Miziołek, Jerzy [Hrsg.]: Falsifications in Polish collections and abroad (Warsaw, 2001)

Egyptian art of the pharaonic epoch became
widely known in Europe already late in the
18th century, but antiquities belonging to the
Predynastic Period (4th millennium BC) were
not recognized for over another hundred
years more. Predynastic objects were appear-
ing on the antiquities market at least since
the middle of the 19ch century, but in those
times they were generally misidentified1. In
1894 Petrie started digging at Naqada, where
he discovered the first predynastic cemetery
to be excavated in a controlled manner.
Despite all his experience he was puzzled by
the appearance of the finds, which differed
markedly from what was considered typical
for the Egyptian art, and he attributed the
Naqada cemeteries to an alien "New Race",
giving them a date several centuries later than
the actual one2. It was only after proper iden-
tification and dating of Petrie's finds were
made by J. de Morgan two years later that
the predynastic art was recognized and placed
under analysis3. These studies, however,
came to a standstill almost as soon as they
began and Capart's Primitive Art in Egypt,
published in English in 1905, still remains
the only comprehensive monograph of
Egyptian predynastic art4. Capart's book -
written when the studies on predynastic
Egypt were in their infancy and the major
excavations were still going on — is still useful
in many respects, but also includes numerous
objects, which do not quite fit the present
day understanding of predynastic art.

For an archaeologist and a historian of
ancient art the best proof of the authenticity of
an object of study is the confirmed place and
context of its finding. Unfortunately, already
in the first years of the 20th century objects
coming from controlled excavations constitut-
ed only part of the available material. A grow-
ing number of European and American trav-
ellers and increasing demand for Egyptian
antiquities, among them those coming from
the Predynastic Period, led to a flourishing in
the Egyptian antiquities market, and a consid-
erable number of objects were offered for sale.
They usually came from illegal excavations,
which intensified all over Egypt towards the
end of the 19th century. Much too often, how-
ever, to meet the expectations of prospective
purchasers, modern fabrications were substi-
tuted for ancient objectsxor authentic pieces
were embellished with new decoration. To
make matters more difficult for researchers,
dealers in the antiquities often insisted that the
objects they offered were indeed excavated
(although illegally), and on further inquiry
provided even more details. The places of ori-
gin most often quoted were Gebelein (south
of Luxor) and Khozam (north of Luxor),
which had been notorious for extensive plun-
dering5. Sometimes the dealers even went as
far as to describe the context of finding and
sold heterogeneous groups of objects as found
together in a single grave6.

Where there is no firmly established
context for a finding the analysis of style alone

'See: E. A. W. BUDGE, A History of Egypt, vol. I: Egypt in the Neolithic and Archaic Periods [Books on Egypt and
Chaldeavol. IX], London 1902, p. 5-9.

2W. M. F. PETRIE, J. E. QUIBELL, Naqada and Ballas [BSAE&ERA vol. I], London 1896.

3J. DE MORGAN, Recherches sur les origines de TEgypte, vol. I, L'Age de lapierre et des metaux, Paris 1896.

4 Originally published as a series of articles: Les Debuts de I'Art en Egypte, Annales de la Societe dArcheologie de
Bruxelles 17, 1903, p. 169-185, 351-476; ibid. 18, 1904, p. 65-191, 341-372. The edition in a separate volume
appeared under the same title in Brussels in 1904 and the English edition, with some illustrations added, was pub-
lished a year later: J. CAP ART, Primitive Art in Egypt, London 1905.

5 For Gebelein see a remark by G. D. HORNBLOWER, A Spiral Design in Predynastic Egypt, Ancient Egypt, 1928,
p. 68-69 and G. ROBINS, Beyond the Pyramids. Egyptian Regional Art from the Museo Egizio, Turin. Emory
University Museum of Art and Archaeology, Atlanta 24. October 1990 to 10. March 1991; for Khozam: S.
HENDRICKX, The Predynastic Cemeteries at Khozam, in: The Followers of Horus, B. Adams, R. Friedman eds.
Studies dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman 1944-1990 [Egyptian Studies Association Publication No. 2, Oxbone
Monograph vol. 20], Oxford 1992, p. 199-202.

6 A. SCHARFF, Die Altertumer der Vor- und Friihzeit Agyptens, vol. I, Berlin 1931, p. 146; vol. II, Berlin 1929,
p. 44; P. J. UCKO, H. W. M. HODGES, Some Egyptian Figurines: Problems of Authenticity, Journal of the
Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 26, 1963, p. 216.

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