Malborough Gallery sued over allegations that French dealer is selling fake Chinese ceramics

NEW YORK. French art dealer Enrico Navarra is suing Malborough Gallery in federal court for allegedly embarking on a ""systematic campaign" to deny the authenticity of more than 1,200 ceramic plates by famed Chinese artist Chu Teh-Chun and financed by Navarra and his Parisian business." Malborough is purported to have had the artist (aged 90 and currently ailing...) publicly denounce Navarra's plates as fakes. The motive? Money. Malborough had planned to sell a series of 57 vases by Chu for roughly $200,000 each but Navarra's own plans to sell a vast amount of the artist's ceramic plates threatened the gallery's commercial ambitions because it was anticipated that the market would be unable to absorb the increase in supply for these artworks and thus cause the market price to drop. "Meanwhile, Malborough - which has sold about half of its vases - has raised its price for the remainders to $280,000 each." Malborough did not return the New York Post's call for comments.