The Forger's tale: an insider's account of corrupting the corpus of Cycladic figures. Issue 3 (9th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tsirogiannis, Christos; Gill, David W.J.; Chippindale, Christopher
• Is Part Of: International journal of cultural property. Volume 29:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 369
• Page End: 385
• Publication Date: 2022-12-09
• Subjects: Cycladic figures -- Illicit antiquities -- Forgeries -- Antiquities market; Cultural property -- Protection -- Periodicals; Cultural property -- Protection -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Cultural property -- Protection (International law) -- Periodicals; Cultural policy -- Periodicals; 341.7677
• DOI: 10.1017/S0940739122000352
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0940-7391

Abstract

Abstract: Many of the known Cycladic figures – the late prehistoric human-shaped sculptures from the Aegean archipelago – came from twentieth-century illicit excavations, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. It is also known that figures were being faked at the time and perhaps also earlier: a few fakes have been identified, whilst other figures are under suspicion. Interviews with a man who faked Cycladic figures in the 1980s and 1990s give us a first insider's autobiographical account of the forging business. This article offers, step-by-step, the method that two forgers developed to create fake figures, to treat them so that they appeared ancient, and to sell them on. The forger has identified a few of these forgeries from photographs of figures; his story is consistent with other information and seems to ring true. By verifying various elements in the forger's testimony – from names of well-known figures in the modern antiquities market to small details and dates – we have been able to evaluate the validity of the narrative; to use it in order to uncover the true paths that fake objects followed into various collections; and to highlight valuable provenance information that no one involved in trading these objects was ever willing to provide.