Blackington Nurse Wing

[mtnman]

Thought you might enjoy a lovely example if not the nicest of the nurse wings....

[memphis_belle]

Great find! A really nice example of the second Flight Nurse wings version .

[mtnman]

Thanks MB and thanks for your Service! My Member pic is of My Brother in Law and my Nephew who are both Soldiers at heart and one actually in the JAG Corp! I will let you figure out which !

[Patriot12]

Really nice wings.

[justine62]

Great

[pfrost]

sadly, I fear that is a cast reproduction of a rare and expensive wing.

 

Patrick

[firefighter]

sadly, I fear that is a cast reproduction of a rare and expensive wing.

 

Patrick

 

 

What makes you think reproduction?

[pfrost]

Trust me, it is a cast reproduction. The hallmark is wrong, the detail is lacking, the patina is fake. You can see the casing flaws in the front and back. Of course, all the caveats apply on not having it in hand... but, I am pretty sure it is a fake.

 

Patrick

 

 

 

[firefighter]

 

Trust me, it is a cast reproduction. The hallmark is wrong, the detail is lacking, the patina is fake. You can see the casing flaws in the front and back. Of course, all the caveats apply on not having it in hand... but, I am pretty sure it is a fake.

 

Patrick

 

 

 

 

I wasn't doubting you.I was just wondering what to look for.Thank you for the information.

 

 

[pfrost]

One of the first signs is the "N". Look at how mishapped and distorted it is, with very soft detail and what looks like extra metal between the arms of the "N".

 

I can't be 100% sure, but if I recall correctly, a real Blackington wing has a pin that only opens up about 90 degrees. The pins on the real wings have a little cam that keeps the pin from flopping over like this one does. Fakes have pins like this (although I may be mistaken here, but I don't think so).

 

Then, if you look at the detail on the front, it is lacking what a real Blackington wing exhibits. The feathering and the detail is really poor quality, a sure sign of casting.

 

The hallmark is totally bogus. It looks nothing like what the real Blackington hallmark looks like.

 

On the back, you can see the classic signs of a casting. Small pits, "wavy" back, soft detail. Its hard to describe the specific details unless you have handled a fair number of real wings, but from what I can see, all the signs of casting are there.

 

This browish/grey patina is a classic sign of a chemical patina. Real sterling silver wings get a much richer and darker patina.

 

To be fair, sometimes a well worn wing can look like it is cast. Natural wear and tear can soften the detail, and the lighting of the scan or photo can make the patina look fake. It is always possible that this is the case with this wing, but the hallmark alone is pretty damning, in my opinion.

 

Patrick

[pfrost]

BTW, I hope I didn't seem flippant. There is a person who makes "museum quality" reproductions of these and many other rare wings. They are sold on ebay and the internet all the time. After awhile, you get a feel for his work. I am not 100% certain, but I suspect that this is one of his wings.

 

Patrick