Nicholai II’s Rolls Royce Just Sold for 4 Million Euros...the Only Problem is That its a Fake
2,000 operational kilometers customs cleared, fully intact. A used import car could be described this way. But actually, it's the antique Rolls-Royce sold for 279 million rubles. The car allegedly belonged to Emperor Nikolai II says the ad on the Russian website. Although the same car was to be auctioned today in Paris. No tsars listed as owners. And the price is lower. How can legends become an engine of trade?
Yelena Yerofeyeva has the details.
Michael Heinrich is a German collector. He's selling a Rolls-Royce that allegedly belonged to Emperor Nikolai II for 4 million euro. He can prove its authenticity at a personal meeting.
"Unfortunately, it's impossible to arrange a meeting because two potential customers are coming from Russia. I'll contact you when I know their decision".
The Emperor actually had a Silver Ghost Rolls-Royce limousines in his garage but they were released in 1913. What Michael is trying to sell was released in 1915 and didn't reach Russia.
Emperor Nikolai II wasn't the only Rolls-Royce owner in the Russian Empire. More than 30 vehicles had been imported before the Revolution. Afterward, the Soviet government decided not to abandon the Silver Ghost. In 1922, this car was bought specifically for Lenin. The car's genuine. It's exhibited in Gorky Leninskiye Museum and is not for sale.
Tamara Shubina, museum employee: "Collectors were ready to pay any sum of money for this car".
When a serial car acquires a famous name its price skyrockets. It's not the car that's being sold, it's the legend. Collectors admit there are more cars today than famous people they could be assigned to.
Dmitry Oktyabrsky, collector:
- This car was released in 1924 and took part in all gangster wars.
- The price grew?
- It grew instantly. Of course, its legend is fake.
Even Brezhnev's chairs can be found online. Although the Secretary General is listed here as "brezhneg". 25,000 rubles per unit.
"How do you know these are Brezhnev's chairs?"
"They might not be his chairs but they were specifically manufactured in 1971."
But how can one prove whether Brezhnev actually sat on these chairs or never saw them? There are thousands of such artifacts in the nooks of Russian people
Dmitry Busharin, collector: "Antique market is full of fakes. Sabers are engraved with "honorary" medals receive fake numbers that make them rarer or a picturesque sea landscape receives an "Aivazovsky" signature".
Every year, new pictures of Levitan, Aivazovsky, and Repin are sold at auction. Not only classical works get forged. A still-life of Marevna was also forged.
Yekaterina Ponomarenko, independent expert: "First, the curls of each flower were drawn with a pencil and then simply colored. It's like a coloring book. No professional artist would do something like that. It can't be explained".
In order to make the canvas authentic to the first half of the XX century the forgers used a Soviet Mir, Trud, May banner with doves. It's hard to imagine an artist living in Paris would use such a canvas.
Alexey Kistochkin, former criminal investigator: "They find a talented artist, sometimes an underestimated one, a sore artist who copies the style for a certain sum of money. A piece pays off by a factor of hundreds".
Alexander Lozovoy was surprised when he found out that a fake painting was auctioned in Berlin allegedly signed by him. It was sold for 1,000 euro — an offensively low price. He gets twice as much for his abstractions in London.
- Why do they need to forge your works?
Alexander Lozovoy, artist:
- Usually, dead classicists are getting forged. Thank God you're in good health. Well, it seems they wanted to earn a moderate sum of money really fast.
No doubt the displayed Rolls-Royce didn't belong to the tsar. Several years ago, there was an attempt to sell it for 5.5 million euro. At that time, nobody bought the fake legend.
Yelena Yerofeyeva, Natalia Novgorodova Dmitry Malyshev, and Kirill Puzyrny Vesti.