The Ithaca jewel
An authentic fake
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14904225 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Abigail Baker (0000-0002-2650-1394, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 97-108 |
| Publication date | 2016-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of Collections (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0954-6650 • E-ISSN: 1477-8564 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jhc/fhu062 |
| OpenAlex | W2327356168 |
| Language | EN |
The story of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s so-called ‘Ithaca jewel’ appears to be a typical one for a forgery: hopeful acquisition, uncomfortable research and finally oblivion. This article asks what is missing from such a story by looking deeper at the circumstances surrounding the jewel’s creation, revealing a history that links it to the excavators of Bassae and Aegina. In light of this deeper history, the Ithaca jewel reflects the attitudes and interests of collectors in Greece in the early nineteenth century. It shows a time when engagement with the past could be both personal and nationalistic, scholarly and imaginative. It demonstrates some notions of authenticity that are radically different from those used by modern museums, but which continue to have repercussions for museums today.
Art · Art history · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies
| Highly cited | No |
|---|