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XVII
REPRODUCTIONS OF ANTIQUE FURNITURE
AND OBJECTS OF ART
O       NE must have preserved many naive illusions
if one may believe in all the "antiques" that
are offered in the marketplaces of the world
to-day. Even the greatest connoisseurs are caught
napping sometimes, as in the case of the famous crown
supposedly dating to the Fifth Century, B. C., which
was for a brief period one of the treasures of the
Louvre. Its origin was finally discovered, and great
was the outcry! It had been traced to a Viennese
artisan, a worker in the arts and crafts.
Surely, if the great men of the Louvre could be so
deceived it is obvious that the amateur collector has
little chance at the hands of the dealers in old furniture
and other objects of art. Fortunately, the greatest
dealers are quiet honest. They tell you frankly if the
old chair you covet is really old, if it has been partially
restored, or if it is a copy, and they charge you accord-
ingly. At these dealers a small table of the Louis XVI
period, or a single chair covered in the original tap-
estry, may cost as much as a man in modest circum-
stances would spend on his whole house. Almost
everything outside these princely shops (salons is a
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