A multi‐analytical approach to unmask two Etruscan‐Corinthian fake vases: A contribution to the illicit trafficking of cultural goods

Abstract

AbstractThis work addresses the authenticity issue of fake potteries circulating in the illicit art market, imitating ancient artefacts, by an interdisciplinary and a multi‐analytical approach. In faking manufacture, unscrupulous forgers use increasingly advanced skills to mimic ancient materials and technologies and to produce artificial ageing. Despite the phenomenon of archaeological objects' forgery is considered a crime and a source of illicit earnings, there are not enough works in the literature to support the difficult unmasking of archaeological fake objects. In this work, a pair of ointment vases mimicking the “Etruscan‐Corinthian” style, seized thanks to the police activity of the Carabinieri Headquarters for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale, TPC) and studied within “Laboratorio del Falso” at Roma Tre University, are analysed from the archaeological viewpoint, and then scientific investigations are carried out to understand materials and techniques used by the forger. The aim of this work is to provide useful tools for the study of similar fake objects by reconstructing the forger recipe and in particular identifying errors he committed with respect to the original manufactures, invisible to the eye. The characterization of raw materials is carried out by combining X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and micro‐Raman spectroscopy techniques, in order to determine the composition of surface decoration, encrustations and surface deposits. By this simple protocol, it was possible to consistently clarify the aspects characterizing the modus operandi of the forger, through the identification of anachronisms, that is, materials and techniques incompatible with the hypothesized ancient manufacture. In particular, modern pigments of synthetic origin are found in decorations, such as cobalt‐based black pigment and Mars red pigments with the addition of a polymer to enhance the adhesion to the vases' body.