[Rarebooks] FS 1936 Italian Forger/Painter Memoirs

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

TITLE: "Affairs of a Painter"

By J(Icilio) (F)ederico Joni.
Published in London by Faber and Faber Limited in 1936.

DISCUSSION: J.F. Joni (1866-1946) was an ingenious, prolific and
outspokenly candid artist, art restorer and forger. Joni forged a variety
of paintings and other objects, including furniture and book bindings,
often in Renaissance styles. This 1936 autobiography recounts many of the
high points of his varied careers, and tells, in at least some detail, the
tricks of the forger's trade.

We have had some of his forged book covers, and a brief description of how
these came about is indicative of the work of this fascinating artist.
Joni got the idea for forging "tavolette" covers, the wooden book boards
used to hold Sienese tax accounts in the 13th-17th centuries, after
reading a description of them in a pamphlet. Interestingly, the
imaginative forger had never actually seen an example, and his creations
far exceeded the plainly-decorated wooden covers of the genuine articles.
Joni backed his covers with gold foil, adorned by a punch-work pattern,
and then decorated them with coats of arms and mottoes. He used bronze
bosses at the corners which he aged by bathing them in ammonia, and filled
in the remaining space with elaborate floral and leaf decorations.

As Otto Kurz ("Fakes -A Handbook for Students and Collectors") points out,
Joni's creations are distinctive and identifiable because "nothing like
these painted wooden bindings ever existed before Joni, neither in Sienna
nor anywhere else... Joni, who was proud never to have gone to look at the
originals, made a fanciful but successful invention."

In fact, in this book, Joni cautions forgers never to too-closely mimic
the work of a known artist or craftsman, so that experts will not have a
concrete original to make comparisons to.

Ingenious.

DESCRIPTION: Hardcover. 5.5"x8.25", 345 pages, pictorial dust jacket.

CONDITION NOTES: Some light wear and soil. Jacket with moderate wear and
some chips (see photo).

PRICE: $350-

THE COVERS =>

<http://www.joslinhall.com/images30/th-32761-cover.jpg>

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