VINTAGE PUEBLO POTS AND OLLAS

Having collected antique Pueblo pots for many years, I learned recently that even experienced collectors can be taken by unscrupulous sellers on okay and elsewhere. okay rules prohibit the disclosure of the seller's ID who sold me an obvious fraudulent olla, but, I can say that the listed item was a 'Vintage Zia Olla" and I paid $1200.00 for it. It would take too long to list the characteristics one should look for when bidding on a pot, especially as many of these fake, non Indian made pots have some that should be present in the genuine articles, so, as a help to potential buyers, let me tell you that the market is flooded with these pots now. They're showing up on okay in listings from sellers with very good feedback and at other auction houses. I know of 2 very experienced dealers/sellers who were also fooled by fake pots recently at an auction outside of okay and we have discussed what the dead give aways are that these are fakes. The first tip off is too bright paint; old pots were painted with native plant materisla and then fired, so the paint should be a bit dulled, never neon bright. As the paint was first applied before the firing, you shouldn't be able to feel raised lines and surfaces where the painted decorations are. Wear should not be uniform, as though the piece was sandpapered to give it a uniform aged appearance, but should be where the piece would have been handled, such as paint loss, flaking and rim chips. Do your research; know the characteristics of a Zia pot v: an Agea pot, for instance. Those characteristics are still in use today and haven't changed. Lastly, a little gemon sense goes a long way. When galleries will pay thousands of dollars for old pots and ollas, why would anyone offer a genuine, antique pot worth $5000 for sale on okay with no reserve? If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Know your sellers; there are incredibly honest ones on okay who consistently list superior pots and those are the ones you can trust and place worry free bids with. One more thing: If you find that you've bought a fake, document everything, including the return of the fake to the seller. The seller of the fake Zia pot I mentioned had the pot returned to her at some expense by Fedex, fully insured, and then stated that an entirely different item had been returned to her. Make sure that an impartial 3rd party, such as a shipper, witnesses that you are sending the item back so there's a witness to the return, as dishonest sellers will be dishonest after the sale as well. You need to protect yourself from beginning to end, Be careful out there!