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Fred Astaire - Opinions please!

Is anyone familiar with Fred Astaire? I really would like to know if this cut signature is genuine. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on May 10, 2017 at 7:28pm

Looks good to me.

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Permalink Reply by Mupplvr on May 10, 2017 at 7:44pm

Thanks Joe - I'm leaning towards authentic myself. I had one other opinion from a good source who said he wasn't sure. It pretty much has all the qualities of his signature, except perhaps the "F" isn't as flourished as normal.

Any other opinions?

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Permalink Reply by Mupplvr on May 11, 2017 at 3:33pm

Does anyone else think there are any problems with it? I found these exemplars to match it...

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Fred Astaire.jpg, 147 KB

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on May 11, 2017 at 3:50pm

Well, I might suggest when you assemble those examples you orient them so slant, baseline and all would be more apparent. Going just by the things you assembled, the "F" and the "r"' in the last name appear to have no ready counterpart. Is the connection between "r" and "e" in "Fred" typical?

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Permalink Reply by Mupplvr on May 11, 2017 at 3:58pm

As far as the F, it appears he did it several different ways. Not sure what you man by the r & e in Fred, they match several.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on May 11, 2017 at 4:06pm

Hi, I was speaking to the way the "r' and "e" connect - it appears different to me - a matter of down and over opposed to over or even over and then down. Also the lean of the "t" seems a bit backward, and that "s" may be a bit odd. Is this a very vintage signature? This small cut is a small card?

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Permalink Reply by Mupplvr on May 11, 2017 at 4:08pm

Not sure when it was signed - it's a very small cut on a piece of paper or album page (I'm guessing)

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on May 11, 2017 at 4:18pm

Well, it has a look I stay away from. Loose little cuts w/o dedication, seeming vintage, some oddness. From your exemplars posted I am not crazy about the signature. Maybe others will offer better opinions.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on May 11, 2017 at 4:26pm

Is it "vintage"? I have to say, and it is from a scan obviously, but it looks a bit strange, that ink. It's hard to put into words.

Permalink Reply by Mupplvr on May 11, 2017 at 4:28pm

I bought it about 20 years ago blind over the phone - I have no idea unfortunately

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on May 11, 2017 at 4:30pm

Hi Mpplvr, I was asking for your own assessment of it's age from the paper and ink etc. I also note the "r" that seems missing often appears higher than the "i" in your examples. It looks to a vintage signature style from that and perhaps the baseline - you would know better, but if it is and this does not truly appear 75 years old...