Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Authentically Exotic and Authentically Beautiful

Constructing the Authenticity of Peruvian Antiquities at Sotheby’s and eBay

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Crime and Art

Part of the book series: Studies in Art, Heritage, Law and the Market ((SAHLM,volume 1))

  • 653 Accesses

Abstract

Influenced by many cultural, economic and historic factors, the antiquities market of Andean archaeological artefacts is a complex issue. Authenticity is one of the most important aspects upon which the attribution of value within the antiquities trade depends. On the one hand, a theoretical discourse around the concept of ‘constructed authenticity’ inevitably derives from the contradiction generated between the almost total absence of data regarding archaeological provenience and the value assigned to these commodified antiquities. On the other, like beauty and culture, the opposition between true and false is also culturally constructed and changes throughout an object’s biography. I argue that authenticity can be polysemic and Peruvian antiquities that cannot be authenticated archaeologically can be perceived as authentic differently: authentically exotic or authentically beautiful. Even though e-commerce and in-person auction houses have many divergences, a comparison allows for a focus on the cross issues connected to authenticity. Indeed, a juxtaposition of two listings offering similar items on sale in eBay and Sotheby’s allows a discussion on how those artefacts are perceived outside of the national borders where they were collected, and how this perception impacts on selling techniques and venues.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The expression ’grey market’ refers to the opacity of the market of antiquities, to the complexity of its legal and illegal, public and private dynamics, to the ”moral ambiguity” of taking part in it and to the impossibility to separate the legal and illegal markets (Mackenzie & Yates, 2017).

  2. 2.

    Which existed since the Conquest and deeply damaged many archaeological sites in Peru (see Alva, 2001).

  3. 3.

    See Jones (2010) for a comprehensive bibliography and a history of approaches to authenticity.

  4. 4.

    See Watson (1997) and Brodie (2014c) for Sotheby’s, and ICE (2012, 2014) for eBay.

  5. 5.

    Moche, or Mochica, culture developed in the coast of northern Peru between the first and seventh century A.D.

  6. 6.

    See at https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/193707.

  7. 7.

    Scholars are discouraged from taking part in the identification of unprovenienced objects and, more generally, in any activity which can enhance the market value of potentially illegally excavated antiquities (ICOM, 2004; SAA, 1996).

  8. 8.

    I am talking here about additional guarantees other than the “Money Back Guaranty” (eBay, 2020b)

References

  • Alva, W. (2001). The destruction, looting and traffic of the archaeological heritage of Peru. In N. Brodie, J. Doole, & C. Renfrew (Eds.), Trade in illicit antiquities: The destruction of the World’s Archaeological Heritage (pp. 89–96). McDonald Institute Monographs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appadurai, A. (1986). Introduction: Commodities and the politics of value. In A. Appadurai (Ed.), The social life of things: Commodities in cultural perspectives (pp. 3–63). Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bohem, M. (2009, May 29). Relic sellers are faking it on EBay. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 23, 2020, from http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/29/entertainment/et-ebayfakes29

  • Boone, E. H. (Ed.). (1982). Falsifications and Misreconstructions of Pre-Columbian Art: A Conference at Dumbarton Oaks, October 14th and 16th, 1978. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brodie, N. (2014a). The internet market of pre-columbian antiquities. In J. D. Kila & M. Balcells (Eds.), Cultural property crime: An overview and analysis of contemporary perspectives and trends (pp. 237–262). Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brodie, N. (2014b). The antiquities market: It’s all in a price. Heritage and Society, 7(1), 32–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodie, N. (2014c). Auction houses and the antiquities trade. In S. Choulia-Kapeloni (Ed.), 3rd international conference of experts on the return of cultural property (pp. 71–82). Archaeological Receipts Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brodie, N. (2015). The internet market in antiquities. In F. Desmarais (Ed.), Countering illicit traffic in cultural goods: The global challenge of protecting the world’s heritage (pp. 11–20). ICOM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruhns, K. O., & Kelker, N. L. (2010). Faking the ancient Andes. Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chippindale, C., & Gill, D. W. J. (2000). Material consequences of contemporary classical collecting. American Journal of Archaeology, 104(3), 463–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chippindale, C., & Gill, D. W. J. (2001). On-line auctions: A new venue for the antiquities market. Culture Without Context, 9, 4–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clifford, J. (1988). The predicament of culture: Twentieth-century ethnography, literature and art. Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Coggins, C. (1998). United States cultural property legislation: Observation of a combatant. International Journal of Cultural Property, 7(1), 52–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donnan, B. C. (1982). The identification of a Moche Fake through iconographic analysis. In E. H. Boone (Ed.), Falsification and misreconstructions of pre-columbian art: A conference at Dumbarton Oaks, October 14th and 16th, 1978 (pp. 37–50). Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donnan, B. C., & McClelland, D. (1999). Moche fineline painting: Its evolution and its artists. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History.

