Fakes
Related Encyclopedia Entries
Brooklyn Museum and Fake Coptic Art
Brooklyn Museum was considered to have one of the largest and most significant collections of Coptic Art in the world, until serious doubts were raised over the authenticity of many of the pieces.
Getty Kouros
The Getty kouros (youth) is a 2 m high marble statue owned by the J. Paul Getty Museum (85.AA.40), appearing to date from sixth-century Greece, though believed by many authorities to be a modern forgery.
Grolier Codex
A Maya codex of questionable authenticity that appeared on the market in 1971.
Maya ‘Fresco’ Fake
Antiquities dealer Leonardo Patterson convicted of federal wire fraud for attempting to sell a fake Maya ‘fresco’
Mosaic Maya Mask
Mosaic stone mask said to have been looted from a Mexican cave and now in the collection of Dumbarton Oaks.
Nok Terracottas
Terracotta figurative sculpture found on the Bauchi plateau of Nigeria. Heavily looted from the 1970s onwards.
Ocucaje Cemeteries
Nazca and Paracas cemeteries that were looted throughout the 20th century for sellable ancient textiles; aslo the site of a famous class of fake antiquity, the so-called Ica Stones.
Persian Mummy
The ‘Persian Mummy’ was a recently manufactured mummy recovered by Pakistani police in 2000. It had been made to appear as the dead daughter of the Persian King Xerxes.
Valdivia Figurines
Extensively looted and faked figurines from sites in Ecuador’s coastal lowlands.
Western Mexican Shaft Tombs
A cultural tradition known for its ceramic figurines, nearly all of which have surfaced as a result of illicit and illegal looting.
Related Publications
Ulph, J. (2011), ‘Markets and Responsibilities: Forgeries and the Sale of Goods Act 1979’, Journal of Business Law (3), 261-281.