YOU ARE HERE:>> REAL or FAKE>Museums also make mistakes , section 2, page 2

 

 February 2018.

 

Oh dear!

 

 

 

 



2019: Museum folk have now realised their error and will remove this from show.

 

 

This is even more worrying.

 



But here is a genuine expert with ancient lamps

 



This fake is well documented in:

D. M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum Vol 3 Roman Provincial Lamps (London, British Museum, 1988)

 



See towards the bottom of this page

Where I also document the view that these are Pre-Columbian!

2020.

Another instance of academics/museums being fooled by this type of fake.

 



This example of this type of face lamp was supposedly found on the banks of the Danube, though in many ways looking convincingly ancient is of course a La Marsa Group fake originally from Tunisia which David K, has brought to wider attention, and is also published in volume 3 of Bailey's Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum ( Q3467 and 3468 )

 

I appears in the catalogue of lamps in the Belgrade Museum  by Krunić, 2011, #420, p.279.

 





They write:

Ancient oil lamp modeled in the shape of a bearded human face with closed eyes, a long nose and an emphasized mouth. Roman period, 1st-2nd century AD, accidental find from the bank of the Danube river near Batajnica, vicinity of Belgrade, capital of Serbia........



Note that they do write "this is a very rare type.." and "a  unique finding..."

It's interesting that they also write:

It is known that some soldiers from Legio VII Claudia, which was stationed in ancient Viminacium in present-day Serbia, were originally from Carthage.

Interesting because these fakes appear to have first been manufactured at La Marsa which is indeed right next to the site of Carthage.

From David K

This lamp was proudly posted by the FB group a few months ago and appears in the catalogue of lamps in the Belgrade Museum  by Krunić, 2011, #420, p.279.

I challenged it and got into a private discussion with one of the archaeologists at the museum. They were aware of the fake published by Bailey but thought their example was an exception. After I pointed out that their lamp had not come from a proper archaeological excavation and possessed several features that showed it is fake (including the fact that the low nozzles would make it almost impossible to use), they now reluctantly accept that it's fake.

 

More about this type here>>>>

 

Right now, on eBay.....

 

 




Seller writes:

 

Rae Roman oil lamp dating to circa 1st century A.D. Good condition. Size 10cm in length. Purchased from a fine u.k Roman private collection in 2012, it's been in my china cabinet on display ever since. The collector before me who was in his 80's and selling his collection said it was purchased from a Christies (auction sale) in or around 2002.

 

Possible I suppose, though unlikely.


What is intriguing is that this seller offers two lamps..


The other is also a La Marsa fake .. ... or is it a genuine Diana with Bow type?


Seems such a coincidence.


We will ask David K!

 




See here for the La Marsa Diana with Bow type

From David

It's a version of my F5 fake (the clay suggests it may have been made outside Tunisia). Note the general crudity, especially the mangled misunderstanding of the wreath on the shoulder of the real ones such as RNA12