or a Repro.
It's been happening for centuries in coinage-decades in the antiquity world.
If one can name it-it has been done before.
You want old anything-30 yrs ago in SE Asia they made it, buried it, dug it, sold it..........
Buyer beware

 

[Buckleberry]

Uninformed sales are unethical, really fraud. I've purchased a few repros myself of points I would otherwise be unable to find made by excellent modern knappers.

 

[tomclark]

I DO NOT LIKE IT. Maybe I missed it, but are these permanently marked as repros?? The maker of ANY repro that is not permanently marked as such is unethical. Mark 'em and I have no problem with the "Art". IMHOP ONE fake in a collection taints the whole collection, especially for the future when you are gone.

 

[newnan man]

I like Tom's idea of engraving a repo. The maker could be an honest and very talented person. The buyer not so much.

 

[Injunbro]

I see no problem. I know of a mountain man group who used to enjoy living in the stone age for a weekend, week, etc. They used reproductions rather than wreck ancient artifacts. Several hunted w/ repro bows & arrows, antiques would be too brittle to use. Any real expert, archeologist, can tell by the edges which arrowhead is old & what isn't. Green River knives, rifles, muskets, axes, etc. have been copied for re-enactors, etc.

 

[smokeythecat]

I see no problem with it. They are art, after all. And they actually LOOK new. I can as a rule put an aboriginal point next to a new one and tell the difference.

 

[Nitric]

I have no problem with it as long as it's in the open and not misleading. That auction was honest.

If I were to make one and sell it? Would it really be a reproduction or a modern made point? I probably couldn't make one...just using it as an example. My wife wants a clear quartz point, we have never found one. We may end up buying even a reproduction so she could have one.

 

[smokeythecat]

It takes real skill and strength to make one apparently. I brought home some "excess" Flint Ridge Ohio, flint in 2018, and found out I could make smaller pieces from larger ones. I don't know how the folks who made them, whenever it was, were able to do so.

 

[Xraywolf]

Same dilemma exists in any collectibles market, numismatics, militaria ect.
I'd prefer not to see a market flooded with high quality fakes, but there are alot of things I would prefer that will never happen and I have no control of.
There is no way to stop it, best to ignore it and know your stuff when buying.

 

[Nitric]

It takes real skill and strength to make one apparently. I brought home some "excess" Flint Ridge Ohio, flint in 2018, and found out I could make smaller pieces from larger ones. I don't know how the folks who made them, whenever it was, were able to do so.

I don't live all that far from there and still haven't been there yet!! hahaha. Maybe this summer!

 

[smokeythecat]

I didn't go in 2020. I also have about 20 POUNDS of worked artifacts from there. I gave away about three 5 gallon buckets of the rough material to a friend. It IS possible to tell recently knapped from the old stuff, if you study the artifacts and new pieces. With a hand lens, the differences are quite apparent.

 

[Garscale]

I'm a collector of ancient points. I also have a large frame of Jim Hopper art. All signed by Jim and most made from rare stone I personally gathered. These are not fakes. They are a totally different thing and I love them.

The original post asked if the auction was ethical. Those items arent fakes being represented as ancient. They are very nice art sold as exactly that.