Fakes, forgeries, and replicas: authenticity and narrative in museum collections of Moche pottery from ancient Peru

My research will look to use the Andean collections of the British Museum (BM) as a case study, to aid in understanding the implications of fakes and related objects within collections.

A key focus will be assessing how they fit into narratives around authenticity and Andean art, both historically and today, as well as the impact this has on both the academic community and source communities.

Using Faking the Ancient Andes (Bruhns & Kelker 2010) as a starting point, this research looks to quantify the claim of Andean fakes in museum collections, as well reconstruct trends in the history of fakes entering the collection and the various forms they take.

Archival research will be used to see patterns in the people involved in the circulation and uptake of objects entering museums and the object's place of origin.