Reinhold Vasters - Vessel in the Form of a Seamonster - Walters 4166

Reinhold Vasters - Renaissance-Style Pendant with Judith Holding the Head of Holofernes - Walters 44424 - Side B

Reinhold Vasters (2 January 1827 – 14 June 1909) was a German goldsmith. When a collection of his designs came to light some 60 years after his death, it became apparent that he had been a prolific art forger.

Early and private life

Vasters was born in Erkelenz, a few miles north of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. His father was a locksmith. His father died when he was aged 8, and he was raised by his uncle. After attending school, he trained as a goldsmith in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

, and developed his skills further in London, Paris and Vienna. He exhibited works at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

in London in 1851, and won a prize. He moved to Aachen, registering his mark in 1853. In Aachen, he worked with Heinrich Joseph Viethen making and repairing metal articles for the cathedral, and developed a reputation as a specialist in antique liturgical gold and silver. He married Anna Catharina Josepha Hammacher in 1855; she was the sister of painter Theodor Hammacher. They had three children, but she died shortly after giving birth to the third in 1859. Vasters suffered a stroke and died in

, aged 82 years. He was survived by two children and eight grandchildren.

Art forgeries

To support his family after his wife's death, Vasters started to create reproduction works in a historical style. He worked for the art historian Franz Bock, who moved to Aachen in 1862, and for goldsmiths August Witte and Martin Vogeno. He also worked for the art dealer Frédéric Spitzer from Vienna, who helped Vasters to sell historical fakes. He became an expert in creating convincing fakes, which he distressed and aged, and also added fake later additions and fake workmen's marks. He became an expert in faking Renaissance jewellery, in the styles of, for example,

Wenzel Jamnitzer Wenzel Jamnitzer (sometimes Jamitzer, or Wenzel ''Gemniczer'') (1507/1508 – 19 December 1585) was a Northern Mannerist goldsmith, artist, and printmaker in etching, who worked in Nuremberg. He was the best known German goldsmith of his e ...

Leone Leoni : Lioni Leoni ( – 22 July 1590) was an Italian sculptor of international outlook who travelled in Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Spain and the Netherlands. Leoni is regarded as the finest of the Cinquecento Medalist, medallists. He made his ...

, or Valerio Belli. When an archive of his designs came to light in the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London in the 1970s, it became apparent that many works held by that museum and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York, originally considered to be originals, were faked by Vasters. The designs were acquired in Aachen in 1909 by the art dealer Murray Marks, sold to Lazare Lowenstein in 1918, and donated to the V&A in 1919. One example is the Rospigliosi Cup, previously attributed to

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

and then to Jacopo Bilivert or Biliverti. He is suspected to be involved in several objects in the Waddesdon Bequest in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Others are still undiscovered in other museums and private collections.

References

* Thornton, Dora (2015), ''A Rothschild Renaissance: The Waddesdon Bequest'', 2015, British Museum Press, * Truman, Charles, "Reinhold Vasters, the last of the goldsmiths" ''

Connoisseur A connoisseur (French language, French Reforms of French orthography, traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge ...

'', March 1979
"Reinhold Vasters, Goldsmith"
Yvonne Hackenbroch, ''Metropolitan Museum Journal'', Vol. 19/20 (1984/1985), pp. 163–268
Reinhold Vasters-Artisan or Forger

Rospigliosi Cup
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Pendant
Reinhold Vasters, Victoria & Albert Museum
Nothing more than weeds
Marco Grassi, ''The New Criterion'', February 2013
The Faker's Art
Joseph W. Alsop, ''New York Review of Books'', 23 October 1986
''Fake?: The Art of Deception''
edited by Mark Jones, Paul T. Craddock, Nicolas Barker, p. 200-204 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasters, Reinhold 1827 births 1909 deaths Artists from the Kingdom of Prussia German goldsmiths Art forgers People from Erkelenz 19th-century German artists