311 Arheološki vestnik 61, 2010, str. 311–319
Paul T. Craddock: Scientific Investigation of Copies, 
Fakes and Forgeries. Elsevier, Amsterdam 2009. ISBN 978-
0-7506-4205-7, 628 pp.
In 2009 the prestigious editor Butterworth-Heinemann/
Elsevier published an impressive volume, written by the 
well-known scholar Paul Craddock, an expert in ancient 
materials, who, from the beginning of his very long career 
and until his retirements in 2007 has been one of the 
supporting pillars of the prestigious Research Laboratory 
(which changed its name several times, and also recently) 
of the British Museum.
The book has over 600 pages, richly illustrated in b/w 
and colour photographs, and already its impressive bib-
liography (from page 525 to page 594) can give an idea 
of the vast amount of topics discussed in the volume. As 
stated in the Foreword, the book “is intended as a com-
prehensive guide to the technical and scientific study of 
a wide range of antiquities and artistic creations” , and it 
illustrates various methods employed in the scientific and 
technical studies on authentication.
The work clarifies many important issues, beginning 
with the differences between forgeries, fakes, pastiches and 
imitations. A short, but important section is dedicated to 
the legal aspects of authentication studies and the risks 
they can involve. The author also discusses the questions of 
disclosure of the methods and the publication of details of 
such studies, which might suggest to forgers more ways and 
treatments to create an antique appearance. The conclusion 
is that the “increased range of knowledge on technology is 
more useful in detecting forgeries than facilitating better 
ones. One does not fight fraud with ignorance. ” I believe 
we fully agree.
The topics are distributed over 20 chapters, dedicated to 
different problems. In the first four the sources, approaches 
and analytical methods, as well as the production of three-
dimensional copies are discussed in great detail. The topics 
of chapters 5 and 6 are physical dating techniques: radio-
carbon dating, thermoluminescence and dendrochronology, 
with their principles and related problems.
Then the authentication of different materials and the 
questions posed in the different cases are addressed. Two 
chapters are dedicated to metals, their composition and 
production and working techniques, with special attention 
to coins. Ceramics, with many case studies, are discussed 
in chapter 9, glass and enamels in chapter 10, stone (even 
including prehistoric flints) and sculpture in chapter 11. 
The chapter on paintings contains a table of pigments of 
different colours with date of discovery, date of industrial 
production, where they are described and by which artists 
they were used, and also sections on methods of analysis, 
examinations of different kinds; and, finally, special topics, 
such as varnishes, craquelure and the work of the famous 
forger Han van Meegeren.
Chapter 13 is dedicated to paper (but also papyrus), 
prints and documents, with details on watermarks and 
filigranology, ageing, ink, watercolours etc., with detailed 
photos and micrographs of forged pieces.
Chapter 14 is dedicated to the patination of copper, 
chapter 15 to gold and silver and chapter 16 to gemstones 
and jade. Chapters 17 and 18 concern organic materials, 
both natural (ivory, antler, bone, horn, leather, wax, am-
ber, lacquer, wood etc) and synthetic (plastics and their 
identification by different methods), and their “substitutes” . 
Chapter 19
th
 is dedicated to famous frauds, and in particular 
to Charles Dawson.
Chapter 20 deals with conservation and restoration 
problems, how much attractive appearance and visibility 
of repair conflict with authenticity. Many cases in which 
conservation goes “into the realms of deception” and 
“disguises the true extent of damage and replacement” 
are reported. Several case studies illustrate the many pos-
sibilities of concealment, cleaning and how de-restoration 
can be carried out.
The volume is excellent, clear and pleasant to read, and 
no existing publications are comparably useful, rich and 
complete. It will become a standard work and a cornerstone 
of the research and scientific examination of antiquities 
and works of art.
However, objectively, there are some things which should 
have been done better.
First of all, in the text there are myriads of small errors, 
oversights and wrong spellings, which an attentive reader 
– possibly familiar with the vocabulary, the bibliography 
and the world of art and archaeology – would have read-
ily spotted.
As an example, on page 403, in just a few lines of the 
section on pearl simulants, there are three mistakes: the 
fish Alburnus lucidus is called “ Albunus lucidus” , the com-
ponent from its scales, used for making pearl imitations, 
is mentioned as “guarnine” instead of guanine, and the 
title of the 15
th
 century treatise Segreti per Colori, with 
several recipes for making pearls from fish scales, is given 
as “Segretti per Colori” . A pity.
Secondly, the index at the end of the volume shows an 
extremely peculiar structure (probably not the author’s 
fault), with entries like “ Amiens Chalice and Slade Gup 
(sic)” , “Combat of nude men, Pollajuolo, after cast proved 
to be 15
th
 c. ” , “Misrepresentation” (without specifying that 
it is here a legal term) and “Omnipresent coal”(?!). But 
a term like “brass” can be found only by looking under 
“Copper alloys” . The famous Russian forger Botkin is 
found under “Enamel fakes and forgeries” , while under 
“The Etruscan terracottas” there is also the entry “major 
doubts began to emerge” .
Despite these (unfortunate) lapses, this remains an 
excellent book, which will be of valuable assistance to all 
engaged in the professions of art history/conservation.
Alessandra GIUMLIA-MAIR
Daniela Sedran (ed.): Il peso nell’antichità. Pesi e mi-
sure nel Friuli romano, catalogo della mostra (San Vito al 
Tagliamento, Museo Civico “Federico De Rocco” , 26 set-
tembre 2009 –15 febbraio 2010). San Vito al Tagliamento 
2009, 159 ps.
L’agile volume a cura di Daniela Sedran, inserito nella 
collana “Quaderni Sanvitesi” e nato come catalogo della 
mostra omonima, suggella anche il primo ventennio di 
attività della Società Friulana di Archeologia, celebrando 
ocene_AV_61.indd   311 11.11.2010   13:44:36