Alerts on Confusing Collectibles October 2012

Reproductions of Frankart lamps and other figurals are being sold by at least a couple of U.S. companies. The repros we have seen are not marked the way originals are. Some are marked “Sarsaparilla,” the name of a company that made copies beginning in the 1970s until it closed in the 1990s. You can even buy reproduction shades for Frankart lamps that originally sold with parchment shades.

Reproductions are sometimes good investments. We just noticed that a reproduction oak Diamond Dyes cabinet, clearly listed as a reproduction, sold for $140 at a recent Victorian Casino Antiques auction. Of course, originals in excellent condition sell for thousands, but who would have thought that a copy would hold its value so well. Original Diamond Dyes cabinets date from the early 1900s.