Five Fake Artworks Displayed at Museums

Fake artifacts and paintings cause a lot of nuisance for global art lovers. Over the years, a lot of museums have fallen victim to art forgery and many fake artworks have been exhibited at various sites (even for years) around the globe. The high price tags of these forgeries encourage the culprits to keep producing these fake pieces as they are worth millions of dollars in the international market. Some of these fakes are so precise that even experienced archaeologists find it hard to distinguish them from the real artifacts. Following is a list of 5 fake artworks that were displayed at different museums of the world.

Henlein Pocket Watch

Peter Henlein is a German locksmith who invented watch by replacing the heavier weight (used in clocks) with a much lighter mainspring. Before his invention, only clocks were available and they too needed the services of a professional locksmith/blacksmith. According to the authorities at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, they have one of his early creations since 1897 (Henlein built this pocket watch in 1510). Ever since its addition to the museum, historians believe that it is a fake artifact and a report of 1930 signifies this opinion. It suggests that most parts of the watch were manufactured in the 19^th century and the signature at the back cover are also over the scratch marks (instead of being under these marks).

Three Etruscan Warriors

Pietro Stettiner, a forger who pretended to be an art dealer, provided the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) three sculptures and claimed that they are from the ancient Etruscan civilization (made in 5^th Century, BC). These fake statues were displayed in the museum in 1933. Despite early warnings from the Italian archaeologists, the museum didn’t buy the idea that these could be fakes because they had got the artworks at a bargain.

Although a number of historians were of the view that they are forgeries, the truth about these fake artworks was finally revealed by Joseph V. Noble, in 1960. He used the techniques of the Etruscans to recreate some sample sculptures and observed that these statues were actually not original. Detailed investigations revealed that Stettiner was a part of a group of forgers who copied the sculptures from different museums and books. Interestingly, the head of one of the three warriors was copied from a real Etruscan painting at the Met. You can know more about the history of Etruscan warriors here.

Amarna Princess

In 2003, the Bolton Museum purchased the statue of Amarna Princess. The sellers of this sculpture claimed that it was 3,300 years old and was excavated from an Egyptian site. The British Museum didn’t find any discrepancy with the artifact and the deal was finalized for £440,000 (nearly $535,000), at that time. After a few years of exhibition, authorities found that it was created by Shaun Greenhalgh, a notorious forger who used his parents as salespeople. Ironically, he was a resident of Bolton who used to create and sell fake artworks to museums as originals.

Dead Sea Scrolls

These handwritten fragments were considered to be among the oldest (about 2000 years old) recorded writings of Hebrew biblical passages. While most of these religious scrolls are displayed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, some of them are also in the possession of different museums, like the Museum of the Bible in Washington (5 scrolls). In 2018, these Dead Sea scrolls were adjudged as fake artworks following an examination from the experts in Germany.

Months before the opening of the museum, some of the experts warned the authorities that these scrolls could well be fake and that’s the reason why they were sent to Germany for a detailed analysis. Although the scrolls were removed from the museum after the confirmation, a lot of people believe that the museum spent millions of dollars to acquire these religious fragments, in the first place.

Golden Crown

Schapschelle Hochmann (and his friend) acquired the services of Israel Rouchomovsky (a goldsmith) to make a Greek-style gold crown for them. They briefed the goldsmith that they want to gift this exclusive artifact to their archaeological friend but, in reality, they were planning to sell this crown as an ancient Greek artwork. After a number of refusals from different museums in Austria and Britain, the crown was ultimately bought by the Louvre for 200,000 francs. Despite immediate warnings from experts, the administration of the Louvre continued to oppose all such claims until 1903, when a friend of Rouchomovsky saw the crown in the museum. He informed the goldsmith about his creation who arrived at the destination with a duplicate to prove his words.