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Judy Garland vintage ( 1941) signature in glorious graphite!

Good Day All! I happened across this early Judy signature at auction and would like your learned opinion as to its authenticity. It is a blue-gray 3.75 x 2.5 album page, dated "Oct-10-1941" and is mounted now. Looks right to me what say you?

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Judy Garland 10-10-41.JPG, 51 KB

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on March 9, 2023 at 12:12pm

I'm not as expert as some other folks on this board with her but this seems off to me.

To my eye, the "d's" in both her first and last name are odd for this earlier period....as well as the "G". Not trying to be cynical, but it looks to me like someone rendered this rather carefully, but confused her signing style in 1941 with a later period in her life.

Personally I proceed extra cautiously when it comes to pencil signatures purporting to be vintage. It's a lot easier to mess around with graphite then vintage inks.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on March 9, 2023 at 12:15pm

P.s. Others would know better than I...but had she begun stacking her name yet in 1941?

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Permalink Reply by GreatGarloo on March 9, 2023 at 12:28pm

Gulp! It went last night ( to me) in RR sale...comes with a pre-cert by Beckett...

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on March 9, 2023 at 1:12pm

Just for reference, here's a genuine 1941 signed album page from Judy. I believe this was sold by Bonhams.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Dimeo on March 9, 2023 at 2:18pm

This piece was sold in the last RRAuction with a pre-certification from Beckett. If you were the winning bidder I would pay the $75 for full certification from Beckett and if deemed fake you will get your money back from RR. They are a reputable auction house and recommended highly.

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Permalink Reply by GreatGarloo on March 9, 2023 at 2:21pm

Hi NIck, it says on the RR site ...This item is Pre-Certified by Beckett
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for $75.00.. So haven't they already given it their blessing?

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Permalink Reply by Nick Dimeo on March 9, 2023 at 2:27pm

It’s basically just a quick opinion by them, you won’t get the full letter COA unless they take a look at it for $75. I can tell you in my experience that RRAuction typically do not put fakes in their auctions but then again nobody is perfect.

*In most cases you don’t have to send the piece in to them unless requested.

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Permalink Reply by GreatGarloo on March 10, 2023 at 11:15am

Hi Nick, So is it your opinion that this Judy isn't "right" ?

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Permalink Reply by Nick Dimeo on March 10, 2023 at 11:33am

Garland isn’t in my wheelhouse but I do have some knowledge of her autograph habits thru exemplars. I would say that this is authentic. RR is a very reputable auction house that has handled many Garland autographs in the past. There are a few people on this site that really know Garland but they haven’t been on the site in a while.

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Permalink Reply by GreatGarloo on March 10, 2023 at 11:43am

Thanks for your response. It does make me feel better about paying for it as well as shelling out $75 for the Beckett "insurance policy"...You know I have collected celeb autographs for probably more than 50 years. First acquiring them at local shows when I was a kid. Or hanging backstage and meeting celebs- just by being a quiet pest. I have seen so much obvious fraud out there... yet amazingly junk that is sold each day on eBay still brings top dollar...I guess of all the celebs I was fortunate to meet and sign was Roy Oribison.. quite the thrill. I had him sign 5 albums for me.. I know Roy Orbision's Signature :) JimB