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The £400k fake statue, sold to the Musuem of Bolton |
£400k art fraud is a family run affair
British Museum confirms ‘ancient’ statue is fake
THE British Museum helped foil a family of forgers that made millions selling fake goods as priceless antiques.
A team of police investigators unravelled an intricate web of deceit that saw unsuspecting buyers part with huge sums of cash after museum experts blew the whistle on the gang.
Provenance specialists were commissioned to report on a statue believed to have been sculpted in ancient times.
Works that included paintings by LS Lowry, sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and a Gauguin vase were sold to unsuspecting buyers over 17 years.
At the centre of the investigation was the “Amarna Princess”.
The “ancient” statue was sold for £400,000 to the Museum of Bolton following a Christie’s auction in 2005 – but the British Museum subsequently found the statue was just 100 years old.
A museum spokeswoman said: “The museum came to the conclusion that the statuette was most likely an example of the sculpture of the so-called Amarna Period (late 18th Dynasty).
“It became clear that the provenance was fraudulent and the statuette a fake. The museum realised from the outset that this was not an original Roman piece.”
Shaun Greenhalgh, 46, and his mother, Olive Greenhalgh, 82, both from Bolton, pleaded guilty to “offences of selling faked and forged works of art as genuine” and were sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. George Greenhalgh, 84, will be sentenced pending medical reports.
Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley, head of the art and antiques unit, said: “This family have been operating for nearly 20 years, producing and introducing a diverse range of art works into the UK market.
“Despite their talent and ability to reproduce these artworks and the false provenances that accompanied them, they were still living a relatively frugal life on the proceeds of their crime.
“There can be little doubt that there are a number of forgeries still circulating within the art market.” |
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