Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Lindsey B's unique ability to combine the styles of cubism, art deco, and new wave into a single sculpture make her designs unmistakable. More difficult is spotting a Lindsey B copy. As artists achieve notoriety and collectability, forgers will recreate or copy the original artist's work. Often times these forgeries can be spotted as there are inconsistencies with the composition, color, texture or size. But in the case of Lindsey B's work, the knock offs are taken directly from her original work, which makes them slightly more difficult to spot. We have found a number of examples where it is clear that a mould was taken from an authentic piece and then recast. Because these copies were cast directly from the originals, they can be difficult to distinguish as they are the same size and striking imagery as the original sculptures. Below we are posting a couple examples of fakes.

The fake seen above is a copy of Lindsey B's "Rachel". Cast from an original piece this fake looks nice and shows well, but there are a few indicators that this is not an authentic piece. The first aspect to note is the finish, this glossy black finish stands apart from the majority of her matte finished pieces. Lindsey used a unique material to make her sculptures known as "crystacal," a very dense ceramic. The knockoffs are a cheap ceramic, lighter in weight and hollow. The second aspect to note is the hand painted line work, while Lindsey B did rework her pieces with added color, they were typically executed with an airbrush for a much softer make-up effect. The third and most important note is the signature, in the case of this fake there is no signature in the cast. The signature is frequently the easiest way to distinguish an authentic piece from a copy. The absence of a signature in the above piece is an immediate give away, but more common is the shallow signature as we found with the piece below.

The signature seen above comes from this fake "Rick". Because the majority of fake Lindsey B's are cast from a real piece, they are in effect "a copy of a copy" and just as with photocopies, the secondary piece is never quite as crisp and clear as the original. This is precisely the case for this copy. Where Lindsey B's sculptures showcase crisp clean cubist lines, the copy's edges are much softer and smoother than the original designs. The signature is also softer in the copy, it's not as crisp and cut as her authentic works.

To view authentic availabe pieces please visit www.the80sgallery.com