And in the past year two forgeries the short-circuiting of provenance have come to light: a ceramic faun, purportedly by Paul Gauguin, and a pair of English commodes, claimed to be circa 1830.
The GT2 is essentially a Porsche 911 Turbo with every gram of fat stripped out of it (220 pounds were deleted by cutting out items like the rear jump seats and the sunroof, and by using lighter materials like ceramic brake discs rather than metallic ones).
In particular, she cited its "most amazing" ceramic light fixtures and doorknobs.
A Thousand Points of Light is a ceramic ceiling fixture that can be painted any color with latex paint.
At the SoHo furniture store Property, she found the handmade Sassi lamp, a cream-colored ceramic light designed by Danielle Pianezzola, which has a perforated surface that resembles coral.
But here's the California heart of it: Mr. Pardo has unified the suite of rooms by paving them all with light-catching colored ceramic tiles.
Their new range of ceramic lights, named the Tajine pendant series, is inspired by North African clay cooking pots (£190, room-9.co.uk).
The elegant decor, in tones of ocher, mustard and off white, contrasts with the dark burled teak of the tables and the light-green glazed ceramic tile floors.
The floors were sanded and smooth, the white ceilings curved, the candles lighted, the matching ceramic knickknacks stationed symmetrically in the windows; so little was out of place that we felt we were walking around in an oversize living museum.
After several hours of scavenging through Bedford-Stuyvesant that day, he returned in the afternoon with no more than a ceramic light socket and a circular fluorescent fixture with fake wood grain.
At the Paint Bar's 14 pine tables, customers choose among $10 ceramic light switches and $60 vases.
