The Epidemic of Fake Bronze Subway Surrounds in the United States – Part Two: Other Known Bronze Copies

The uncovered bronze subway surround sold in 2019 by Bonhams in New York City was in fact the fourth fake surround of this nature that we have been informed of, all of which are present on American territory. We present them below in the order in which they came to our knowledge but which is not the chronological order in which they were manufactured and sold.

Phillips Sales in New York

The first bronze copy is an incomplete uncovered surround comprising a portal and only nine modules. It was sold on May 24, 2007 by the Phillips Auction House in New York on Liveauctioneers. Estimated at $450,000 to $550,000, it was sold for $340,000[1], At that time we did not know that its modeled pieces were made of bronze.

Uncovered surround comprising nine modules sold in New York by Phillips Live Auctioneers on May 24, 2007. Internet photo.

We thought we had lost sight of it when we recently received the photo below, taken at the Driehaus Museum in Chicago.