Somebody will not like this post…
I am thinking of a poor guy that just paid 4400 euros for a set of 4 fake Panton plastic panels.
Recently at Quittenbaum auctions there was a lot of nice Panton objects for sale.
Among all authenthic pieces, there was this set of 4 plastic panels wich was not designed by Verner Panton:
http://catalog.quittenbaum.de/index.php?_function=keyword_search&_Language=ger&search=panton
(scroll down to see them or go directly to the next link):
http://catalog.quittenbaum.de/objectPicZoom.php?Objekt_ID=57579&Language=ger
These panels have been around for so many auction that many auction experts thinks they are made by Panton.
They went for 4 400 Euros!!!
I have spoken to Marianne Panton about them earlier. Verner Panton never used these colours in his panels.
Verner Panton designed:
– Plastic panels for HORLACHER in green/lighter green for the exhibition VISIONA 2 in 1970.
– Half blue / half yellow plastic panels for HORLACHER (Prototypes for the green ones).
– Plastic panels in silver.
– Soft panels in pink/darker pink.
– Plastic panels with 1, 4, or 9 “bubbles” for LÜBER.
But never red/purple, violett/orange or black/white in this Yin Yan combination!
I have seen these faked panels earlier on a brittish website that produced these copies (www.popartplastic.co.uk).
They made a lot of plastic panels, copys and also their own designs in plastic.
Since some years, “popartplastics” is shutted down so you can not see their homepage anymore.
Their buisness with these copies are stopped and they don´t produce them anymore.
But you can still from time to time see these copies on different auctions.
If you use “Wayback Machine” wich is a “archive” of internet, you can still see their homepage:
http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20080329094842/http://www.popartplastic.co.uk/index.html
Some pictures are not visible anymore but you can still see some in the upper left corner when the pictures is shifting…
For example the ones that were sold on Quittenbaum…
They costed GBP 95 per panel when the fakes were made…
Here you can see some prices:
I think he sold quite a few:
It is not easy to see if the plastic panels are fake or not.
“Popartplastics” also made other copys of Verner Pantons plastic panels:
The LÜBER plastic panels with one, four or nine “bubbles” very copied.
The ERCO plastic panels that looks lika 8 pieces of a cake was also copied.
And the super rare VISIONA 2 silver panels.
Even some panels that looked like Pantons Ringlamp (without the transparant part and lamp) were made…
You can see the originals here:
http://www.verner-panton.com/objects/archive/186/
HI
I think you may be getting confused with original and reproduction , for instance if as you say there are only two of a certain panel in the world
reproduction is the only way anyone can own some of these items eg VISIONA 2 PANELS . I am typing this email whilst sitting in a
eams recliner its not original it repro , repro is not fake . cheers mart.
Hi Martin,
Thanks for the comment!
I understand what you mean but the problem with the later made panels is that they actually are more fake than reproduction.
They are made by a former company in the UK (popartplastics) that made these as they were originals and they did not have any permission from the Panton estate to make them or sell them.
The Panton familly tried through lawyers to stop them wich took some time and in the meantime a lot of panels came out on the market. Some years ago I got one question a week regarding these. One person bought them thinking he scored the jackpot, realised they were fakes and sold them again (as originals) then the next week the new buyer asked me the same question…
They were made 30 years after the originals and they have been sold in many places as originals wich is not the case. If the Panton estate or anyone with the license to make them would start to make them again, I would call them re-editions or reproductions but not in this case.
Also, popartplastics did not realise the green/light green and yellow/blue panels actually were wall lamp shades as well. The originals are semi transparant so you could lit them up from behind. The fakes are more solid.
Popartplastics also made some panels in other colors than what Verner made, I have seen black/white, red/violet besides the blue/yellow.
On the other hand, the copies/fakes looks cool and I have no problem that people buy and sell them but it´s more fair for everyone to sell them for what it is and not originals. Cheers! Niklas