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The magazine of The Art Fund, Summer 2007

Faking it

The recent revelation that Bolton Museum's Amarna Princess statue is a =
fake
manufactured in 2003 rather than an ancient Egyptian piece has focused
attention on the perennial problem of forgeries. Tom Flynn investigates =
the
world of dodgy deals and counterfeit creations.

Fakes have been described as "the venereal disease of the illicit art
market" and it is an apt metaphor. As prices in the art market rise
exponentially, so the risk of contamination by counterfeit objects =
increases
accordingly. Reputations are at stake, but so are significant amounts of
money as fakers and forgers become more sophisticated in their =
methods.=A0

The Amarna Princess, which was acquired with Art Fund help in 2003 as an
ancient Egyptian representation of a daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten =
(reigned
1379-1362 BC) has left a trail of red faces from Bolton to Bloomsbury =
and so
it is hardly surprising that on making a few gentle enquiries for this
article lips remained as tightly sealed as a pharaoh's tomb. Then, in =
late
April this year, 84-year-old George Greenhalgh of Bromley Cross, Bolton, =
and
four members of his family, were charged with conspiracy defraud in =
relation
to the statue. They are due to appear in court on 24 July.

Suspicions about the Amarna Princess first arose in early 2006 when a
relief, purporting to be Assyrian, was submitted to the British Museum =
for
expert opinion. When it emerged that the relief had come from the =
Greenhalgh
family =97 the same source as the Amarna Princess =97 Scotland Yard was =
called
in. Now it seems the alabaster torso could be one of any number of fake
objects allegedly produced by the same highly skilled team of fakers and
forgers between 1989 and 2003.

Dick Ellis, director of the specialist art consultancy The Art =
Management
Group, is a former Head of Scotland Yard's Art & Antiques Unit and a
world-renowned expert on art crime, fakes and forgeries. In the early =
1990s,
Ellis recalls that paintings purporting to be by the Scottish Colourist =
S.J.
Peploe began circulating in the art trade. Alarm bells rang when the =
paint
fell off.=A0 The pictures were traced to a family in Bolton. According =
to
Ellis, Scotland Yard could have made an arrest at the time but failed to =
do
so due to organisational constraints. The consequences of that inaction =
are
now becoming clear.=A0

Some years after the Peploe incident, Ellis was invited to the office of =
Dr
Robert Anderson, director of the British Museum. Dr Anderson and his
colleagues had begun nurturing some doubts about a large Romano-British
silver tray =97 the so-called Risley Park Lanx =97 which had appeared at
Sotheby's in 1991 and was acquired by the museum shortly after for =
around
=A3100,000.=A0

The Risley Park Lanx was discovered at Risley Park, Derbyshire in 1729 =
and
published by William Stukeley in 1736, but subsequently vanished. When =
it
reappeared in the 1990s it was supported by a provenance document =
purporting
to be a will,=A0 bequeathing the lanx to =97 you guessed it =97 a member =
of the
same Bolton-based family responsible for the peeling Peploes. What
complicated matters, however, was the fact that the lanx had tested =
positive
as Roman silver. Had the family recast the object from genuine Roman =
coins?=A0

The Risley Park Lanx continues to be something of a mystery, not to say =
a
source of slight embarrassment to the British Museum, where it is no =
longer
on display. Deputy Director of The British Museum Andrew Burnett says =
the
lanx remains problematic. "There have been different views of it and =
it's
something we're looking at again in the light of the Amarna Princess =
case.
We haven't formed a final view on it yet."

The Risley Lanx case illustrates that there are good fakes and bad fakes =
and
good fakes often turn out to be as interesting as genuine pieces. This =
was
made clear in a 1990 exhibition at the British Museum =97 Fake? - The =
Art of
Deception =97 which featured objects from the entire museum spectrum. =
Andrew
Burnett says, "People tend to have a very polarised view of the world of
fakes and the world of genuine things and see a sharp and easy =
distinction
between the two. We need to get over to people that it is very difficult =
to
tell in a very considerable number of cases and opinions do change."

