The Director, the Dealer, the Goddess, and Her Champions

The Acquisition of the Fitzwilliam Goddess

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4536698
AutoresKevin Butcher, David W J Gill (0000-0002-6970-3236)
Ano1993
Volume97
Fascículo3
Páginas383-401
Data de publicação1993-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/506362
OpenAlexW2326642941
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9

The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge acquired a marble statue of a "Cretan goddess" in 1926. It had been authenticated by Sir Arthur Evans and was subsequently published by A. J. B. Wace. This paper investigates the way that this object came to be accepted as genuine and throws light on the creation of Minoan forgeries in the 1920s during the completion of Evans's reconstructions at Knossos. In many of these cases the matter of authenticity has never been satisfactorily resolved, although the debate surrounding the authenticity of the Fitzwilliam Goddess is now over. Initiatives by the Fitzwilliam's Syndicate and, in particular, its director, Sydney Cockerell, ensured that the goddess did not enjoy quite as much success as some of the other pieces that appeared in the 1920s. This case study also raises questions concerning the use of unusual but unprovenanced objects as archaeological data in the reconstruction of the past

Ancient history · Art · Art history · Object (grammar) · Political science · Statue · Syndicate · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Law · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Philosophy