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Vintage Charles Schulz "SNOOPY" Chalk Sketch deemed "Print" by JSA

Before I start, let me preface this by stating I am NOT bashing any 3rd party authenticator as I believe JSA is a reputable company.

Ok, about six weeks ago someone contacted me about a large 16x20" Charles Schulz "Snoopy" signed drawing. The drawing and sketch were done in black artist chalk. See image below.    I then sent it to JSA . It took five weeks to get back and the result was Not Genuine because they believe it is a "print". Not because the signature or sketch is not that of Charles Schulz.

So, I immedately did my own test on it including taking a Q-tip and rubbing it on a superficial area of the sketch to see if any ink/chalk rubbed off.   And it did come off onto the Q-tip quite easily as I would expect from a drawing done with artist chalk.   So I called JSA and talked to one of their "expert authenticators" and explained it was original medium, i.e. charcoal chalk, and he said he and others looked at it under microscope and believed it was a "printed copy".    So, I am stuck in this bizarre dilemma.

1). Are printed copies done with original ink or chalk?

2). Why would it take five weeks to put under a microscope and conclude it was a print? JSA apparently wrestled with this for several weeks. But, wrestled with the microscope, and/or finally deciding it was a "print"? My impression is I look under a microscope for 10-15 minutes, ask a couple others and that's it. That's what happened to a piece I sent them about five years ago. It was deemed a print and sent back in less than a week. What was going on in house for five weeks?

Note: It only came back in five weeks because I kept calling the last two weeks for status and they responded "it is still being worked on". Then this week , the fifth week, I emailed them Monday and asked to speak to Jim Spence because it did not seem to be gonig anywhere. His employee then said she would "expedite it". And it came back today.

I understand if several people analyzed for authenticity , i.e. signature, drawing matches Schulz characteristics. But, deciding if a print or not?? Should that have taken FIVE weeks plus additional unknown time had I not pressured them for a status and eventually requesting to speak to the head honcho?

Any thoughts? What am I missing here?

And, who might specialize in really confirming if original or a print? Particularly when there seems to be such a contradiction with original ink/charcoal chalk on this vintage heavy stock art paper.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on November 17, 2013 at 3:15pm

Hey there, I joined to respond to this. I too purchased one of these as a set that popped up on ebay two years back or so. It was also listed on Craigslist… and it was Snoopy as the red Baron and also another of Lucy at "The Doctor is In" stand. I purchased one, on the condition that I'd get it looked at and if it turned out to be real, I'd purchase both. I took it over to Steve Grad at PSA/DNA who used a machine called a video spectral comparator, which is the same technology that the FBI uses in detecting fabricated documents and hand writing analysis. Basically it uses UV Luminescence to detect changes on the lift of the pen, changes to the paper and several other attributes that happen when ink is put onto paper. Unfortunately, after a very detailed analysis of the piece, he and the machinery agree that the item was a print, not an original sketch as I had hoped. I then had a very large issue getting a refund from the lady and had to threaten her with the FBI being informed of her mail fraud scheme. After that she refunded the money… Sadly a few months went by and I saw another one pop up for auction (I think it was with Heritage). I tried to inform that what had happened to me but they never responded and sold the item anyway.

Here's a few others that are online:

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1045996

http://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/schulz-charles-m-/origina...

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7009&lotIdNo=9008

I contacted the SCHULZ museum and asked if this was something that had been sent out or mass produced by the company… they said they weren't sure and would have to inspect the item in person. Thats the last I heard from them. I just did a google search though… AND FOUND THIS!

http://schulzmuseum.org/snoopy-snoopy-whos-got-snoopy/