Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XIX

G reat forgers will o en use primitive tools, ancient techniques and appropriate alloy compositions in the construction of their fakes. Despite their best e orts, however, there are several reasons why they will virtually never manage to make every aspect of the work consistent with antiquity. For media of recent centuries, however, authenticators must o en rely on the preponderance of evidence because master forgers may have had access to too many exact and well known materials and techniques; all of this must be considered during analytical scrutiny. The Fakes Depending on the medium, the obvious exterior condition (consisting of thedegradationandpatina) o enhas little todowithanobjects authenticity. Condition/patina is the product of the formula of the medium itself and the environments to which that medium was subjected during its entire existence. It is either natural or arti cially induced, and most scienti c analysis can determine the more recently induced patinas. is cunningly cra ed and nely patinatedforgerybelieditsauthenticity when metallographic tests revealed that this beautiful 9-sided, gold, silver and agate-inlaid bronze lidded vessel had alloys inconsistent with the proposed age. In fact, those alloys had not been invented until roughly 2,000 years a er the proposed period of manufacture. Its extraordinary quality was such that visual clues were completely unreliable; it required hard science albeit it quick and inexpensive to reveal this vessel as a fake. 2 9 6 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I