Fake?: The Art of DeceptionMark Jones, Paul T. Craddock, Nicolas Barker What is a fake and why are fakes made? Did the forgers of the Turin Shroud and Piltdown Man have the same motives? Does a famous Vermeer cease to be beautiful when it turns out to be a Van Meegeren? Is the Piranesi Vase an eighteenth-century masterpiece or a faked-up antique? Fakes, argue the contributors to this volume, have always been unjustly neglected, especially given the unparalleled evidence they provide of the values and perceptions of both those who make them and those who commission them. Included in this major survey of fakes and forgeries from ancient Babylonia to the present day are more than 600 objects from the British Museum and other outstanding collections. There are spectacular fakes once hailed as masterpieces of ancient and modern art. There are musical instruments and manuscripts, Chinese bronzes and Chelsea porcelain. There are literary and documentary frauds and political forgeries that have changed the course of history. Both the methods of making fakes and the recent scientific advances in their detection are described, but many puzzles remain. The book concludes with a discussion of intriguing cases like the Vinland Map, the "Aztec" rock-crystal skull, and the mysterious discoveries at Glozel, which continue to perplex curator, historian, and scientist alike. What is a fake and why are fakes made? Did the forgers of the Turin Shroud and Piltdown Man have the same motives? Does a famous Vermeer cease to be beautiful when it turns out to be a Van Meegeren? Is the Piranesi Vase an eighteenth-century masterpiece or a faked-up antique? Fakes, argue the contributors to this volume, have always been unjustly neglected, especially given the unparalleled evidence they provide of the values and perceptions of both those who make them and those who commission them. Included in this major survey of fakes and forgeries from ancient Babylonia to the present day are more than 600 objects from the British Museum and other outstanding collections. There are spectacular fakes once hailed as masterpieces of ancient and modern art. There are musical instruments and manuscripts, Chinese bronzes and Chelsea porcelain. There are literary and documentary frauds and political forgeries that have changed the course of history. Both the methods of making fakes and the recent scientific advances in their detection are described, but many puzzles remain. The book concludes with a discussion of intriguing cases like the Vinland Map, the "Aztec" rock-crystal skull, and the mysterious discoveries at Glozel, which continue to perplex curator, historian, and scientist alike. |
Contents
Acknowledgements page | 6 |
Forging the past by David Lowenthal | 16 |
Textual forgery by Nicolas Barker | 22 |
What is a fake? | 29 |
Rewriting history | 59 |
religion magic myth and science | 79 |
Faking in the East | 99 |
Faking in Europe from the Renaissance | 119 |
the great age of faking | 161 |
Faking in the 20th century | 235 |
copying embellishing | 247 |
The scientific detection of fakes and forgeries | 275 |
The limits of expertise | 291 |
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Common terms and phrases
acquired Albert Museum ancient antiquity appearance artist authenticity Bartolomeo Cavaceppi BM CM BM ETH BM GR BM MLA BM OA BM PD Bo Gu British Museum bronze bust carved cast Catalogue century BC ceramics cloisonné coins collection collectors colours copper copy counterfeit dealer decoration ding ware drawings Dürer dynasty early Egyptian eighteenth century enamels engraved Etruscan example facsimile fake faker figure forged forgery gems genuine Glozel gold Greek imitation inscription ivory J. S. G. Boggs Jenny Hanivers known large number late later letter LITERATURE London manuscript marble medieval Meegeren metal Ming dynasty modern Mori Sosen nineteenth century objects original painting patina Payne Knight photographs pieces Piltdown porcelain portrait pottery probably produced published purchased purporting relics Rembrandt Renaissance restoration Roman sculpture seventeenth century shabtis signature silver sixteenth century soft-paste porcelain Sosen style techniques Tetisheri Townley Victoria and Albert