One member of the London Egyptology trade told Art Quarterly that he had
seen a number of pieces allegedly from the Lancashire source and that =
the
Amarna Princess was better than most of the things they'd done. "It was =
very
convincing, and not at all surprising that it fooled everyone."=A0

Clearly a combination of thorough research and genuine craftsmanship =
went
into the making of the Amarna Princess, suggesting that a network of
knowledgeable individuals was responsible.=A0

Another expert familiar with the Amarna Princess affair, who asked to =
remain
anonymous, says the alabaster carving is an example of "a good fake". =
"We
shouldn't be thinking of these people as Egyptological forgers, but as
people who make things," said the source. "Every curator sees lots of =
fairly
poor stuff every year and one can easily spot the workshops turning out =
fake
terracotta lamps. But the Amarna Princess falls into an altogether =
different
category and is a reminder that that the really good fakes in public and
private collections haven't been spotted yet."

Andrew Burnett concedes that, "It may be the case that there are more =
things
around," but adds, "There is no need for panic to set in. Fakes have =
been
around ever since people started collecting in the Renaissance and that =
will
always go on."=A0

The house raided by police in Bolton last year contained "ancillary
equipment" for fabricating an eclectic range of objects, making the
investigation all the more difficult. =A0

Versatility has been a mark of some of the most successful fakers and
forgers. The notorious Italian sculptor Alceo Dossena (1878-1937) =
created
everything from Greek marble Athenas to 'Simone Martini' Annunciations
before he was discovered, while John Myatt, in league with his =
accomplice
John Drewe, created works in the style of everyone from Chagall to
Giacometti until arrested in 1995. =A0

Like the Drewe case, the Amarna Princess reveals how today's forgers are
increasingly aware that it is not enough to fake the object; supporting
documentary provenance must also be fabricated. Nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century auction catalogues were not always illustrated and =
often
relied on scant descriptions alone, thus making it easier for fakers to
ascribe false histories to their counterfeit creations.

James Ede, director of leading London antiquities dealer Charles Ede =
Ltd.,
says the trend towards ever more convincing provenance-faking is the =
most
irritating aspect of the Amarna Princess case and others like it. "I =
hate
fakers and forgers with a passion because they're trying to undermine =
one of
the most valuable tools of the honest trade =97 our approach to =
authentication
through diligent provenance research." Mr Ede believes, however, that =
the
Amarna case will not have any negative impact on the legitimate trade, =
but
everyone will learn from it. "My 'Black Museum' is enormous," says Mr =
Ede.
"I always say that one's ignorance is encyclopedic and any dealer who
doesn't occasionally inadvertently buy fakes isn't trying hard enough. =
We're
all human and we all make mistakes."

The main ammunition against fakes and forgeries is a combination of
provenance research, scientific analysis and old-fashioned =
connoisseurial
expertise, none of which is infallible. The Amarna Princess could not be
scientifically authenticated as stone is not amenable to testing, while =
the
provenance connecting the object to a late 19th century auction at =
Silverton
Park, Devon appeared to be convincing. As for connoisseurship, this too =
has
its limits as the quality of workmanship can often be entirely =
convincing.=A0

But is connoisseurship a dying art? Andrew Burnett believes not. "I =
think
there are fewer people around who know the material well personally, but
it's not a dying art. Connoisseurship will always remain very important. =
My
sense of scientific tests is that sometimes they can help you rule =
something
out, but they can very rarely prove that something is genuine. Hence the
connoisseur's knowledge of the object, of the materials and of who =
produced
it, will always remain very important."

As for the influence of the market, some commentators believe the
combination of rising prices and the easier routes to market via the
internet are encouraging illegal activity. In May 2000, Kenneth Walton, =
a
former lawyer, fabricated and sold a forged Richard Diebenkorn abstract =
oil
painting for $135,858. He recently wrote a best-selling book about his
exploits, perhaps proving that crime does pay.=A0 Meanwhile, last year, =
a
number of fake spot prints by Damien Hirst appeared on the open market =
in an
attempt to cash in on the rapidly escalating prices for authentic =
examples.=A0

"This is one of the trends you can expect to see," says Dick Ellis. "The
last boom in the art market in the late '80s and early '90s was followed =
by
a boom in fakes and forgeries. Now the market is booming again. Over the
next five years you'll see a commensurate growth in the incidence of art
crime."=A0
=A0 =A0
In the event that the Greenhalghs are found guilty and their assets are
handed to Bolton Museum, The Art Fund will ask Bolton to repay a portion =
of
its grant for the Amarna Princess.=A0

www.tomflynn.co.uk
www.artfund.org