" It's Almost Christmas, enjoy this present, as it's the last one..."
Starting with this article, the results to our investigations will be revealed solely to our subscribers and clients.
Only information related to "misattribution", or "fake" as well as the location of the seller will be available to all...
The table centerpiece stamped by la Maison d'orfevrerie Christofle and titled "Sol Lunaire", created in 1969, has been attributed to Tapio Wirkkala for decades but it is NOT one of Wirkkala's artworks! Is this even surprising?
It was sold 8 times at WRIGHT in Chicago, 3 times at PIASA in Paris, twice at BOETTO in Genoa, twice in Turin etc... In total, this piece was wrongly assigned to Tapio Wirkkala at least 30 times: Good Job, folks!
We subsequently contacted Christofle, the Wirkkala foundation, as well as Tapio Wirkkala's children in Finland, and all have confirmed this error (Exhibit #1).
(Exhibit #1)
The legitimate artist of this art piece has also confirmed ownership of the chandelier (table centerpiece), as seen in our previous article.
We extend our thanks to Petra Wirkkala, as well as Maaria Wirkkala and Sami Wirkkala for graciously confirming that this artwork was not created by their father.
We are indebted to Marie Mouterde from Christofle for sharing with us the document N°1458 pertaining to this chandelier (table centerpiece).
Also expressing our friendship to Jacques, the old chatty man...
Case closed.
Book ’em! The auction house or the art dealer provided little or no corroborating evidence in the form of documentation for this item.
Time Off! The expert made a significant mistake on this item. His attributed period came in way off. No early parole!
Missing persons alert! The auction house or the art dealer failed to uncover and identify the artist for this item.
Identity theft! They’re guilty of the worst crime of all: mislabeling the artist with another alias. And Picasso painted the Mona Lisa, right?!
The obsessive, nitpicky and no-holds-barred investigative team at DOCANTIC maintains an unparalleled database of original documentation for 20th Century, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco & Design furniture and works of art.
At DOCANTIC we believe that designers deserve proper identification for each work they have created, and that any art lover should confidently pay the right price for his or her purchase. We see the art world filled with both talented artists and con artist and, therefore, also riddled with innumerable attribution errors and outrageous pricing mistakes. By supplying authentic period photographs, DOCANTIC catches and apprehends the undervaluation (or overvaluation) of furniture and works of art. That’s our mission. We stop errors dead in their tracks. We serve and protect 20th Century furniture’s reputation.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, DOCANTIC sets the bar for the identification of 20th Century furniture, and shares with every art lover the information that has been kept under wraps by a handful of experts for far too long!
