A collector was approached one day by a young man who offered some small objects for sale. These were worthless, colourless scarabs and sacred eyes. Some were real enough, but broken, and of no value. The collector bought a few, and the man hinted at a statue, and gave certain vague particulars about it. A time was appointed, and in a hole in a room, which had been covered up by boards, the statue was seen, standing upright and at least two feet in height. It was taken out, and the collector examined it carefully. It seemed to be a splendid piece of work. The features were finely chiselled, and it was apparently the work of one of the best periods.
“Let me show it to the museum authorities,” said the collector. But the owner objected.
“No,” he said. “They will keep it, and send me to prison for having it.”
In the end a bargain was struck for £220, and the money paid. One day the collector showed it to a friend, who after some time made a remark which aroused the owner’s suspicions. He then sought the advice of an expert, who was extremely guarded in expressing his opinion. After a long and careful examination, however, he pronounced it a forgery.
It is only fair to say that in this instance the money was returned. The seller was willing to do this rather than run the risk of a prosecution, which would give him a bad name, and possibly a long term of imprisonment.
I saw recently a forged granite statue which was of quite good workmanship, and another which had a fault, in that the face was turned ever so slightly to one side.
In [Plate VII], Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5 are supposed to represent the sons of Horus. They are made of bone and have some plaster sticking on the reverse side. Badly cut, they are not even correct in form, as the faces should be those of a man, a dog-faced ape, a jackal, and a hawk.
No. 3 is an Osiris figure of unusual form.
No. 6 shows a ram’s head in red Aswan granite. This was the first example of forgery in granite that I had seen. The work is crude, and the features are not well brought out, but it is a remarkable example of the length to which these natives will go, and the trouble they will take in order to impose upon the credulous and get money. There is no doubt that a large number of the Egyptians have learnt to work the harder kinds of stone while employed in building the Aswan Dam.
No. 7 is a small stone hawk of incorrect shape.