    Google Scholar 

  • eBay (2020a). Artifatcs and cave formations policy. Retrieved December 20, 2020, from https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/artifacts-cultural-heritage-graverelated-items-policy?id=4282#section1

  • eBay (2020b). Money Back Guarantee Policy. Retrieved January 27, 2021, from https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?id=4210

  • eBay (2021). Photo Tips. Retrieved January 27, 2021, from https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/photo-tips.html

  • Fay, E. V. (2011). Virtual artifacts: eBay, antiquities and authenticity. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 27(4), 449–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fay, E. V. (2013). Trading in antiquities on eBay: The changing face of the illicit trade in antiquities (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Newcastle: Keele University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gänger, S. (2014). Relics of the past: Collecting and study of Pre-Columbian antiquities in Peru and Chile, 1837–1911. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Geismar, H. (2001). What’s in a price? An ethnography of tribal art at auction. Journal of Material Culture, 6(1), 25–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtorf, C. (2013). On pastness: A reconsideration of materiality in archaeological object authenticity. Anthropological Quarterly, 86(2), 427–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ICE (2012). ICE returns stolen and looted art and antiquities to Peru. Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-returns-stolen-and-looted-art-and-antiquities-peru

  • ICE (2014). 25 Peruvian cultural treasures returned to the government of Peru. Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/25-peruvian-cultural-treasures-returned-government-peru

  • ICOM. (2013[2004]). Code of Ethics for Museums. Resource document. Retrieved January 25, 2021, from http://musei.beniculturali.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ICOM-Code-of-Ethics-for-Museums.pdf

  • Jarret, K. (2006). The perfect community: Disciplining the eBay used. In K. Hillis, M. Petit, & N. S. Epley (Eds.), Everyday eBay. Culture, collecting, and desire (pp. 107–122). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, S. (2010). Negotiating authentic objects and authentic selves: Beyond the deconstruction of authenticity. Journal of Material Culture, 15(2), 181–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kopitoff, I. (1986). The cultural biography of things: Commoditization as process. In A. Appadurai (Ed.), The social life of things: Commodities in cultural perspective (pp. 64–94). Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lowenthal, D. (1985). The past is a foreign country. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackenzie, S., & Yates, D. (2017). What is grey about the “Grey Market” in antiquities? In J. Beckert & M. Dewey (Eds.), The architecture of illegal markets: Toward an economic sociology of illegality in the economy (pp. 70–86). Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz, G. (2006). Overview and assessment after fifty years of collecting in a changing world. In E. Robson, L. Treadwell, & C. Gosden (Eds.), Who owns objects? The ethics and politics of collecting cultural artefacts (pp. 15–32). Oxbow book.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pasztory, E. (2002). Truth in forgery. Anthropology and Aesthetics, 42, 159–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reisinger, Y., & Steiner, C. (2006). Reconceptualizing object authenticity. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(1), 65–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SAA (1996). Principle for Archaeological Ethics. Resource document. Retrieved January 30, 2021, from https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-careerpractice/saa_ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=75f1b83b_4

  • Sawyer, A. R. (1982). The falsification of ancient Peruvian slip-decorated ceramics. In E. H. Boone (Ed.), Falsifications and misreconstructions of Pre-Columbian Art: A Conference at Dumbarton Oaks, October 14th and 16th, 1978 (pp. 19–36). Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sease, C. (2007). Faking pre-Columbian artefacts. Objects Speciality Group Postprints, 14, 146–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonin, R. (1982). The art historian’s Dilemma: With remarks upon the state of art falsification in the Central and North Andean Region. In E. H. Boone (Ed.), Falsifications and Misreconstructions of Pre-Columbian Art: A Conference at Dumbarton Oaks, October 14th and 16th, 1978 (pp. 1–18). Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sotheby’s. (2014). African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art. 16th May. Auction catalog. Sotheby’s.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sotheby’s. (2020). Sell with Sotheby’s. . Retrieved December 20, 2020, from https://www.sothebys.com/en/sell

  • Sotheby’s. (2020b). Condition of sale. Retrieved December 22, 2020, from https://www.sothebys.com/content/dam/sothebys/PDFs/cob/N09502-COS.pdf

  • Stanish, C. (2009). Forging ahead: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love eBay. Archaeology, 62(3). Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://archive.archaeology.org/0905/etc/insider.html

  • Trodd, Z. (2006). Reading eBay: Hidden Stores, Subjective Stories, and a People’s History of the Archive. In K. Hillis, M. Petit, & N. Scott Epley (Eds.), Everyday eBay. Culture, collecting, and desire (pp. 77–90). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P. (1997). Sotheby’s: The inside story. Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yates, D. (2006). South America on the Block: The Changing Face of Pre-Columbian Antiquities Auctions in Response to International Law (Unpublished MPhil Dissertation). Cambridge: University of Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yates, D. (2015). Value and doubt: The persuasive power of “authenticity” in the antiquities market. PARSE, 2, 71–84.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Lau and Professor Hooper for supporting me with the research for my MA dissertation at the SRU–University of East Anglia, UK as the present contribution is based on those investigations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mudec—Museum of Cultures, Milano, Italy

    Federica Villa

Authors
  1. Federica Villa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Arts & Culture Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Naomi Oosterman

  2. Criminal Law and Criminology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Donna Yates

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Villa, F. (2021). Authentically Exotic and Authentically Beautiful. In: Oosterman, N., Yates, D. (eds) Crime and Art. Studies in Art, Heritage, Law and the Market, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84856-9_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84856-9_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-84855-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-84856-9

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation