66.58.3, fake prehistoric vessel
Chimú culture,
Peru (A.D. 900–1470)
Gift of Mrs. Leo F. Mermes
Photograph by B. Bernard
Fakers of antiquities make their fakes look as real as possible,
the better to fool buyers. They often artificially age their pieces,
including by rubbing on dirt or burying the fake in the ground for a
while. This fake mimics the black finish and sea life
found on many real Chimú pieces—but if you compare it
carefully
to the real examples you may start seeing differences. We have provided
a second view of the piece to help you with your sleuthing.
This piece was not in the original exhibit; we added it to allow online visitors to see one of the fakes mentioned in the exhibit text. The museum actively collects fake antiquities, to help researchers learn how to tell the difference between those fakes and authentic artifacts.
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All content copyright © Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. High-resolution versions of photographs may be ordered from the Maxwell Museum's photo archives. Please make note of the catalogue numbers. For more information please visit the photo archives web page
Page last revised on November 9, 2011. Please report problems to toh@unm.edu