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Faking the Ancient Andes - Karen O Bruhns

Faking the Ancient Andes

By: Karen O Bruhns, Nancy L Kelker

Paperback | 15 January 2010 | Edition Number 1

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Nasca pots, Quimbaya figurines, Moche porn figures, stone shamans. Fakes and forgeries run rampant in the Andean art collections of international museums and private individuals. Authors Karen Bruhns and Nancy Kelker examine the phenomenon in this eye-opening volume. They discuss the most commonly forged classes and styles of artifacts, many of which were being duplicated as early as the 19th century. More important, they describe the system whereby these objects get made, purchased, authenticated, and placed in major museums as well as the complicity of forgers, dealers, curators, and collectors in this system. Unique to this volume are biographies of several of the forgers, who describe their craft and how they are able to effectively fool connoisseurs and specialists. This is an important accessible introduction to pre-Columbian art fraud for archaeologists, art historians, and museum professionals alike. A parallel volume by the same authors discusses fakes in Mesoamerican archaeology.
Industry Reviews

(Reviewed with Faking Ancient Mesoamerica)

"Both books make an interesting case for how the influx of forged and unprovenanced artifacts into the public and academic world can affect one's understanding of the past. The tone of the books can at times be distracting, but the issues addressed and their complexities are explored effectively. Summing Up: Recommended."

-J. J. Borowicz, CHOICE


"Faking the Ancient Andes...is a call for anyone associated with ancient art to refrain from actively encouraging the wholesale destruction of the world's artistic heritage. What does it matter to the average museum visitor that much of what is on display is less than genuine? Everyone who looks the other way is contributing to the pollution of scholarship and distortions of history and science... It is a pity that so many of these forgeries are taken seriously. Bruhns and Kelker do a good job of explaining why. There is tremendous pressure and incentive throughout the museum industry to pass off these fakes as genuine. Faking the Ancient Andes will appeal to readers...because the authors come down firmly on the side of science."

-Carol Hayman, Skeptical Inquirer

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