Hi James,
It is a copy made by Mieczyslaw Bialkiewicz. The spinner appears to be a genuine piece though.
A side by side comparison will quickly reveal the differences between the genuine and the copy. One thing I’ve noticed with the Bialkiewicz products that the white enamels tend to yellow. Something you will not generally see with originals.
Please do us a favour and post a side by side picture, front and back.
Regards,
Tony
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
Hi All
Very many thanks for your comments.
As requested here are some pictures of the Professor's fake and the real thing side by side. Top two pictures the real thing is on the left. I seem to have reversed them for the picture of the backs. The spinners seem to have come from the same cracked die. The most obvious red flag for me is the yellow enamel that Tony points out on the Bialkiewicz version.
Is the pennon pictured any good and anything to do with the 1 Krechowiecki Lancers Regiment?
Good learning for me and I hope it stops others making the same costly mistake as I did.
Hi James, first off, congratulations on securing that very nice set of items from this regiment.
Thanks for posting these side by side shots. The spinner itself is genuine, just a slightly different type with the addition of the boss onto the center of the disc, presumably for added strength in this area. The die break is a common feature of the spinners, present on many of the badges made for the Poles by this producer. Mix-and-match spinners and other components are a well known characteristic of this seller’s wares.
The Bialkiewicz copy is evidently a direct cast of an original, as opposed to the Panasiuk made copy of this badge. To my eyes the back of the eagle tells the tale the best, especially the talons. The original Picchiani & Barlacchi badges are very finely detailed, and quite delicate here and in the wing feathering.
It’s good to see this distinction made. I have heard these badges described as “Bialkiewicz fakes”, although I believe the makers intentions were entirely noble, with no intention of deceiving collectors. The problem clearly lies with those that misrepresented them afterwards.
Bialkiewicz was a well-respected individual, a veteran of the 4th “Scorpion” Armoured Regiment who became was a master jeweler after the war. My understanding is that he produced these for veterans and possibly for the collector market. He also produced legitimate ‘combatant’s badges’ for veteran’s organizations, such as the 10th Hussar Regiment. And ironically with the latter badge, this Bialkiewicz product from the early 1980’s has since been ‘faked’ with the sole intention of duping collectors. And it has. I will cover this notorious fake in an upcoming post.
Sorry, I’m not sure what to make of this pennon. It’s common knowledge that the Poles made up a lot of their own uniform insignia ‘in the field’ as it was needed, and this has some of characteristics of such a piece. Hopefully someone else will chime in with something a little more solid.
Cheers,
Tony
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
Hi Tony, If one these badges illustrated is an original and the other is by Bialkiewicz then the Bialkiewicz can't be cast directly from an original as the eagle head and neck shapes are completely different on each badge as are some of the other details such as legs and talons...unless its my eyes again
I collect, therefore I am.
Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.
Hi Stefan, I’ll be the first to admit my eyes aren’t quite what they used to be either. But in this instance I maintain that Bialkiewicz used the Picchiani & Barlacchi original to prepare his mold, which would seem most simple and logical. I don’t see that he neck and head shapes are different at all. They look very much the same. As far as the talons and other details, realizing that the casting process is not suited to replicate such fine details Bialkiewicz would have modified the mold to strengthen these areas that would otherwise be very weak when using the soft alloy these badges are cast in.
Cheers,
Tony
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
Hi Tony,
I have highlighted three areas which are visually different between the two which show a direct mold may not have been part of the production of the Bialkiewicz version.
The gap between the eagle's beak to the wing and the position of the head are different the one on the is more open and the head more vertically aligned.
On the left wing section highlighted the eagle on the left does not have a smaller feather protruding out from beneath the larger feather which is visible on the right hand eagle wing.
The leg feathers on the left eagle do not touch the wing as they do on the eagle on the right, the claws on the right are not only heavier but the whole claw is wider and protrudes almost o the tip of the outstretched wing. The eagle on the left, there is a greater spacing in this area.
The date "1915" is thinner numerals on the Bialkiewicz badge compared to the original on the left; one would expect it to be heavier given it was taken from a mold.
Comparing the edge of the rightmost wing feathers between each badge again they are not identical and are in slightly different overlap sizes and positions....
If a mold was taken the resulting cast and subsequent badge was significantly reworked by Bialkiewicz
I collect, therefore I am.
Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.
Hi Stefan,
Agreed about the various differences, and it’s reasonable to question if it was a direct cast. Some of the differences can be attributed to variations within the original badges as they were subject to a manual step in the manufacturing process. The eagle was manually cut out and finished, rather than being stamped out of a die with all of the fine edge details present.
Here’s a side by side comparison between James’ badge and another original example. Note how the claws and feathers have been cut out more precisely on James’ badge.
I’ve also added the badge from my collection into to the mix. You can also discern some differences between James’ badge and mine.
That’s what I feel - that the Picchiani & Barlacchi version was the model used, and likely a direct cast (rather than creation from scratch) was one of the steps in preparation of the mold that was put into production. Bialkiewicz had to rework things to add strength to various areas (which again are very fine and delicate on the originals) because the alloy used in the copies was softer than the brass in the originals. This reworking along with the unique characteristics of the original badge he used for his model is what would account for the differences.
Here's a Panasiuk copy next to the Bialkiewicz. You can see substantial differences, so obviously the creation of the mold, or die as may be the case, appears to have been done from scratch rather than on the basis of a mold from an original.
Cheers,
Tony
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
Similar Threads
Bookmarks