The issue of adding "after market" accents to rather plain perfume bottles to increase their value is not new to the world of collecting. Over the years collectors have dealt with unscrupulous dealers who added various labels to boring bottles. Many of these labels do not fit the shape of the bottle making them a little more obvious than others, but nonetheless it confuses collectors and dealers alike. Adding a loose label to a perfume bottle may sound harmless to those who practice the fraud in order to make a quick buck, but it hurts the world of perfume collecting as it can result in mistaken identity and false value.
Dealers will often take up a genuine loose perfume label, which is frequently found online, and add it to a rather plain looking antique bottle to make it into something worthy of collecting. Some people may be fooled by a pretty fancy looking label and might purchase it thinking it is a genuine old bottle that is worth money. While they may look beautiful, those of us who strive to accurately chronicle perfume companies' bottles and perfume history, it can muddle up our records and cause a lot of confusion. A good way to figure out a fake bottle is to check the base for any markings. A nice looking French label might be applied to a plain American made bottle. We would expect a fancy French perfume would be in a French bottle, not vice versa.
Some people also fake signatures on bottles. The best example is the taking of relatively new crystal perfume bottles made in the Czech Republic and the addition of a fake Rene Lalique signature with either a diamond point engraver or through acid etching. Some of us savvy bloggers will out these fakes on our websites when we find them, but some do slip through the cracks and end up as someone's costly buying mistake. It is important to recognize true Rene Lalique bottle designs against common faked bottles.
Another thorn in the side of collecting is the creation of so-called Victorian chatelaine scent bottles. A certain shameless company in India has been taking quite new perfume bottles such as Jean Paul Gaultier female torso bottles and adding handmade brass caps fitted with chains to create a fanciful "antique" or "art deco" scent bottle that they claim is "rare". I have tried to out these sellers over the years as I see more and more ridiculous bottles being produced and sold for high sums of money.
A newer problem arising our of India is the scary production of bottles with fake engraving. These are plain, inexpensive old bottles with after market engraving and applied patination. The seller (ebay seller antique.artnouveau) offers many genuine antique perfume bottles, but his auctions are peppered with these faked bottles too. At first glance, they may fool many people, as they are beautiful and look to be well made, but I, as well as some other seasoned collectors and dealers have noticed that these designs never existed in any previous documentation or auction record.
Some examples were a few bottles with ancient Egyptian themes such as the Osiris by Gabilla, Cassiris by JN Giraud Fils and Muguet by Coty.
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An example of the faked patination is the bottle for Gabilla's La Vierge Folle, the bottle is genuine as is the label, but the seller has added a reddish patina to increase the value. Funny how some of their other bottles have this same shade of red patina also applied to them. This bottle sold for $319 USD and probably would have only sold for around $75-$100 if it did not have the patina.
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I just looked at their auctions again and they have this SAME Gabilla bottle back up for sale, using the same photos...so it seems that the buyer had returned the bottle that sold and the sellers are reselling it, this time for a buy it now of $750 USD. This is ridiculous! Gabilla c1920 La Vierge Folle Cameo Etched Glass Perfume Bottle Rare Old Vintage![]()
Some of their other bottles with fakery are the following:
Bouquet Nouveau c1930 Houbigant Crystal Nancy Rare Vintage Perfume Bottle FlaconDealers will often take up a genuine loose perfume label, which is frequently found online, and add it to a rather plain looking antique bottle to make it into something worthy of collecting. Some people may be fooled by a pretty fancy looking label and might purchase it thinking it is a genuine old bottle that is worth money. While they may look beautiful, those of us who strive to accurately chronicle perfume companies' bottles and perfume history, it can muddle up our records and cause a lot of confusion. A good way to figure out a fake bottle is to check the base for any markings. A nice looking French label might be applied to a plain American made bottle. We would expect a fancy French perfume would be in a French bottle, not vice versa.
Some people also fake signatures on bottles. The best example is the taking of relatively new crystal perfume bottles made in the Czech Republic and the addition of a fake Rene Lalique signature with either a diamond point engraver or through acid etching. Some of us savvy bloggers will out these fakes on our websites when we find them, but some do slip through the cracks and end up as someone's costly buying mistake. It is important to recognize true Rene Lalique bottle designs against common faked bottles.
Another thorn in the side of collecting is the creation of so-called Victorian chatelaine scent bottles. A certain shameless company in India has been taking quite new perfume bottles such as Jean Paul Gaultier female torso bottles and adding handmade brass caps fitted with chains to create a fanciful "antique" or "art deco" scent bottle that they claim is "rare". I have tried to out these sellers over the years as I see more and more ridiculous bottles being produced and sold for high sums of money.
A newer problem arising our of India is the scary production of bottles with fake engraving. These are plain, inexpensive old bottles with after market engraving and applied patination. The seller (ebay seller antique.artnouveau) offers many genuine antique perfume bottles, but his auctions are peppered with these faked bottles too. At first glance, they may fool many people, as they are beautiful and look to be well made, but I, as well as some other seasoned collectors and dealers have noticed that these designs never existed in any previous documentation or auction record.
Some examples were a few bottles with ancient Egyptian themes such as the Osiris by Gabilla, Cassiris by JN Giraud Fils and Muguet by Coty.
An example of the faked patination is the bottle for Gabilla's La Vierge Folle, the bottle is genuine as is the label, but the seller has added a reddish patina to increase the value. Funny how some of their other bottles have this same shade of red patina also applied to them. This bottle sold for $319 USD and probably would have only sold for around $75-$100 if it did not have the patina.
I just looked at their auctions again and they have this SAME Gabilla bottle back up for sale, using the same photos...so it seems that the buyer had returned the bottle that sold and the sellers are reselling it, this time for a buy it now of $750 USD. This is ridiculous! Gabilla c1920 La Vierge Folle Cameo Etched Glass Perfume Bottle Rare Old Vintage
Some of their other bottles with fakery are the following:
This old Houbigant bottle has not only fake engraving but a fake glass cameo applied to the front.
The tactics used by this seller include much of the same engraved font and same color patina.