Genuine craft stalls

[jazzactivist]

I wonder what you think of these situations. Yesterday OH and I went to Keswick as it has quite a nice outdoor market and the jazz festival is on this weekend too. One of the stalls at the market had a huge banner proclaiming the women to be a "designer-maker of high class jewellery" I could see from a distance that all of her jewellery looked really uniform, so when I went up to the stall I asked her if she made it all herself. She was a bit taken aback by my question, and admitted that she buys the silver jewellery ready made from a supplier and then she and her husband set the stones. However, even the stones weren't properly set, but glued in. I thought it was a bit disingenuous of her, as a designer-maker is meant to be exactly that - someone who completely designs and makes their own craft items. However, I wasn't sure if what she claimed about her work was a deliberate lie, or that she wasn't sure herself. I didn't want to be too challenging about it, as there were customers at her stall.

Today OH and I went to a nearby craft market and there was a silver jewellery stall there. Even though the woman does make her own silver items from scratch she had mixed them up with bought-in items, so only a discerning eye could see which was which. I picked up two rings that were next to one another and commented to her that I could see that she had made one of them, and it was lovely, but what about the other? She said that she had been afraid that she didn't have enough items for her stall, so had bought in a lot of other items to make it look more! I felt sorry for her, but thought she was doing her own work a dis-service, as it was very nice, let alone fooling her customers.

What do you think about this type of 'fudging'? Do you feel confident about being able to tell which is a genuine hand-crafted item, and which isn't? Does it happen with other crafts too?

[franbee]

I too have a problem with this. Many times you go to a craft market and find that whilst there are some people selling lovely things they have made themselves, there are always some selling bought in cheap rubbish from India or China, hand crafted maybe, but not what I would want. OH is very critical of the wooden items, as he makes them himself.
The gallery in town only sells British made items, mainly local.

[jazzactivist]

I think perhaps the people who organise some craft markets aren't strict enough, fran. Some ask for photographs of your work to be submitted in advance, but in the case of the woman who mixed her own work with bought items she would have looked fine. I don't think she even realised that what she had done was inappropriate. I think that most regular craft buyers can tell quality from tat, but if it is displayed well and they are told that it was handmade by someone could they really tell that it wasn't by that person? I look for uniformity across all the pieces, as that is a sure sign that they were mass produced using a mold, and also genuinely handcrafted items always have tiny individual irregularities and work marks which are different to the sort of marks made by machinery. If the item is too perfect it is usually too good to be true! I think galleries are more fastidious about the quality of the work and ask lots of quetions about how it is made, whereas many craft markets just want to hire out stalls. Afterwards we went to the tiny Beach Hut Gallery in Kents Bank station near Grange, and although it only has a few designer-makers' work on display you can immediately tell that it is high quality and hand made by them. I bought a lovely, handthrown, pottery teapot.

[sheddie]

I don't think this is right to say it is genuine handmade then mix in other items Jazz. X

[dinger]

I think we find this at antique fairs also some things are modern been made to look old and yet being passed off and priced as something they are not. it is most unfair on buyers.

[jazzactivist]

I agree, dinger. Years ago I saw an item on the Antiques Roadshow where a couple were trying to pass of an old wooden pram as an antique. It really looked the part - like the sort of thing you would expect a very early child's crib on wheels to look like. They spotted it was a fake though, and pointed out that these were being made and more items were likely to be passed off as antiques in future. I suppose it happens in the art world too, where forgeries are passed off as the real artist's work, and apparently we have a few questionable ones hanging in our national galleries. There was that father and son arrested quite recently who were producing fake works of art in their garden shed, wasn't there? I think if they could manage to reproduce them so that they fooled art dealers and auctioneers then their talent should have meant that they could earn a living from their own work. I was amazed with regard to the craft stalls at the first woman's cheek though, to sit there pretending that she is a designer-maker when she clearly isn't, but perhaps that is just elitism on my part of lack of knowledge on hers?

[franbee]

I don't have a problem with reproduction stuff, as long as it is marketed as such. Same with craft items, if they are made by hand in the third world, fine, as long as I know, and can make my choice.

[jazzactivist]

Yes, that's true fran, I don't mind either. There are Fair Trade craft collectives in 'third world' countries that rely on individuals selling their items here. However, it should be clear on the stall and literature that is the case. Buying in cheap mass produced items and then tinkering about with them, or mixing them with handcrafted to sell at genuine craft fairs seems wrong though.

[annie fenbug]

Competely with you on this one, Jazz. Trouble is, some people genuinely don't seem to realise it's misleading (at best), and then members of the public don't understand (or value) genuinely hand-created work, whether it comes under 'art' or 'craft'. Our Open Studios organisation has always had a clear statement that the members are showing their own work, yet every now and then some idiot tries to put bought-in stuff on display, a visitor complains and it's to the detriment of the entire membership. Unfortunately, from your point of view, jewellery is particularly vulnerable to the kind of half-baked 'creativity' where it's really assembly rather than designer-creating (wood turning's another Buyer Beware area) that might just get past the Trading Standards Officers.

[Crocus]

I think quite strict rules should be applied when it comes to art and craft stalls regarding designers and hand-crafted work. If the lable says own design and hand-crafted, then that's what it should be.Not only can it cause problem for the organisers, or the buyers, but it's also for the designers themselves if they're not honest about their work.

[souter girl]

It seems to me it's the sort of thing that gives craft fairs a bad name and reduces them to the level of boot sales - nothing wrong with the latter, but things should match their description (trade descriptions act?)

[Crocus]

We've got a few flea markets in the area but we only went to one or two, because most of the stuff is nonsense stuff, and "hand-made" is not really hand-crafted, kind of 'thrown together' and really not value for money.

We prefer to go art and craft markets and the standard is quite high and usually lovely stuff are presented.